Posted by Foodie Buddha
on December 01, 2011
At face value, Son of A Gun in Los Angeles serves as the antithesis to its sister restaurant, the highly regarded though disappointing to me Animal. Animal is simply dressed, whereas Son of A Gun is festooned with knickknacks. Animal focuses on things of land, whereas Son of A Gun is a showcase for seafood.
But once you scratch the surface, you see that chef/owners Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo have built something deeply connected to their flagship restaurant. Both restaurants focus on rich dishes where calories seem to take a backseat to flavors; and while the menus at both rotate on a daily basis, each restaurant has its staples. Still, a single sitting at Animal didn’t frustrate, it instead tempered against the oodles of praise. Meanwhile, in about 45-minutes of mealtime, Son of A Gun crashed and burned worse than the McCourt’s marriage.
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Posted by Foodie Buddha
on November 30, 2011
Nearly everything chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo touch these days turns into critical gold. In the case of Animal, their first restaurant, Shook and Dotolo have ingratiated themselves to Los Angeles’s food scene as fast as anyone that I’m familiar with, and that’s no small feat. That being what it is, lest we forget that these two are mortals, I was privy to some faux pas during a rather mundane experience while on my West Coast visit.
With my darling Flipper at the wheel (all my friends get nicknames – I didn’t kidnap a dolphin), the two of us set out from Long Beach for a little early-week treat at this lauded restaurant on N. Fairfax. Greeted by a kindly valet and a warm smile from the hostess, we were seated promptly in accordance with our reservation time. The rest of the evening was a mixed bag ultimately enjoyed thanks to good company (and a little vino).
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