Szechuan Mountain House opens first Los Angeles location

June 27, 2023 10:48 AM PT

Szechuan Mountain House

After establishing an ardent fan base with two locations in New York, Szechuan Mountain House has opened in Rowland Heights. Chef Zhi Min Zhu, the restaurants’ culinary director from Sichuan, has honed the region’s spicy, nuanced flavors and conceived a number of the restaurants’ most iconic dishes, including the signature Swing Pork Belly, which hangs thin slices of pork belly and cucumber on a wood dowel structure to be dipped in a pool of garlic paste and chile oil below.

Some dishes require as many as 20 spices, with a rainbow of peppercorns imported from Sichuan for the job. La-zi chicken, another Szechuan Mountain House specialty, marinates its diced chicken and deep-fries then stir-fries it with a small mountain of dried peppers, peppercorns and sesame. The menu lists dishes as either ma-la, traditional or modernist, along with categories for vegetables, soups, cold items and noodles and rice.

“I’ve always enjoyed preparing spicy dishes to share with others since I was a child, which is why I chose to be a chef,” Zhu told The Times in an email.

The ma-la dishes feature the hot-and-numbing peppercorn that’s emblematic of the cuisine. But not all of Zhu’s cooking features its spicy heat and anesthetizing effect. Sautéed vegetables and especially the dishes from the “traditional cuisine” menu, such as braised pork atop shredded, preserved vegetables, showcase the flavors of the region without chiles. While the focus remains on Sichuan cuisine, along with most of the small chain’s iconic dishes, some recipes and ingredients have been altered for the Los Angeles location to utilize more local ingredients.

The L.A. restaurant is nearly two years in the making and features a transportive, serene aesthetic with fish ponds, trees, Chinese flower art, calligraphy and other touches inspired by Taoism utilizing harmonious layout and incorporating nature. The dining room is almost maze-like, with tables tucked into alcoves and in wooden structures; one table can be found under a small pagoda built for larger parties. Large paper koi float, suspended from the ceiling, above an actual koi pond.

Szechuan Mountain House, with restaurants in Flushing and Manhattan, was recently hailed by New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells as one of the top 100 restaurants in New York. “Many of our regular customers who have moved from New York to the West Coast have frequently asked us when we plan to bring Mountain House to the West Coast,” said Ariala Luo, a representative for the chain, which opened in 2016. “Our main goal is to bring the most authentic Sichuan dishes to the West Coast and let consumers experience Chinese culture from the moment they step into our restaurant.”

Szechuan Mountain House is open 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday and Monday; 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; and 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

18888 Labin Court, Suite C101, Rowland Heights, (626) 986-5555, szechuanmountainhouse.com

Avi Cue Studio City

A wagyu shawarma, arayes, side of French fries and a can of Israeli juice.

Aviad “Avi” Yalin’s Avi Cue pop-up, serving shawarma roasted on a spit imported from Israel, has taken over the former Tacos 1986 location in Studio City, running as a three-week pop-up with the possibility of permanent extension (follow Avi Cue on Instagram for updates). Yalin began pandemic-spurred Avi Cue roughly four years ago, consistently drawing lines of fans for fresh pita stuffed with shaved and ground wagyu. “Normally a shawarma place would basically choose the cheapest meats and count on the seasoning and other methods to make it tender,” Yalin said, “and here what we do is basically the other way around.” He prides himself on using wagyu for both his shawarma and his arayes — which stuff house-ground wagyu into a pita and are seared on a flat top. Both come garnished with tomato, parsley, tahini and amba, pickled mangoes. With a bricks-and-mortar location, Yalin is offering new, larger pita and additions such as fries, loaded shawarma fries and imported Israeli fruit juice. Avi Cue is open noon to 5 p.m., or until sold out, Tuesday through Sunday.

11288 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, instagram.com/avi_cue

Porridge + Puffs closes

After reopening her celebrated porridge-based restaurant last month, chef Minh Phan decided to close Porridge + Puffs after all. The Historic Filipinotown restaurant opened in 2018 but began years prior as a pop-up. Jonathan Gold called Phan’s porridge bowls colored with pickles, jammy eggs, flowers and other culinary delights “as dazzling in its complexity as anything coming out of the most famous kitchens in town.” After a pandemic-spurred closure in 2021, Phan reopened the restaurant this year.

“I think I thought the reopening was going to be something else,” Phan said. “I went with my gut, I needed to do it and I was driven to do it.”

Phan says that in the last month she hit a wall. Though her new direction in the restaurant’s reprisal meant hiring a chef to oversee the day-to-day cooking and operations for her, she still found herself trying to manage the business; as the chef-owner, Phan’s job duties in her time at Porridge + Puffs extended beyond cooking and she fast realized she could not expect an incoming chef to take on all of her roles as operator, nor could she hire a larger staff to absorb those duties. Phan felt she had three options: scale up, sell or maintain — and none felt presently sustainable. “I’m not in that space because I’m burned out,” Phan said.

In the near future she hopes to use the Porridge + Puffs space for occasional community-minded events such as cookbook dinners for guest chefs or potential collaborations with the nearby People’s Pottery Project.

2801 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, porridgeandpuffs.com

An overhead photo of three types of Korean fried chicken, with a plate of cabbage salad.

Rice Chicken

A new Korean fried chicken shop that uses rice flour for its coating is now open in Koreatown with a range of styles, sauces, sides and more. Rice Chicken, a new concept from Paul Kim, a former partner in Long Beach’s Ren Sushi, offers wings, boneless chicken and whole pieces available by the half or full dozen. In addition to add-on dipping sauces like galbi, garlic parmesan, honey mustard, buffalo and lemon pepper, a number of varieties come sauced and topped with garnish, such as the Green Forest, which serves boneless chicken over a sweet wasabi soy sauce, all topped with a small mountain of ribboned scallions, or the Cheesy Tiger, which tosses the chicken in cheese powder. Rice chicken also offers fried chicken sandwiches, salads, cup-bap in spicy pork, beef bulgogi and other options, and sides like corn cheese, fried sausage and tteokbokki. Rice Chicken is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

3065 W. 8th St., Los Angeles, (213) 908-6996, ricechicken.com

Three plates of grilled kushiyaki skewers: scallop, sausage and yakitori

Rakkan Miso Izakaya

After opening a local chain of ramen shops, chef Ryohei Ito recently expanded his Rakkan empire with a new izakaya-inspired restaurant downtown. Housed in the former Fundamental space, Rakkan Miso Izakaya serves a limited selection of the plant-based-broth and noodles in which Rakkan Ramen excels, but a range of new items are also on offer. The focus here is on grilled meat, seafood and vegetable skewers such as chicken thigh, Hokkaido scallop, sausage and tofu, plus popular, classic izakaya items such as karaage, katsu and donburi. A selection of hosomaki, nigiri and other sushi is also available, as is natural wine, beer, sake and a menu of sake cocktails. Rakkan Miso Izakaya is open noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.

750 S. Grand Ave., Suite 30, Los Angeles, (213) 224-7002, rakkanmiso.com

Kismet Rotisserie Studio City

A woman places an order at a restaurant walk-up window

Chefs Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson have debuted the second location of their California-minded rotisserie, Kismet Rotisserie, opening a walk-up window within Studio City retail center the Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge. Offering an identical menu to its East Hollywood counterpart, it specializes in free-range Sonoma County chickens dry-brined overnight and spit-roasted, then served whole, in pieces, or in soups, salads or pita sandwiches, with farmers-market sides such as roasted cabbage, turmeric cauliflower and schmaltz-roasted potatoes.

The quick-and-casual rotisserie concept is an offshoot of the restaurant Kismet, which serves what Jonathan Gold called “carefully layered flavors, the touches of heat, tartness and herbal intensity that we have grown to expect from the best new kitchens.” Studio City’s Kismet Rotisserie marks the first opening since Hymanson and Kramer went independent from the Jon & Vinny’s restaurant family in 2021. “It feels really satisfying to be growing the company the way we want to be growing it,” Kramer said. In addition to newly focusing on catering, Kramer and Hymanson are planning multiple other Kismet Rotisserie locations, including one slated to open in Culver City this fall. Kismet Rotisserie is open in Studio City 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

4220 N. Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City, (747) 476 5383, kismetrotisserie.com