Counter: The joy of small plates and strip malls

When you live in Los Angeles, you spend a lot of time thinking about geography — the landscape of the city itself, the unlikely places you find good food, and the topography of what’s on the plates in front of you. This week, we’ve been visiting strip malls, as happens a lot here. In one in Hollywood, there’s Baroo, one of the restaurants of the moment; in another in Koreatown, there’s a new Korean noodle shop. And further afield, in Vernon, there’s a marketplace with some pretty great food vendors.

Then there are the locations where we’ve come to expect good food, including the Original Farmers Market. This is where you’ll find Moruno, the subject of Jonathan Gold’s latest review, a wine-focused small plates restaurant in the space that previously housed Short Order. And there is Coachella, where Jenn Harris tells us what to eat in the desert. Because, for some of us, the headliners aren’t so much Guns N’ Roses as Andy Ricker and Roy Choi.

– Amy Scattergood

Two Mozza alums open a restaurant

House fermented vegetables for $4 at Moruno.

(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

In this week’s review, Jonathan heads to the Original Farmers Market, where he finds some pretty lovely small plates. Moruno is the new project from two veterans of Osteria Mozza, chef Chris Feldmeier and wine specialist David Rosoff, and it features the moruno for which it’s named: the small shish kebabs found on many menus in southern Spain. Worth noting: Some of Jonathan’s favorite dishes at the restaurant are vegetarian.

Making the wine list

David Rosoff owns Moruno with chef Chris Feldmeier.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

What to drink with all those plates of anchovies and grilled tripe? Wine writer Patrick Comiskey goes down the wine list at Moruno, where he likes the bottles from Spain, Languedoc-Roussillon and southern Italy.

More fun in L.A. strip malls

Bibim salad at Baroo.

(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

If you haven’t been to Baroo, the tiny restaurant in a strip mall that’s been open for less than a year but has already been nominated for a James Beard best new restaurant award, Noelle Carter takes you there. Chef Kwang Uh and business partner Matthew Kim are the only employees, making plates influenced by Korean cuisine, fermentation jars — and Buddhist monks.

Korean dumplings and what else we’re into

Dumplings from Chungsil Hongsil, a new restaurant in Koreatown.

(Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

This week, Jonathan has been eating Korean dumplings at a new noodle shop in Koreatown called Chungsil Honsil; Jenn Harris likes a Thai cocktail called a Thai Hi-Five at Marcel Vigneron’s new restaurant, Wolf; and I happily consider a bowl of uni linguine at Son of a Gun.

Birria and churros in Vernon

Birria tacos from Tacos Jaliscience at El Faro Plaza in Vernon.

(Ben Mesirow / For The Times)

Food writer Ben Mesirow heads to Vernon, where he finds some pretty great food in El Faro Plaza, an old-school marketplace. There’s a swap meet, lots of stuff to buy and food vendors specializing in regional cooking, including carnitas from Villa Moreliana and birria tacos from Tacos Jaliscience. Worth the drive? Indeed.

Your “City of Gold” reminder: It’s playing. Maybe go see it. Maybe don’t go hungry, which brings us to ...

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