For dineLA.com
With perpetual traffic, it’s easy to think that cars are the only mode of transportation in Los Angeles. However, plenty of city dwellers rely on two wheels. A number of bike-friendly restaurants offer easy parking, casual eating and in one case, valet service.
Finish a hilly ride at Terranea, a new resort in the ritzy cliff-top community of Ranchos Palos Verdes. The sprawling property replaced Marine Land, a primitive precursor to Sea World that closed in 1987. Sit on the patio, which offers stunning views of the Pacific Ocean, Catalina Island and the occasional whale. The restaurant serves three meals per day, including buttermilk pancakes with blueberry compote, crispy calamari with spicy tomato chutney and grilled flatiron steak with lemon-gremolata.
Since 1994, Felipe Cejudo and wife Rosie have parked their bright blue truck next to Sycamore Grove Park in Highland Park, dispensing Mexico City-style seafood tostadas. On a sunny day, families (and cyclists) line up for seafood and flood picnic tables. Cejudo tops crispy corn tortilla discs with creamy cole slaw, relish, fresh-shucked avocado and “secrets,” then piles on crab, shrimp, abalone and octopus or a mix of all four. A squirt of spicy chile sauce is optional. El Mar Azul also offers four varieties of seafood cocktails.
Across the bay from downtown Long Beach, you’ll find the Hotel Maya, a veritable oasis that replaced the Coast Long Beach Hotel. Fuego, the hotel’s restaurant, hosts a spacious bay-front patio. Chef Jesse Perez developed a contemporary menu of “coastal Latin cuisine” and the showstopper is undoubtedly his vanilla butter poached lobster, which comes with mashed boniato root and a cilantro taco filled with more lobster meat. On Sunday afternoons, the Fiesta Domingo brunch includes roasted Puerto Nuevo-style lobster, barbacoa, live music and salsa dancing.
Ride along the coastal bike path to Venice’s Hotel Erwin, valet your bike and settle into the cozy dining room or colorful, fan-shaped patio. Chef Micah Fields prepares market-fresh food. No surprise, hash figures prominently at breakfast, highlighted by Morning Glory Hash with smoked bacon, honey ham, sausage and sweet potatoes. At dinner, a blackboard menu lists the days “munchies,” “mains” and “more.” Think bacon-wrapped dried plums with goat cheese or ahi tuna “hash” tartare with avocado cream.
Tomo Ueno trained at a yakitori bar in Saitama Prefecture before he and wife Megumi moved to Los Angeles to open their five-table, 520-square-foot shoebox on Redondo’s International Boardwalk. The open-air pub resides near the end of the oceanfront bike path. Sit at the counter and watch the chef work his magic on fried chicken wings with a spicy-sweet chile glaze, cream cheese wontons with cod roe or black swine sausages. Be sure to check the specials board.
The Verdugo foothills are the setting for one of the best Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles. Francisco Jimenez and wife Patricia opened La Cabañita in 1989, using recipes from Francisco’s mom, Maria Vasquez. The couple (and son Angel) annexed a neighboring storefront in 2002. Now the space hosts a full liquor license and a colorful wall mural that charts Mexico City’s history, culminating in a modern skyline. Their ever-expanding menu includes five varieties of stuffed Poblano peppers, fork-tender pork chops baked in pasilla chile sauce and an elegant caramel flan with a crispy coconut base.
Chris Simms and brother Mike partnered with chef Anne Conness on a gourmet neighborhood pub with a beer emphasis that’s a block from The Strand, a beachfront bike path, in Manhattan Beach. Since Mike’s an avid surfer, the space resembles a lifeguard tower, and half the seats overlook the Pacific. Conness’ menu features options like pulled pork panini with Fontina, and the wood-grilled Simmzy’s Burger hosts smoky caramelized onions. Chris, who goes by Big Simmzy, ensures that the pub’s 24 beer taps remain “off the handle.”
The wide shoulders along Huntington Drive between South Pasadena and Santa Anita Park entice cyclists, and the patio at Dora Liang’s blue and chocolate-hued café is conducive to a snack break. In the morning, Liang – a former pharmacist - produces seasonal muffins, cookies and cakes. Later on, look for Dora’s Crunchy Chicken Salad, miso-glazed salmon, and mac and cheese with Gruyere, Parmigiano and cheddar. If you’re a coffee lover, Liang sources beans from Intelligentsia.
Mickey Petralia opened The Trails in 2005 near a path that climbs to the Griffith Observatory and Mt. Hollywood. The menu is almost exclusively vegetarian, save for the pastry-wrapped snakedog. In the morning, cyclists regularly climb up Fern Dell Drive to grab multigrain waffles. Later in the day, you’ll find tomato tarts with goat cheese, garlic and rosemary, or savory mushroom cashew pie with herb gravy. Bakers Danny Murphy and Jenny Park contribute a staggering array of seasonal baked goods, including cranberry apple nut galettes, apple pie and chai shortbread. Cash only.- Catalina Kitchen, 100 Terranea Way, Rancho Palos Verdes, 310.265.2800, terranea.com
- El Mar Azul, 4700 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park
- Fuego, 700 Queensway Dr., Long Beach, 562.481.3910, fuegolongbeach.com
- Hash, 1697 Pacific Ave., Venice, 310.452.1111, jdvhotels.com/dining/hash
- Izakaya Bincho, 112 N. International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, 310.376.3889
- La Cabañita, 3445 N. Verdugo Rd., Glendale, 818.957.2711
- Simmzy’s, 229 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Manhattan Beach, 310.546.1201, simmzys.com
- Sweet & Savory, 2142 Huntington Dr., San Marino, 626.293.8877, sweetandsavorysm.com
- The Trails Café, 2333 Fern Dell Drive, Griffith Park, 323.871.2102, thetrailslosfeliz.com
