'Hollywood Experience' restaurant suggestions please

[natalya101]

Travelling to LA from Perth, Western Australia in two weeks on a prizewin, have $500 dinner credit for two people at the restaurant of my choice! Want to go somewhere 'fabulous' that may have a celeb sighting occasionally. I'm fairly certain it will be a Monday night. Love all cuisine. Loved Koi! We were in LA in May and this place was fantastic, so we may end up there again. What are your picks for the 'happening' places around Hollywood?

[maxzook]

I'm assuming the tab can only be used for one meal and not for multiple locations? Conventional Wisdom has it that the best bet for a celeb sighting is the Ivy for lunch, but that seems like a waste of a $500 gift certificate.

The best restaurants food-wise aren't necessarily where you're most likely to run into famous people.

[Emme]

Katana beats Koi definitely.

Agree w/ Cut.

Also, Dolce, Geisha House, or split your funds--- Spago Tasting Menu and Providence Dessert Tasting Menu!

[yogachik]

For the most "Hollywood" experience, definitely the hottest and hippest, with great food: Katsuya.

[SauceSupreme]

My first choice for a Hollywood experience would be Osteria Mozza or Cut since you might actually run into a celebrity there (Il Sole, too, I suppose). In Hollywood itself, there's the new Katsuya but I haven't eaten yet; I've only been at the adjoining bar which is excellent.

[LesThePress]

We went to Katsuya last weekend (before Wicked) and while we're not big fans of Japanese food (and don't eat sushi), we found the overall dining experience very very nice. Atmosphere is great, service was very good and the quality of what we ordered was top notch. We had Vegetable Tempura, Teriyaki Chicken and the Lamb Chops.

The portions were not large (considering the price) but as I said, all were excellent. It looked like everyone around us was devouring the Sushi (and in large amounts) so it might be pretty good.

Noteworthy are their cocktails. Really an interesting list of well prepared drinks.

You'll kill the better portion of your $500 there and walk away quite pleased.

[SauceSupreme]

What was on the cocktail menu? At least at S Bar, it was very daring. We'll see how something like the Hungry Cat's cocktail menu goes over with the Grey Goose and Red Bull crowd.

[LesThePress]

Too many and too unusual drinks to remember all the ingredients.

The waitress said the Mixologist invents all the specialty cocktails. Many with fruit jucies, one with serrano chili's! All were interesting and unique. Here are some of the names:

Watermelon Cucumber Mojito, Burning Mandarin, White grapefruit cosmo, Banana Amnesia and Honey Basil Sling.

[SauceSupreme]

Oh cool. I'll bet it was the same mixologist, but the menu is clearly different than S Bar. Darnit, now I'll have to have dinner at Katsuya.

(I should note, though, that I still prefer the drinks at Hungry Cat than S Bar; the fact that the bartenders themselves are the mixologists is evident in the craftsmanship and execution. But it's totally a different vibe, so it still occupies a separate niche.)

(I had made a subsequent trip to S Bar on a Friday night, and it was so heart-breaking for me to be plowing through my specialty cocktails while slinky black dress after slinky black dress ordered variations on the vodka fruit juice theme. Ah you 20somethings!)

[Fru]

Are you looking for new Hollywood or old, relatively speaking? My recommends are tried and true. Although it isn't the newest kid on the block anymore, I love Lucques www.lucques.com. As an aside, I had to hold myself back from doing the "Elaine Dance" upon passing Julia Louis-Dreyfus when leaving after lunch recently. I love Providence. www.providencela.com I haven't had their tasting menu but many of my respected foodie friends have. Pizza Mozza is great but the seating is very compact. If that is what you want then it isn't a bad thing. If white truffles are your thing, I think they are in season so check out Valentino http://www.pieroselvaggio.com Just had a wonderful meal at Angelini Osteria. www.angeliniosteria.com

[Obessed]

My first recomendation would be Providence. Other recos: Mozza (I like the pizzeria better than the Osteria), La Terza, All'Angelo, Foundry on Melrose, Hatfield's, Grace...although these will be under $500 - but you could go to a few ;-).

[glutton]

If you've got $500, then you can do almost anything. Some of the hugely expensive sushi places would be worth considering, but it's a Monday night and that can be dicey for sushi. Therefore, I would go with Cut, the new Wolfgang Puck restaurant in Beverly Hills. I guarantee that there will be celebrities there, but I cannot guarantee that you'll recognize them. The food is insanely expensive, but if you've got $500, you'll love it. The kobe beef is incredible and they've got a great wine list, so go crazy.