We asked L.A. chefs for their favorite restaurants — other than their own

Brenda Elizondo is an audience engagement fellow at the Los Angeles Times. She was previously a video content creator and reporter for L.A. Times Food and De Los, the Latinidad section. She received her bachelor’s degree in communications from Cal State Fullerton.

Defne Karabatur is platforms analyst at the Los Angeles Times. She graduated from UC Berkeley, where she studied applied mathematics, English and political economy, and previously was a 2023-24 Times fellow. Karabatur got her start in journalism working for the Daily Californian, Berkeley’s independent, student-run newspaper, where she was the 2022-23 creative director. She grew up in Connecticut and Istanbul.

David Viramontes is an audience editor for Entertainment and Arts. Before coming to the Los Angeles Times, he worked at Variety, the entertainment industry magazine. He graduated from the USC and grew up in Los Angeles.