Maude

"Michelin-starred Maude is a 24-seat treasure opened by chef Curtis Stone in 2014. Stone, along with chef de cuisine Osiel Gastelum (formerly of Somni), collaborate on the restaurant’s nine-course menu inspired by seasonal California produce for $215 per person. Savory courses are served in the main dining room that peers into the kitchen, while the final courses including cheese and dessert are presented upstairs in the restaurant’s wine loft. Two tiers of wine pairings are available to enhance the menu; the classic pairing is $155 per person and the reserve pairing is $255 per person. Reservations are available on OpenTable." - Cathy Chaplin, Eater Staff

"Curtis Stone’s Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant has found its form once again after a decade of operation (it was briefly an Aussie-style pie shop during the pandemic). With Stone and Osiel Gastelum, previously of Somni, at the helm, Maude remains one of the most coveted tasting menus in town, featuring seasonal ingredients and stellar wine pairings with some of the best service anywhere. A true dining destination with the intimate, almost hard-to-find location that Angelenos love." - Matthew Kang

"Unlike that time you tried to do a gin-and-burger tasting, wine tastes better when you have it with food. The people at Maude understand this, which is why every three months, they pick a region to base their food and wine menus on. This is another place where you want to be doing the beverage pairing, if only so you can eat some Central Coast oysters with a wine made from grapes grown down the road." - jess basser sanders

"This Michelin-starred restaurant is tiny, sitting only 24 lucky diners per night. Featuring concrete floors, and lots of illustrations, paintings and photos in mismatch frames that hang from the subway tiled walls, the dining room feels relaxed and welcoming. Chef Curtis Stone and his team focus on the best of SoCal's fresh ingredients, from sea and land. Each course, which arrives in the kind of dainty little plates you might find in your eclectic great aunt's home, is a thoughtful and well-executed homage to the season's bounty and flavors; offerings might include standouts such as abalone with koshihikari rice, seaweed, and oyster mayonnaise; a delicate buñuelo stuffed with blue cheese and macadamia nuts. Dessert takes place upstairs in a temperature-controlled room (in essence, the wine room) that's decorated with cozy sofas, upholstered armchairs, and bric-a-brac. The tasting menu can be accompanied with the "classic wine pairing," ($155) that leans towards California vintages, with a few standouts from Rioja and the Loire Valley—or spring for the "reserve wine pairing" ($255)." - Hugh Garvey, Celeste Moure, Krista Simmons

"Tell us about your first impressions when you arrived. This Michelin-starred restaurant is tiny, sitting only 24 lucky diners per night. Featuring concrete floors, and lots of illustrations, paintings and photos in mismatch frames that hang from the subway tiled walls, the dining room feels relaxed and welcoming. Pre-pandemic, the monthly tasting menus focused around a single, hero ingredient, but these days, chef Curtis Stone and his team have shifted focus to highlight the best of SoCal's fresh ingredients, from sea and land. What was the crowd like? The Beverly Hills location attracts locals as well as Hollywood types on dates and UCLA students with their parents (and their wallets). What should we be drinking? The tasting menu can be accompanied with the "classic wine pairing," ($155) that leans towards California vintages, with a few standouts from Rioja and the Loire Valley—or spring for the "reserve wine pairing" ($255). Main event: the food. Give us the lowdown—especially what not to miss. Each course, which arrives in the kind of dainty little plates you might find in your eclectic great aunt's home, is a thoughtful and well executed homage to the season's bounty and flavors. Offerings might include standouts such as abalone with koshihikari rice, seaweed and oyster mayonnaise; a delicate buñuelo stuffed with blue cheese and macadamia nuts. Dessert takes place upstairs in a temperature-controlled room (in essence, the wine room) that's decorated with cozy sofas, upholstered armchairs and bric-a-brac. The entire experience is surprisingly delightful, though the only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is the 1980s soundtrack—think Journey, Foreigner, Thompson Twins. And how did the front-of-house folks treat you? Because the dining room is so small, the staff go above and beyond to really take care of every table. Each dish is carefully described, each wine pairing explained, and just the right amount of chit chat takes place to keep guest entertained. What’s the real-real on why we’re coming here? This is the kind of place you'd take a special someone on a first date, a parent on mother's or father's day, or a couple of BFFs on a much-needed quiet night out." - Celeste Moure