Dinner for special occasion/guests from out of town???

[jmp]

I have guests in town from Hawaii and would like to take them out to celebrate their anniversary tonight! Looking for something good (anywhere in LA or Pasadena) that would be good. They are in their early 30's and am looking to take them somewhere that is a MUST in LA. Primarily, when they go back and people ask them what they did, they can say they went to XXXX (fill in the blank), which was really good. Atmosphere is probably more important that the actual food, but food should be good. Any cuisine would work, but something different than what they could get in Hawaii. Thanks so much!!!

[Emme]

since this was two nights ago, where did you end up?

[JE33]

Polo Lounge. Bel Air Hotel. Penthouse at the Huntley. Ritz Carlton in Pasadena is great. Saddlepeak Lodge. Mr. Chow's. Cut. Koi. Katsuya.

This shouldn't be too difficult.

[SauceSupreme]

Spago and Cut are definite "name" restaurants, and quite live up to their lofty reputations. I would also recommend Osteria Mozza (Mario Batali) and Craft (Tom Colicchio) as both of those have great atmosphere. OsMo is far more boisterous but Craft is a gorgeous space. For a young couple, I would probably pick either Cut or Osteria.

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Pizzeria Mozza
6602 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038

Cut
9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212

[CharlotteMichele]

We went to Cut a few nights ago after trying for a year (and ultimately giving up) to get a table at some other time than 6PM or 9PM. I haven't seen any posts that fairly assess this place so I'm wondering if Wolfgang Puck has bought off Chowhounds:) If there is a proper place for me to rant please someone out there let me know where it is.

[wutzizname]

This is the place. I was thinking of taking an out of town guest there next week, but am torn by the wildly mixed reviews, particularly in light of the high cost and absurd non-reservation policy. So please, have at it.

[PlatypusJ]

Check out Bastide if you have enough time to make a reservation. It's new AND delicious.

[nosh]

If they are at least somewhat food knowledgeable, take them to Spago so they can talk about dining at Wolfgang Puck's flagship and maybe (probably?) see someone famous. If they are only interested in the trendy party places, you are on the wrong website, though Ketchup was recently telecast as the scene of a catfight on an MTV "reality" show, and there is Koi and places in or near the hot hotels on Hollywood or Sunset.