The Best Places to Eat in Los Angeles, According to Chef Monty Koludrovic
October 02, 2024
Where does an Aussie chef go to eat in Los Angeles? Chef Monty Koludrovic reveals the culinary secrets of his adopted home.
Monty Koludrovic isn’t just one of Australia’s finest chefs, he’s also one of our finest exports. After working in Sydney with the likes of Justin North at Becasse and Maurice Terzini at Icebergs, Koludrovic and his wife, Jaci, another excellent chef, packed up their family and headed to Los Angeles, where they opened S.O.L Strings of Life café on Melrose in 2020. Brasserie Grandmaster Recorders followed in 2021 (it’s now run by ex-Becasse chef Blake Shailes), featuring house-made pasta and local seafood. The couple are currently putting the finishing touches on a members-only bar, Living Room, which is set to open later this year. “I enjoy living somewhere I’m not from,” says Monty. “It means everything is new. I find the history of Hollywood super-interesting – if you’re going to live somewhere crazy, live in the craziest bit.” Here’s where he loves to dine out in LA.
Image credit: John Troxell
Cheesesteaks in Beverly Hills
1/11“Matū restaurant just does dinner, which is standard. But at lunchtime, they open the bar, which has nine seats and one main item on the menu: Philly cheesesteak. Everything about it is on point. The bread, a seriously important part, has the proper amount of sesame seeds and isn’t too crusty or too soft. Then they lay all this thinly sliced Wagyu rib eye and sirloin steak on top, onions on the cheese and finish it with a roasted long hot pepper. You scoop this thing up and they tell you which end to eat it from, say ‘I want you to start at the mild end and finish with the spicy end.’ Like anything, a good-quality product done well is always a win.”
Margaritas and movie history in the San Fernando Valley
2/11“There’s a place in The Valley called Casa Vega, which serves tacos and Margaritas and is thick with history. The amount of things that have been filmed in that venue is crazy, including scenes from Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Don’t miss the sizzling shrimp.”
Image credit: Joseph Weaver
Middle Eastern grill in East Hollywood
3/11“Saffy’s is new-wave Middle Eastern food from the people behind Bestia, a trad-Italian restaurant in the Arts District. Take your friends along for curry shrimp toast, wood-grilled shawarma and baked oysters; roll up your sleeves and use your hands to tear fresh pita bread to dip into incredible hummus. You can’t leave without trying the peach cobbler.”
Shanghai dumplings in Hollywood
4/11“The San Gabriel Valley is where the majority of really good Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants are located but this dumpling place, Hui Tou Xiang, named after its signature dumpling, has an offshoot on N. Cahuenga Boulevard. It’s a cute little wooden dining room and they do these amazing stuffed vegetarian pancakes with leek, chive and scrambled egg. It’s also the only place, besides Melbourne’s ShanDong MaMa, where I’ve had good fish dumplings.”
Aussie-style coffee in West Hollywood
5/11“Edward Moffatt, a guy from Melbourne, operates Common Room Roasters in Long Beach. We use its coffee beans at S.O.L in West Hollywood. At our café, the cold brew machine makes freshly ground coffee to your specifications. Then there’s this contraption that sprays a super-chilled mist to slowly saturate the coffee grounds. How long you saturate the coffee for affects the flavour and strength of the caffeine. Just so, so good.”
Image credit: Rachael Wright
Fancy dining in West Hollywood
6/11“The Musso & Frank Grill is pure old-school Hollywood. A New York-style bar and grill beloved of LA illuminati, it’s the absolute belle of West Hollywood and a real scene before a show at the Hollywood Bowl. Everyone is in good suits and the Martinis come with a refill in a decanter served on crushed ice. This was the first restaurant in America to serve fettuccine Alfredo back in the day but I really only go for the onion rings. Sit at the bar and order plenty of Martinis.”
Traditional French fare in Hollywood
7/11“Chef Ludo Lefebvre has been down in Hollywood running L’Original Petit Trois for 10 years. We like to have brunch here – the kids love the French toast with custard and I always have the jambon baguette with pomme frites – but it’s also excellent for dinner. Grab a seat at the counter and order the mussels.”
Seafood, fried chicken and a top wine list in East Hollywood
8/11“Found Oyster is a tiny, super-cool place with a great wine list from chef Ari Kolender. Taking cues from those New England oyster bars originally for dock workers and fishermen, it’s all crudo plates, oysters, prawns, lobster rolls and, when he decides to put it on the menu, fried chicken [Kolender is originally from Charleston, South Carolina]. Order everything.”
Image credit: Sushi Katsu-ya
Sushi in Studio City
9/11“The Japanese food scene in LA is epic and of such good quality, from sushi and teppanyaki to izakaya. I’d be remiss not to mention Sushi Katsu-ya, which isn’t far from our house. The kids love it and I can get local sea urchin for 12 bucks. The beers come in a glass so cold that the top and bottom of your beer arrive frozen.”
Image credit: Encino Farmers Market
Egg burgers in The Valley
10/11“One of my sons is massively into skateboarding and we go to this skate park called Pedlow Field in The Valley. Next door is the Encino Farmers Market, which runs every Sunday. There’s a stand there called Yep Kitchen that serves a Chinese-style sausage and egg McMuffin – it’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like it. They call it an ‘egg burger’ – imagine an English muffin with pork dumpling filling – and cook it on this big round cast-iron skillet that has muffin holes in it. Then they slide it open, slip in a fried egg and top it with chilli, cucumber and bean sprouts. The best $7 you can spend.”
