Missed out on Brian Addison’s Favorite Things of past? We got you covered—just click here.
Too many years back, I wrote a very self-indulgent listicle that was about so-called “essential” Long Beach dishes; dishes that I loved and could depend on as long as that place existed—and I wrote it because there’s something so elemental and useful about a specific great dish at a specific place. It was less about some grander proclamation than it was about, “This is just great food.” (I’ve done a much more comprehensive, similar list since then.)
And after a year of not doing such lists, I want to return to it. Not some grand list of “essential dishes”—that is too hard of a burden to put on a restaurant: You better have this and you better have it all the time. But for now, in this moment, I am happy to share some of my favorite things.
In other words: Why not just own the moment? Without further ado, here are the favorite things I’m eating right now…
Sinigang wings from Got Your Back
4137 E. Anaheim St. (inside Selva)
The Got Your Back residency at Selva (which will be extending its stay—more on that later) is proof of many things that the Long Beach food scene massively improves from if implemented. Collaboration: Chef Carlos Jurado’s open invitation to hospitality veterans Sasha Schoen and chef-partner Brennan Villarreal to use his restaurant space while Selva was closed is something that should be done more often. We know the majority of restaurants are closed on Mondays—so why isn’t Monday just known as Residency Night across the city?
The residency also heightens our culinary talents. Sure, I’ve had Chef Brennan’s food—but at popups. With access to a full kitchen that is equally full of toys, he is showcasing a breadth of Filipino-inspired cuisine that just couldn’t be showcased under a tent and over a flat-top.
And his sinigang wings? A wonderful nod to the famed tamarind soup, this tart’n’salty wings are battered before they’re fried, giving a nostalgic quality to them for any kid who grew up in the 1990s.
Shish Barak from Ammatoli
285 E. 3rd St.
The first time I had Chef Dima Habibeh’s shish barak was at her collaboration dinner with Chef Charbel Hayek. And I cannot tell you how happy I am that it is now permanently on the Ammatoli menu.
One of the Levant’s most comforting, quietly beautiful dishes, it begins with hand-formed dumplings. These tiny half-moons of dough are filled with seasoned ground lamb and beef mixture before being simmered in a warm, tangy labne sauce made from yogurt thickened with flour and egg, infused with garlic, mint, pine nuts, and drizzled with an Aleppo pepper oil. Bright. Creamy. Hint of heat. The result is a bowl that looks humble but feels deeply soulful. And Chef Dima’s version? Par none.
Roasted chicken from Wood & Salt
4262 Atlantic Ave.
Hailing from Sylvester’s—the short-lived but highly praised Italian steakhouse in San Clemente that took over the former Lander’s bar—Chef Albert Lopez is the young but wildly talented chef now heading Wood & Salt. Echoing Chef Jason Witzl of Ellie’s when he first appeared in Alamitos Beach, Chef Albert’s food is gorgeously layered and unafraid of sauces, oils, herbs, accoutrements, and, just for the hell of it, yet another layer of something. And they aren’t absent-minded levels untidily stacked onto one another.
Take his spectacularly created fire-roasted chicken. Drying it above the burning timber of Wood & Salt—dehydrating the sky so that it can satisfyingly crisp up to a Peking duck-like texture—this Cantonese-inspired dish is one of the most stellar fowl dishes in the city. Marinated in a Calabrian chile vinaigrette before being finished over the fire, it is then layered atop an astoundingly acidic mustard aioli—so bright it almost had a beurre blanc quality to it. Drizzled with Calabrian chile oil that has hints of burnt lemon, it is a wonderful example of Chef Albert’s ability to simply go bold.
Lobster gnocchi from Chef Jason Witzl’s ‘Feast of the Seven Fishes’
456 Elm Ave. (inside Partake Collective on select days in December)
The team behind Ellie’s and Ginger’s—led by Chef Jason Witzl and FOH extraordinaire Molly Sirody—is tackling a tradition that most Italians and Italian-Americans know very well and most food-centric Americans know from the stress-inducing series that is “The Bear.” It’s the Feast of the Seven Fishes, taking over Partake Collective’s R&D kitchen—the same place that hosted my inaugural Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe chef competition—across December. Tickets are now on sale.
It not only marks some of Chef Jason’s best food—including my favorite dish he served while competing in the Grand Prix Fixe—but has some noticeable deviations from Ellie’s that showcase Chef Jason’s desire to look beyond his Alamitos Beach staple.
There is no middling dish on this ambitious menu—but there was something spectacularly special about his gorgeous potato gnocchi. Doused in Calabrian chiles—heaping handfuls just thrown into the pan with garlic confit and butter, turning the melted butter into a gorgeous rust color—chives, mint, and Maine lobster chunks.
‘The Carrot’ from Dilly’s Sandwiches
4144 N. Viking Way
Tucked along Viking Way in Lakewood Village, Dilly’s Sandwiches feels like the sandwich shop Long Beach has always needed. Dilly’s doesn’t focus on one culture or another. (We hear and see you, Olives, Angelo’s, Beach City, Santa Fe Importers… All of whom focus solely on Italian or barbecue or…). Dilly’s direct approach to sandwiches is for sandwich lovers. And, after a full year of operation, there’s no better extension of this dedication to the Sandwich Lover than their new menu items.
But perhaps no sandwich is more unique or wonderfully balanced than The Carrot. Whole carrots, dusted with salt and oil, are blasted until al dente in a roaster, paired with chunks of bright, umami-soaked kimchi and plenty of cheese in a talera roll. It is an unexpected ball of tart, plenty of salt, creaminess, and the tiniest bit of sweet. It is a wonder of a sandwich.
Missed out on Brian Addison’s Favorite Things of past? We got you covered—just click here.
