Jitlada: Los Angeles, California
Follow Ryan Gosling’s footsteps to Jitlada, where the actor is a regular. Indeed, this family-run southern Thai temple has won over much of L.A., luring diners to a mini-mall in the Thai Town neighborhood, an unassuming location offset by the nuclear dishes you’d be hard-pressed to find outside Hat Yai. Expect a wait—with only three stoves and 50 seats, there’s almost always a line, though that doesn’t stop chef Tui Sungkamee’s menu from spanning some 300 dishes, including coconut mango salad, a curative tom yum soup (a lemongrass-laced broth with chiles and Kaffir lime), fiery Phangga jungle curry, and eel with stinky beans. He spends hours at local farmers’ markets personally selecting the night’s ingredients, while his sister Jazz—Jitlada’s infectious co-owner and host—grows herbs like galangal and turmeric in her home garden. If you’re lucky, Jazz will be persuaded to make her off-menu Thai burger.