The 101. It's what Southern Californians call the Hollywood Freeway, which cuts through downtown

L.A. and also through the northern part of the city, but it's also a late-time's lingo for our annual

list of the best restaurants in the region. So whether you live here or coming to visit over,

the holidays are dreaming of a future trip because everyone should come to L.A. This is your eating homework.

The latest 101 list is now online and an awesome print package is coming out this Sunday.

And it also comes at a crucial time in food journalism because the genre, it's a change in.

I'm Gustavo Ariano.

You're listening to The Times, Daily News from the L Times. It's Friday, December 10th, 2021. We're not going to read all the restaurants in the LA Times 101 list today, but we're definitely going to offer some highlights, high-end spots, mom-and-pop places, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Korean, and beyond. I'll be honest. I haven't eaten out that much during the pandemic, so this LA Times 101 list is exciting for me because it's time to go out and eat. And let's hope there's no more shutdowns with Omicron, you know? But as a food writer, I'm also going out there thinking about how I should write about these places, how I should consider them. Such conversations have been happening in food journalism for years, but in the COVID Times,

the issue is more urgent than ever.

My colleague Bill Addison is the author of the LA Times 101 list, all by himself.

He's our food critic and also helped to shape last year's list, which came out at a time where all restaurants in Los Angeles County were shut down

for in-person dining. Bill, welcome to the Times. Good to be here, Gustavo. Thank you so much.

So part of me just wants you and I to have this whole episode to just read the whole 101 list,

like performance art. Like, Petitouille, Amatole. Holy Basin.

Crossroads.

Catusando

Phanape.

We could go on forever.

And what's interesting is that this year's edition is appearing while COVID-19 is still real, but people can now actually go out and eat in restaurants indoors.

So compare that to earlier in the pandemic where indoor dining at restaurants in L.A. County wasn't allowed for the better part of a year.

The 2020 edition of the 101 list acknowledged that and specifically celebrated, quote, resilience.

So how do you define resilience last year and how does that spirit continue with this year's

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