Michael Cimarusti’s Guide to Eating in L.A.

He has a real reverence for what a true Neapolitan pizza should be, but he looks at it through his own lens. And I think it’s absolutely delicious. Really great, well-executed pizza.

I love Dunsmoor in Glassell Park. It’s one of my favorite restaurants. We go there a lot. I think Brian [Dunsmoor]’s cooking is just really great and really honest. He also uses really great ingredients. I love his approach to food. His food is very, very simple but full of flavor. I’ve never walked away from a meal there where I wasn’t perfectly happy with the experience. They just do things very, very well. And they have a great wine program, which I love, because you don’t always find those two things going hand in hand. They have a really great wine program and really great wine service, and I love it for that reason as well.

For simpler food, Szechuan Impression. There’s one near my house in Alhambra, which I love. It’s very consistent, the food’s delicious, and it’s a great place to go for a quick bite and really well-executed food.

For pho, I love Golden Deli, which is also about 10 minutes from my house. I absolutely love it. I was actually there on Sunday night. I always get the number one, which is cooked brisket, tendon, and extra noodles. It’s so good. I crave it at least once a month and we have to go have a bowl. It’s one of my favorite things. And Golden Deli is always perfectly consistent. It does not change. Their egg rolls are just amazing. Absolutely amazing.

For Mexican, the place I go to most frequently is called El huarache Azteca. As their name suggests, they’re famous for their huaraches, which are really good. I like to get the vegetarian one, which is corn, squash, squash blossoms, and queso fresco. You get both sauces and then ask for a side of their salsa macha. Their salsa macha is really good and pretty spicy, it takes the whole thing over the edge. It’s so delicious. I also ask for a fried egg on top. So you get the vegetarian with a fried egg. It’s just so good. I love that place.

Love Mozza, we go there all the time. When my kids come back from New York, that’s one of the places they always want us to take them.

Park’s BBQ is another one, when the kids are back in town, we’ve got to go to Park’s.

I love Sushi Gen downtown. It’s old-style Edomae sushi, and I really love that place. I also go to Sushi Kaisen a lot because they’re open on Mondays. There aren’t many sushi restaurants open on Mondays, so I go there often. I’d go to Sushi Gen more, but they’re only open Tuesday through Saturday, and I usually work those days.