PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

A member of superstar-chef Joachim Splichal's L.A. restaurant empire, Cafe Pinot is less formal and lighter on the palate -- and the pocketbook -- than his Patina restaurant at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The restaurant's location, in the front garden of the L.A. Public Library, makes it a natural for Downtown business folk; at night there's a free shuttle to the Music Center. Be sure to request a table on the patio, shaded by umbrellas and the well-landscaped library courtyard. Splichal has installed a giant rotisserie in the kitchen, and this is where the best meals come from. The moist, tender, mustard-crusted roast chicken is your best bet. Other recommended dishes include the risotto, duck-leg confit, grilled calf liver, and seared peppered tuna. A kids' menu is offered, and (even better) kids under 10 eat free.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Los Angeles 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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