KazuNori on Main Street in downtown Los Angeles is the original temaki handroll bar, with the five-roll set delivered within 30 seconds of rolling.
Signature dishes: Blue crab handroll, Toro handroll
Must order: The five-roll set: blue crab, scallop, lobster, yellowtail and toro in sequence.
Tip: Walk-in only, the line moves once a seat opens; eat each handroll within 30 seconds, the nori loses snap fast.
Address: 421 S Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis's Arts District room set the tone for downtown LA's modern Italian cooking in 2012 and still pulls bookings six weeks out.
Signature: Cavatelli alla Norcina, Bone-marrow pizza
Order: Cavatelli alla Norcina with house pork sausage and black truffle.
Tip: Book six weeks out for prime time; bar seats walk-in only from 17:30, and the menu is the same as the dining room.
Sushi Note on Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, pairs traditional edomae sushi with a 90-deep natural-wine list, a Valley counter that books two weeks ahead.
Signature: Edomae nigiri omakase, Natural-wine pairing
Order: Chef-selection omakase with a pour of grower Champagne from the deep wine list.
Tip: The 90-bottle natural-wine list is the real reason to choose Sushi Note over its peers; ask the server for guidance.
Sushi Tama on Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Grove, is Chef Hideyuki Yoshimoto's Tsukiji-trained omakase room serving fish flown in from Japan three times a week.
Signature: Omakase nigiri, Toyosu hirame
Order: The omakase with hirame, kinmedai, uni and toro flown in from Toyosu market three times a week.
Tip: Chef Yoshimoto trained at Tsukiji; the omakase is shorter than the chef-counter rivals but the fish is unmatched.
Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis's Arts District room set the tone for downtown LA's modern Italian cooking in 2012 and still pulls bookings six weeks out.
Signature: Cavatelli alla Norcina, Bone-marrow pizza
Order: Cavatelli alla Norcina with house pork sausage and black truffle.
Tip: Book six weeks out for prime time; bar seats walk-in only from 17:30, and the menu is the same as the dining room.
Walter and Margarita Manzke's Republique in Los Angeles serves pastries, lunch and a French-Californian dinner from a 1928 commissary on La Brea Avenue.
Signature: Bone-marrow pasta, Kouign-amann
Order: The kouign-amann at breakfast, then the half roast chicken at dinner.
Tip: Pastry counter opens at 08:00 weekends; queue forms by 09:30. The dinner side reopens at 17:30 with a separate menu and easier walk-ins.
Evan Funke's Venice pasta room rolls every shape by hand in a glass-walled laboratorio. Felix Trattoria is the busiest dinner reservation on Abbot Kinney.
Signature: Cacio e pepe, Mafaldine alla Genovese
Order: Cacio e pepe finished tableside in a wheel of pecorino.
Tip: Reservations open 30 days out and disappear in the first hour; counter seats overlooking the pasta room are walk-in from 17:00.
Evan Funke's Roman follow-up to Felix runs out of a 1930s Citizen News building in Hollywood. Mother Wolf serves Roman pasta in a marble-and-gold room.
Signature: Tonnarelli cacio e pepe, Suppli al telefono
Order: Suppli al telefono, then the tonnarelli cacio e pepe.
Tip: The bar room serves the full menu without a reservation, but you need to be in line by 17:15 on a Friday.
