Los Angeles Times, December 2010
“L.A.’s revolution in dining” by S. Irene Virbila
View Article
“John Sedlar is upping his game at Rivera, his sophisticated and entertaining ode to Latin food.”
Los Angeles Magazine, October 2010
“Border Guard” by Margot Dougherty
View Article
“So much of what John has done over the years has been fueled by his insatiable interest in and curiosity about the history of food and the cultures it comes from,” says Evan Kleiman, the host of KCRW’s Good Food and chef-owner of Angeli Caffe. “He’s a food scholar. That would send some chefs down the rabbit hole of intense technique, but John’s food is very direct. Every restaurant he’s done is like a thesis, and now Rivera is his dissertation—a really delicious one.”
LA Weekly Blog, September 2010
“Where Are Our Latino Chefs” by Amy Scattergood
View Article
“When people leave Los Angeles I think what they want to come back home to is Mexican food. The identity of the city, really our true heritage is Latin. It’s Mexican, Zapotec, South American, Spanish, Portuguese.”- JRS
LA Times, August 2010
“Rivera Menu Features 300 Years Worth of Culinary History” by Jessica Gelt
View Article
Travel + Leisure, May 2010
“Best Restaurants in Los Angeles” by Peter Jon Lindberg
View Article
Los Angeles Magazine, March 2010
“Best New Restaurants”
“Located near L.A. Live, the restaurant, a glossy den with electronic murals on the walls and light fixtures modeled on a conquistador’s helmet, embodies a passionate dialogue between the Americas and Spain. Sedlar hews to tradition without being bound by it. Hand-pressed tortillas that carry the ancestral tang of ground nixtamal might be a preamble to cochinita pibil, slowly cooked pork rubbed with achiote—a Yucatecan classic that he tweaks with purple Peruvian potatoes. Just as in Mexico City, the chile pasilla is served chilled, but the filling of burrata contributes an unexpected lushness. The baba cachaca dessert, bolstered with citrus slices and Brazilian sugarcane brandy before being finished with Chantilly cream, combines the exactitude of a Parisian patisserie and the abandon of a Rio bar. Sedlar has been roaming the borderlands between worlds for more than two decades, and Rivera is his most brilliant articulation of the theme.”
View Article
LA Times, January 2010
“A critic’s most memorable dining experiences of 2009” by S. Irene Virbila
“We all have our secret pleasures. Sometimes it’s a late-night tongue or carnitas taco eaten with salsa dribbling down your chin while standing in the pool of light next to a taco truck. L.A. is full of such spots for Mexican food. But something more elevated is hard to find. That’s why dinner at Rivera is such a treat. At this casually elegant spot, John Rivera Sedlar weaves bright Latin flavors together to create irresistible dishes. I can’t stay away from the warm tortillas florales imprinted with flowers and herbs, or the “dog’s snout” salsa that will leave your nose running from the chile quotient. I love his Spanish-inflected duck confit in a puddle of Rioja sauce fired with Cascabel chiles and the pork shoulder braised in a banana leaf until it’s so tender you can literally cut it with a spoon. It’s sumptuous and down to earth at the same time, both wildly inventive and delicious.”
View Article