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Tables to Watch

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When Noé (251 S. Olive St., third floor; 213/356-4100; dinner for two $95) opened last year at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza, it marked a comeback for Robert Gadsby, a Thomas Keller protégé whose eponymous restaurant was shuttered in the late nineties. Though you have to have a sweet tooth to love some of the dishes, the shrimp cocktail, for one, is a standout: succulent Santa Barbara spot prawns with an unexpectedly light, peanuty Thai dressing. So is the arctic char served over artichoke barigoule with cipollini onions and tomato confit.

Oceanfront (1910 Ocean Way; 310/581-7714; dinner for two $100), the restaurant at Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica, has been trying to find its sea legs for the past couple of years. A new chef, Collin Crannell, may prove to be the ticket. He certainly has the credentials: Crannell is an alumnus of Water Grill, L.A.'s revered downtown seafood house, and a former sous-chef at Patina.

As settings go, it's hard to beat the Mid-Century Modern poolside patio at Blue on Blue in the Avalon Hotel (9400 W. Olympic Blvd.; 310/407-7791; dinner for two $100) in Beverly Hills. You'll feel as if you're in a 1950's movie about L.A. When the restaurant opened in 2001, the poolside scene was achingly cool but the tomato soup tasted as if it had come from a can. Jeffrey Everts, a promising new chef, has recently arrived. The jury's still out—and hungry.

In September, Los Angeles will see one of its highest-profile (and longest delayed) openings this year. Ludovic Lefebvre, former executive chef at the famed L'Orangerie, will launch a restaurant in Westwood. This long-awaited newcomer will be calling the unlikeliest of places home: the W Westwood (930 Hilgard Ave.; 310/208-8765; dinner for two $75). L.A. foodies can't wait.

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