The Best Dishes Eater Editors Ate This Week: September 2 | Eater LA

"One of two new restaurants that debuted inside the Torrance Tokyo Central Market on Pacific Coast Highway, Pasta Stories brings Japanese-style Italian pasta to the mini food court that also boasts a ramen shop from Ginza Onodera. Pasta Stories draws recipes from chef Yoshikazu Masuda, who learned pasta at Piedmont’s avant-garde Combal.Zero, going on to open Il Sogno in Fukuoka in 2005. The bill of fare here is much more approachable, with most dishes between $8.50 and $16.50, but prepared with a good level of attention to detail. The wagyu beef meat sauce spaghetti uses intensely ripe canned tomatoes with tender ground chunks of wagyu beef. There’s a strong flavor of wine in the sauce, giving it a sweetness and depth that defines Japanese-style pasta. The sauce doesn’t quite stick to the al dente pasta like it would in a classic Italian restaurant, mainly because the thinner, more brothy sauce pools underneath. It also means the cheese, a grated Parmesan, rests like snow atop the pasta mountain instead of being fused into the sauce. Japanese-style pasta is its own vibe, something lighter but intensely umami, and Pasta Stories pretty much nails the formula, even in a grocery store food court." - Eater Staff