The Gold Award was created by and named after former L.A. Times Food critic and editor, Jonathan Gold. In our 6th year selecting a winner, our new Food editorial team's General Manager and wife of the late Jonathan Gold, Laurie Ochoa has chosen the 2022 winner, in his honor. Food Bowl is excited to celebrate the winner of the Los Angeles Times 2022 Gold Award, Meals by Genet. Chef Genet Agonafer’s vegetarian combination platter still reigns among the city’s supreme meat-free pleasures, a color wheel of bright green collards, ruddy lentils and orange-tinted split peas, turmeric-stained cabbage and carrots, tomato salad and lemony beets. And it’s hard to envision L.A. dining culture without her doro wat, chicken simmered with sharp, earthy berbere spices for two days until every flavor blends into indivisible harmony. In May 2021, Genet announced her semi-retirement and closed her restaurant to dining, only offering takeout from her Little Ethiopia institution.
In celebration of the Gold Award, Genet will open her doors once again and host a select number of all-inclusive family-style dinners featuring the menu’s finest dishes. Dinner tickets include a selection of appetizers, mains, beer, wine, and dessert.