Asterid

At the Walt Disney Concert Hall’s upscale restaurant by Ray Garcia, the award-winning local chef sharply deviates from the influential Mexican American fare at Broken Spanish that made him famous. Instead, Asterid serves Garcia’s own take on hyper-seasonal California cuisine to pre-show diners in the bustling dining room and outside clientele relaxing on the former Patina space’s newly added outdoor patio. Though much the menu plays it safe for the Music Center’s older, show-going crowd, the chef’s unique touches still shine through in dishes like sunchoke rosti with berry-sweet pepper and a caviar- and crema-topped organic squash tamal—making it a worthwhile upscale dinner spot for those in the area and longtime fans of the chef’s genre-bending cuisine.