Restaurant Nocturnes V

Night falls, the sun sinks into the ocean, and the neon glows above a thousand eateries all across Los Angeles. It's time once again for Restaurant Nocturnes! For just over a year, The 99 Cent Chef has been wearing down his rubber soles all over town, setting up his tripod on countless sidewalks to bring faithful readers of his blog a fifth installment in this one-of-a-kind video and photo series.

The clamorous sounds, comings and goings, and menu specialities are all captured in this unique peek at the secret life of L.A. eaters as it's played out nightly at establishments from the haute to the humble.  What's good on the menu? This chintzy chef is not afraid to ask, opening up a world for you to watch and hear from a unique, fine arts-infused vantage point.

Listen in as a bartender at Firenze Osteria in Studio City describes a party atmosphere of free appetizers during the regular drop-in appearances by owner Fabio Viviani for Wednesday night screenings of  Bravo cable tv's "Top Chef All Stars," in which he's currently competing.

 If slabs of sizzling meat are your thing, come with The 99 Cent Chef as he culinarily cavorts from Salt's Cure, the latest brick and mortar butcher shop, to old school Taylors Steak House, a 1950's classic.

Or if your wallet is light, hit Hollywood Boulevard and fill up on the cheap at the venerable Snow White Cafe, which offers a beer and burger special for ten bucks, or at Stefano's Two Guys From Italy, where $2 gets you a tasty NYC- style pizza slice.

Your trip around the city will feel like a trip around the world, loaded with short succulent descriptions of the treats at Con Sabor Pupuseria, ranging from Salvadoran shrimp to veggie-filled tortilla pupusas, to the Polish pork-stuffed Pierogi dumplings at Warszawa, Ethiopian- style whole fried fish at Merkato, and Korean BBQ Pork Belly at Honey Pig.

So pull up a chair, tuck in your napkin, and be a sidewalk voyeur as you check out the action at a gallery of L.A. eateries curated and recorded by The 99 Cent Chef.

Restaurant Nocturnes V - Video

Play it here. The video runs 5 minutes, 30 seconds.

Restaurants in order of appearance - click on text to see their website (or review), and my original twitpic link.

1. Formosa - twitpic,  2. BOA - twitpic,  3. Salt's Cure - twitpic 
4. Bludso's BBQ - twitpic, 5. Norms - twitpic,  6. Mac & Cheeza - twitpic
7. Bouchon - twitpic,  8. Tito's Tacos - twitpic 9. Honey Pig Korean BBQ - twitpic
10. Firenze Osteria - twitpic, 11. Fresh & Meaty Burgers - twitpic 
12. Locali Deli/Market - twitpic, 13. Merkato Ethiopian - twitpic 
14. Warszawa - twitpic, 15. Con Sabor Pupuseria - twitpic 
16. Red Lion Tavern - twitpic, 17. Rustic Canyon - twitpic
18. Howard's Famous Bacon & Avocado Burgers - twitpic
19. Snow White Cafe - twitpic,  20. Stefano's Two Guys From Italy - twitpic
21. Taylor's Steak House - twitpic,  22. Dupar's - twitpic
23. Tinga - twitpic,  24. Tom Bergin - twitpic
25. Colori Kitchen - twitpic

To see more Restaurant Nocturnes, just click on the name:
Restaurant Nocturnes I, Restaurant Nocturnes II, Restaurant Nocturnes III, Restaurant Nocturnes IV.

To view or embed from youtube, click here.
99 thanks to the restaurant owners, managers, hosts, chefs, waiters, bartenders, busboys and patrons.