Article from laist: Blown Away By Los Angeles Magazine's Annual Food Event

Rivera Restaurant Celebrity Chef John Rivera Sedlar Feeding the Camel (Elise Thompson/LAist)

This past Sunday, Los Angeles Magazine hosted their 3rd Annual Food Event, held on a hot and blustery afternoon at Saddlerock Ranch, a winery tucked into the hills of Mulholland Hwy in Malibu. The rustic landscape was criss-crossed by narrow, bumpy roads that heightened the excitement as we drove onto the property, with slivers of dappled hillsides, vineyards, and pens holding exotic--and less exotic--animals came into view on the way to the clearing where the tents and tables were set up.

Read the whole article here.

Esquire's Best New Restaurants 2009

Rivera

Los Angeles

1050 South Flower Street, 213-749-1460; riverarestaurant.com

By John Mariani

Photo credit:Eddie Sotto

It becomes very clear very quickly when a chef is having a ball, and John Sedlar is having a ball. You can tell by the fresh, hot tortillas with Yucatan-style charred-habanero "dog snout" salsa, named for the chiles that make your nose run like a Chihuahua's. But he is dead serious that Mexican food — careful, high-end Mexican food — should get as much respect as French and Italian cuisine, and he makes his case with wonderful dishes like braised barbecued pork short ribs with toasty, dried-guajillo-chile sauce. He corroborates it with sea trout suffused with aromatic, saffron-colored quinoa, which takes on a piquancy from yellow gazpacho sauce. Some of the food packs heat, but Sedlar is not interested in spiciness unless there are levels upon levels of flavor and texture. By the time you get to the crunch and heat of wild striped bass with tomatillos and tempura-fried chiles, Sedlar has ended any debate over whether true greatness can come from the humble food culture he so loves. Even if he does serve chapulines, which are grasshoppers.

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/food-drink/best-new-restaurants-2009/rivera-los-angeles#ixzz0VwB1IE9N

Rivera Restaurant Slideshow!

LA Times Reviews Rivera Restaurant

Chef John Rivera Sedlar makes auspicious return

The visionary behind such onetime L.A. eateries as Saint Estephe, Bikini and Abiquiu does himself proud with the Latin-themed Rivera.

By S. IRENE VIRBILA, Restaurant Critic
February 9, 2009

Spread the word: John Rivera Sedlar is back! The chef who brought us Saint Estephe in the late '80s, then Bikini and Abiquiu (all, sadly, gone) and then took a break from restaurants for far too long, has opened Rivera in downtown L.A. on Flower Street, a stone's throw from L.A. Live.

To read the whole review, visit the LA Times here

Rivera Restaurant's Menu

tidbits | snacks
essences of tomato, chile lime and avocado with chips $3
spanish olives with a progression of stuffings $4
zapotec charred-habanero "dog's nose" salsa with mini chips $4
housemade nixtamal tortillas with Indian butter $4
two Latin soups in a pony shot glass $2
kennebec potato chips chipotle lime crema, caviar $5
cracklings of locally raised pork with cascabel romesco $3

appetizers | tapas
vermicelli with shiitake julienne and seared scallops $12
crudo: scallops, cucumber, horseradish pearls, ginger salsa cocktail $9
playa bar seviche - ahi tuna with serranos, lime, ginger $11
grilled prawns with basque epellette pepper $16
pickled mild chile stuffed with avocado salad $10
frisee, idiazbal cheese, marconas, xerez vinegar $8
mussels with chorizo and aji amarillo pisco broth $8
seared black cod with serrano ham crisps $16
grilled quail with black beans $14
foie gras with blood orange confit $30
duck with a sauce of rioja wine and moriat chiles $13
basque lamb chops with chorizo, piquillos, olives, capers $14
tamale of plantain, black beans, kurobuta pork $9
world's finest ham and housemade breads $45

larger plates
halibut with saffron quinoa and hibiscus vinaigrette $23
steamed dungeoness crab with colombian aromatics $35
chicken with cara cara, bood orange, pomelo $22
deconstructed turkey mole $19
pork shoulder slow cooked in banana leaves $21
prime rib-eye mignon, yellow gazpacho sauce, onion foam $31

colorful sauces | sides
salsa guajillo | salsa romesco | salsa habanero | salsa aji amarillo each $2
frijoles negros | frijoles verdes | fideo | calabacitas | confit de papas dulces each $4