Newsletter: Counter: Hipster diners and Koreatown fusion cooking

If you’re reading this, you’ve made it to the weekend: Happy Saturday. It’s been a long few days in the world of politics and sports, not to say more of a disastrous fire season, so we’re here with a little respite from all that. Time to get out of the house and head to a restaurant.

Maybe start with pancakes, in which case you could try Winsome, a newish restaurant in Echo Park that’s Jonathan Gold’s latest review. Or try Koreatown, where we look in on a new restaurant that specializes in a mixture of Japanese and Mexican flavors, among other cuisines, as well as a heavy dose of tiki. What else is on our menu? Filipino food and seven kinds of frozen cocktails. Because the end of summer vacation means many things to many people, and it is never a bad time to go out for adobo.

– Amy Scattergood

More than just a diner

At Winsome in Echo Park, Jonathan finds a plate of pretty great semolina-buckwheat pancakes, among other upscale diner food dishes from chef Jeremy Strubel, a Rustic Canyon alum, and his crew. Winsome first opened for breakfast and lunch — and was named to Bon Appétit’s list of 50 best new restaurants in the country — and has recently opened for dinner. Thus: cocktails and potato rosti served with a marrow bone.

Jeremy Strubel is the executive chef at Winsome in Echo Park.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times )

Foie gras terrines in Koreatown

Deputy Food editor Jenn Harris checks out Here’s Looking at You, a new restaurant in Koreatown that’s “fusion to the extreme.” Opened recently by two veterans of Animal, the place is an idiosyncratic mash-up of Mediterranean, Japanese, French, Italian, Mexican and Chinese flavors — and tiki. So your foie gras terrine comes with unagi and togarashi and a cocktail called the Tropical Medicine.

The foie gras terrine at Here’s Looking at You in Koreatown.

(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )

Posh slushies from L.A. bartenders

If you love mojitos and negronis, but find yourself longing for Slurpees when the temperatures climb toward the triple digits, then drinks writer Lesley Jacobs Solmonson has the perfect solution: frozen classic cocktails. She finds seven iterations from local bartenders, including a margarita served from a slushie machine.

More fun with Filipino cuisine

Eagle Rock has a newish Filipino restaurant, a casual, family-run place in a strip mall called Eagle Rock Kitchen. Jenn talks to the Martinez family about their menu, which includes traditional dishes such as adobo and lumpia, as well as things like their version of Filipino carne asada fries.

The ERK fries at Eagle Rock Kitchen.

(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )

What’s been happening in food

This week, we started a new column that consolidates your restaurant news into one convenient place. We check out the latest openings and closings, which has lately included a new ramen place in the Valley, the closing of Pok Pok Phat Thai in Chinatown and Akasha Richmond’s Sambar, plus the opening of Tin Vuong’s latest restaurant.

Top, from left, chef Syndey C. Hunter III and a dish from Sambar; bottom, from left, noodles from Pok Pok Phat Thai and chef Tin Vuong.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times | Christina House / For The Times | Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times | Michael Robinson Chรกvez / Los Angeles Times )

The Taste is coming: Our annual Labor Day food weekend, Sept. 2-4, will be here before you know it; here’s how to get tickets.

Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, is online for subscribers.

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