Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr.'s Mountain of Perfectly Fried Tempura Is My Reason for Driving Up and Down California | Bon Appétit

"Led by chef Carlos Pinto—who moved from Peru to Japan, trained at Tokyo’s Hannouske, and later oversaw its Torrance outpost before opening his own—this temple to tempura emphasizes restraint, balance and careful technique. The signature tempura bowl is a towering mound of crackling batter: each item is dipped in a simple mix of Japanese flour and very cold water and fried in a sesame-soybean oil blend so ingredients finish softly cooked (not mushy) while the coating shatters like a croissant. Components include flaky white fish for meatiness, sweet kabocha squash, ocean-kissed seaweed for salt, spicy shishito peppers, large shrimp, a cluster of tiny scallops for a luxurious touch, and a poached egg whose yolk pools over pearly sticky rice. Cartoonish drawings of Pinto decorate the restaurant and the menu recounts how tempura rescued him from loneliness; he says the food is made with passion. The reviewer called it the reason to keep returning to Torrance, California." - ByElyse Inamine