Ari Taymor. Remember this name. Because Taymor and his crew of tattooed cooks are doing something exceptional in an unlikely, understated spot next to Club Las Palmas on the southern end of Broadway. We expect to hear a lot about Taymor and his few-month-old restaurant, Alma, in the year ahead. Eating at Alma is like eating in someone’s loft; granted, a well-kept and smartly designed loft like you'd see in Dwell Magazine. There are just half a dozen tables as well as eight seats at the counter, where you can enjoy an unobstructed view of the compact kitchen and the quiet, focused magic behind dishes like supple rabbit liver, smoother than the best pick up line, served with buttery toasts smeared with date jam and a small salad of light, crunchy frisee, the perfect counter to the rich, heavenly liver. Another recent highlight: baby broccolini, deep fried until it’s nearly crunchy as chips, drizzled with a zippy espelette aioli. (Taymor says one of his farmers snuck the espelette pepper seeds back from a trip to Spain.) Taymor changes the menu frequently. And right now it’s BYOW, though they do make some refreshing sodas in house. The black lime is a standout.

Chalk up another winner for Bill Chait, the restaurateur who brought us popular spots such as Rivera, Picca and Sotto, with various chef partners. Bestia is housed in what looks like an old, weathered metal barn. Supposedly it once housed a factory, now it’s lofts. At the base is a great looking Italian restaurant with a copper topped bar and pizza oven. The smart drink program is courtesy of longtime Chait collaborator Julian Cox, and manning the stoves is Ori Menashe, who cooked with Gino Angelini for many years. But first you have to find it, located between Santa Fe and the Los Angeles River on East 7th Place, where few of Bestia’s patrons have likely ventured before. The staff is as hip and good looking as the restaurant itself, and they’re really nice to boot. As for the food, it’s not your standard Italian. Grilled octopus is paired with warm, earthy lentils. Various excellent salamis and other cured meats are made in house, sliced, draped lovingly on wood boards and served with thick slices of olive oil slicked grilled bread. Pastas are the sort few of us could even think of turning out at home, like tender agnolotti alla vaccinara, the supple dough tinged with cacao and filled with robust long braised oxtail. Menashe finishes the plate with tiny currants and roasted pinenuts.

Good things come in unexpected locations. To wit: Bread Lounge, baker Ran Zimon’s bakery south of Little Tokyo. Zimon had been wholesaling his crusty baguettes for a couple years from this industrial location. But in May of 2012, he decided to add retail and put in some café tables and a trellised patio out back. It’s an attractive, modern, minimalist space with polished concrete floors, a soaring ceiling and the scent of flour and butter in the air. The menu is still evolving, but of course you can get one of those baguettes. There are also perfect croissants and boxes of crunchy almond-anise biscotti, an excellent alternative to the dreaded fruit cake for holiday gifting. And there are substantial sandwiches on your choice of bread. Tuna lovers need look no further than the “Plenty of Fish,” which is what your tuna sandwich might be if it vacationed in the Mediterranean: tuna in creamy aioli paired with slivered black olives, a smear of harissa, thick slices of tomato and snappy arugula. Get it on the signature olive stick, a chewy roll shot through with kalamata olives.

At Ricardo Zarate’s Peruvian spot, toe-tapping Latin music is playing on the sound system, mixologist Deysi Alvarez is shaking drinks like her life depended on it, the semi-open kitchen is abuzz and there are bursts of color throughout. In other words, it’s a party. And the food is just as vibrant. If you’re bored of the same dishes and flavors at your usual spots, try Zarate’s ceviche carretillero: big chunks of fresh sea bass in a zippy marinade made with rocoto, a Peruvian pepper said to be hotter than jalapenos. His lomo saltado might be the best in town: the beef is juicy and well seasoned and tossed with wedges of caramelized red onion and tomato. A simple construction of salty, outsized Kennebec fries, each nearly an inch thick, finishes the plate. If you want to experience pure happiness, drag a fry through the flavorful juices on the plate. Lunch specials, all priced at $15, including that lomo saltado, come with two sides, rice and dessert.

Bryant Ng’s two year old Southeast Asian restaurant, in the heart of Little Tokyo, is a perfect date destination. We especially love the back room, with its weathered brick walls, soaring ceiling, empty birdcages suspended overhead and lights turned down low. Many dishes are designed for sharing: juicy lamb belly satay for instance, cooked over an open grill, and Kaya toast. Ng’s version is irresistible: crisp, buttery rectangles of white bread, sandwiching the barest touch of coconut jam. Served with the toast is a gently cooked, runny egg the waiter will crack into a bowl for you, a small dish of soy sauce and another of white pepper. The protocol here is to mix these ingredients together and then dip the toast into the rich, yolky goodness. One could easily make a meal of the small plates alone. Fried cauliflower in a light, tempura-like batter is another crowd favorite. But there are more substantial dishes too, including rich, aromatic, tongue-searing laksa, a coconut and curry based soup laced with fat, slippery rice noodles, whole shrimp, strips of fish cake and bits of tender mussel.

Even after all these years, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken’s restaurants feel as hip and current as the day they opened. The Downtown Border Grill is no exception. With its splashes of bright color and outsized cartoonish murals on the walls, it’s not hard to feel festive. Add a good margarita or mojito and it’s pretty much guaranteed. Fresh and spunky ceviches are delicious, especially the Peruvian and the Baja. The former is served on plantain chips and topped with wedges of ripe avocado; the latter arrives on a crispy mini tortilla and is finished with a creamy cilantro aioli. If you want to sample a few of Border Grill’s popularity contest winners, the Border Classics is a good way to go. It features two mini green corn tamales, corn husk packages you open to reveal an irresistibly rich, custardy, sweet corn pudding; two plantain empanadas filled with black beans that substitute plantain for the usual dough ‘crust’; and lastly, two chicken panuchos, fat corn tortillas filled with black beans and topped with juicy chunks of grilled chicken.

Judging by the throng of people loitering outside Sushi Gen on a weekday at 11:30 a.m., you might get the impression that this is the only sushi bar around. In fact, there must be at least dozen within a couple of blocks. Sushi Gen is simply the best of the bunch. And their lunch specials are superb. If you don’t want to hear the dreaded “It will be about half an hour” at lunchtime, come a few minutes before opening or after the rush, around 1:15 p.m. The sizable sushi bar is reserved for those ordering a la carte. You'll need a table if you want to order one of the specials. The $15 sashimi special is excellent. Like all the lunch specials, it includes a tiny salad of pickled cabbage and cucumber, cubes of lush, warm tofu scented with soy sauce, and miso soup. The quality of the fish here is stellar and cuts are generous. Witness the thick swatches of kanpachi and tuna in the center of the plate. The fish is meaty and buttery. Bits of salty, cooked tuna, almost like tuna jerky, are a revelation. There’s also crab, spicy tuna, spicy salmon and toro. It’s plated beautifully and comes with a bowl of warm, toothsome rice.