Reporters name the best dishes they ate at Southern California restaurants in October

A short stretch of breezy fall weather finally reached Southern California in October, and the change of seasons has restaurants across the region debuting new dishes and bringing back limited-time favorites. Los Angeles Daily News reporters spent the month sampling menus, and their picks stretch across Los Angeles and Orange counties and the Inland Empire.

In La Habra, the Oct. 21 grand opening of Mercado González brought together Northgate Market owners, politicians and guests for a ceremonial first bite of concha, ushering in the company's second Mercado concept. The market's panaderia bakes its pan dulce daily, including the Mexican sweet bread with its distinctive shell-patterned, crackly sugar top, and the sprawling space also offers tacos, ceviche and sheets of chicharrones. Restaurant reporter Brock Keeling suggested pairing the pastry with a cup of coffee.

At South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, the new Blue Box Café by Daniel Boulud at Tiffany & Co. serves oeuf brouillé, a softly scrambled egg presented in its own shell and topped with dark Ossetra caviar. Keeling wrote that the dish, part of a $72 tiered Breakfast at Tiffany's offering, makes a good argument for turning breakfast into a special occasion, even if it amounts to only a few small bites.

In Glendale, Pizza Boy won over audience engagement producer Teagan Davidge with nine gluten-free crust options, including broccoli, sweet potato and beet, plus a separate oven where only gluten-free pizzas are prepared. She called the brown rice crust on the Mushroom Lovers Pizza fluffier than any gluten-free crust she had ever had, and said she plans to return for the wings, gluten-free pasta and chicken tenders.

On Ventura Boulevard's Sushi Row in Studio City, Iroha Sushi of Tokyo sits tucked between a Sweetgreen and a Joe & The Juice. Its crispy sushi rice cake breaks from the usual rectangular blocks: the rice is shaped into a round cake, cut into triangles and finished with a choice of fish. Audience engagement producer Carolyn Burt picked salmon and noted the heat comes from chili oil rather than spicy mayo, a welcome change of style.

October was Filipino American History Month, and local reporter Allyson Vergara visited Sampa in the Los Angeles Arts District before the creative Filipino fusion and fine dining restaurant closes its doors at the end of the year. The table ordered kare-kare tamales made with braised oxtail and bagoong powder, kampachi kilawin flavored with coconut, calamansi and ponzu, garlic crab fried rice and pan-seared crispy duck pancit.

At The Ecology Center's Community Table in San Juan Capistrano, senior editor Todd Harmonson described a communal meal shared with friends and strangers, with wine pairings from a Napa Valley estate focused on regenerative farming. Dessert arrived as an individual honeynut squash cinnamon roll built on sourdough brioche with Mexican canela, drawing most of its sweetness from the squash itself and paired with Grgich Hills' 2021 cabernet sauvignon.

Keeling also returned to Sonder in Santa Ana, the restaurant run by siblings Lamson and Diane Nguyen, where sliced outside skirt steak is fanned over coconut-creamed collard greens with a Sichuan vinegar sauce. In San Clemente, he praised the meatballs at Sonny's, listed as an appetizer, and advised ordering garlic bread to mop up the tomato sauce.

Other October picks included the grilled corn with cotija, tajin and a spiced coconut caramel sauce at Girl & the Goat in the Arts District, the grass-fed ribeye and duck speck with honeydew melon at Gwen in Hollywood, and the butternut squash tortellini in brown butter sage sauce at Laurel Hardware.