Newsletter: Counter: Hatchet Hall, Beverly Hills dining and mall food

Now that you’ve finished your holiday shopping (you have finished, right?), it’s a good time to head out and spend some quality time at one of this city’s great restaurants. Maybe drive to Culver City, where Jonathan Gold finds an Old Man Bar (that’s the actual name) in a neo-Southern restaurant called Hatchet Hall that also serves a cookie plate.

Or if you happen to be in Beverly Hills — not shopping for gifts — maybe visit one of the new restaurants in the area, where you’ll find everything from an expertly prepared Dover sole to vegan lasagna, as well as the best bar bites in the city. And if you’re looking to make a reservation for New Year’s Eve dinner, we’ve got some ideas here.

Happy Holidays!

– Jenn Harris

Gold review

In this week’s restaurant review, Jonathan Gold considers Hatchet Hall, Brian Dunsmoor’s Southern-leaning restaurant in Culver City. Gold describes the restaurant as “one of the most formidable leftover producers in the city.” It’s also where you’ll find a first-rate bourbon selection.

Fried chicken and doughnuts

Like the sound of a crème brûlée doughnut? Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken in Washington, D.C., is bringing its doughnuts and fried chicken to downtown Los Angeles. In other restaurant news: a new bone broth restaurant in Pasadena and a lounge opening on Sunset Boulevard.

Eating in Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills may not be known for its dining destinations, but a wave of new restaurants in the area will have you eating very, very well. Here are eight new and notable restaurants in the 90210. Think Southern biscuits or Italian street food with a side of paparazzi.

The buttermilk biscuits with chipotle maple syrup and pimento cheese at Citizen.

(Mariah Tauger / For The Times )

Mall food

One of next year’s most exciting places to eat may actually be a mall. Seriously. Here’s a look at all the new restaurants headed for the Westfield Century City mall, including the dumpling house Din Tai Fung.

A soup dumpling from Din Tai Fung. The Taiwanese dumpling house is opening a location at the Westfield Century City.

(Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times)

Jonathan Gold has a robot twin

Goldbot, a robot version of our restaurant critic Jonathan Gold, is now live on Facebook Messenger. You can ask the bot for personal restaurant recommendations based on location, type of food or price. And you can get Gold’s latest reviews sent straight to your device. Pretty cool, huh?

Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, is online for subscribers and now features his 2016 Best Restaurants. If you didn’t get a copy of the booklet, you can order one online here.

“City of Gold,” Laura Gabbert’s documentary of Jonathan Gold’s Los Angeles, is available on Amazon.

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