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 dishes: Omakase nigiri, Toyosu hirame
Must 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.
Address: 116 N Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048
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.
Niki Nakayama's modern kaiseki house in Palms, Los Angeles, runs a 13-course tasting menu that changes by season and books months in advance.
Signature: Modern kaiseki tasting, Spaghetti pasta course
Order: The 13-course modern kaiseki, including chef Niki Nakayama's spaghetti course.
Tip: Bookings open at midnight Pacific on the first of the month for three months out. Refresh the page; tables go in 30 seconds.
Michael Cimarusti's Providence on Melrose has been LA's two-Michelin-star seafood room since 2005. The tasting menu builds around West Coast producers.
Signature: Hokkaido uni, Santa Barbara spot prawn
Order: The full tasting menu; the spot prawn course in season is the one to remember.
Tip: Bar seats serve a shorter four-course at half the price; book those a week ahead instead of a month.
