PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

The latest L.A. venture of celebrity chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken is this intriguing restaurant in the heart of Downtown. Ciudad means \"city\" in Spanish and is a nod to the partners' long-ago venture City Restaurant. Here, amid juicy sherbet pastel walls and Miró-esque abstract designs, exuberant crowds gather to revel in a menu that brings together cuisines from the world's great Latin urban centers: Havana, Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, and so on. Standout dishes include the tortilla soup, Peruvian seviche (presented in a martini glass), Argentine empanadas, Swiss chard with tomatillo sauce, citrus-roasted Cuban-style chicken (served with Puerto Rican rice and fried plantains), and a Brazilian moqueca -- shrimp, mussels, and other seafood in a coconut-lime broth over coconut rice. Between 4 and 9pm on Sundays, Ciudad presents happy hour tapas served at the bar; it's easy to make a meal of several, choosing from carnitas tacos, goat cheese fritters with sherry-soaked cherries, lamb meatballs with chimichurri, and more. As with the pair's superb Border Grill, desserts are worth saving room for and are large enough to share. Tip: From Tuesday through Saturday Ciudad provides free shuttle service to the Music Center, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and select STAPLES Center events.

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

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