Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 1 day ago
To celebrate the city of Los Angeles in the wake of last year's devastating fires, AD asked a group of iconic Angelenos to share their favorite local places. This is Ali Wong’s love letter to LA. Wong joins AD at Bistro Na’s, an LA restaurant inspired by Qing dynasty imperial design. The comedian and actress explores how the ornate interiors, transportive ambiance, and rare imperial Chinese cuisine make her feel like she’s stepped into ancient China without leaving Los Angeles.

AD is proud to partner with The Foothill Catalog Foundation and San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild homes in Altadena. To donate, go to https://sgvhabitat.charityproud.org/Donate/Index/40825

Michael Shome - Global Visuals Director
Melissa Maria - Senior Visuals editor
Lizzie Soufleris - Visuals Editor
Transcript
00:00Don't I seem regal?
00:01Doesn't it seem like I don't talk about poo-poo, pee-pee,
00:03and on stage?
00:05Didn't I fool you with all of this beautiful lighting
00:08and the food?
00:11Yeah, right?
00:25There's a lot of things that make LA special,
00:28but for me, it's really the people and the food.
00:32That's what it really comes down to,
00:33because I'm from San Francisco,
00:35so this is kind of sacrilege to say,
00:37but I think LA has the best people.
00:40It's very diverse, and that's why you get access
00:42to really specific, amazing cuisine like this
00:45that doesn't have to cater to, like, a mainstream palate.
00:50Bistro Na is straight up my favorite Chinese restaurant
00:52in Los Angeles.
00:53I'm gonna have to think a little bit harder about, you know,
00:57if I'm gonna make it, like, my favorite Chinese restaurant
00:59in America, because it might start a bunch of fights
01:01that I don't really feel like getting into.
01:04But in LA, I will say, hands down,
01:06this is my favorite Chinese restaurant.
01:08One of my friends brought me here the first time,
01:11and he was like,
01:12this is food that they served in the imperial court
01:15during the Qing dynasty.
01:17Usually, you would have to go to, like, China
01:19and go on a tour with your family,
01:22where there's someone leading you with, like, a flag,
01:25with, like, 10 senior citizens
01:27who have nothing better to do but, you know,
01:31eat meal after meal like that.
01:32But this was the first time I had this kind of food
01:34in America.
01:36Look at this.
01:36This food has, like, pedestals.
01:38There's, like, carvings on the side.
01:41And then this right here, this is made out of the collagen
01:44from pig's feet.
01:46And then it has little bits of broccoli, and it's beautiful.
01:49It looks like a piece of jewelry.
01:51Where else are you gonna get that?
01:52I took my mom here, who was such a hater,
01:56and I was prepared for her to cook through everything,
01:58and she loved it.
01:59It passed the Tami test.
02:01I've had so many great memories here.
02:03I've celebrated so many amazing birthdays
02:05and reunions here,
02:07so this place really has a special place in my heart.
02:44The whole reason why I did this today
02:47was because I love this restaurant so much.
02:49And after COVID,
02:50so many of my favorite restaurants went out of business,
02:53and I felt like I could have done more
02:56to shine a light on how great they are
02:57and to draw people to come.
02:59So I really hope people come to Bistro Na,
03:01and that this place lives on forever.
03:03And then I just hope that people can appreciate
03:06after seeing this, like, just have so much gratitude
03:08for, like, what all the immigrant communities
03:12have contributed to make L.A. so special.
03:44This light on the light on the light on the light on the light.
03:55The Strap is the Greek
03:56The Strap is the same as the construction of the century
03:57It is the denser and the construction of the French
04:02we have built in the U.S.
04:02It's going to be out, four of them.
04:04This was from the宋代 and the秦代.
04:07The same was also being held in the spring.
04:09This construction is the same as China.
04:12It is our own factory, our own工廠, and our own factory.
04:15And they運 to America, and come to the United States.
04:19This is the restaurant's biggest room.
04:22It's a building in Beijing.
04:27If there is a tour, it's a theater,
04:30It feels like a guest room.
04:33I'd like to invite your friends.
04:37There are also traditional traditional Chinese temple.
04:45These are very important.
04:48For example, this is a chair.
04:50This is a chair.
04:51There are large chairs and small chairs.
04:54This is a chair.
04:55This chair is made of a chair.
04:59The chair is made of a chair.
05:00It is made of five-inch chair.
05:01It's not a chair.
05:04The table is usually an old table.
05:07It's a chair that every customer can share it.
05:10This is a shared understanding of China.
05:14It's not very similar to the Western.
05:16The Western table is a long table.
05:19It's a chair.
05:21In China, it's a large table to share the menu.
05:31This restaurant is so amazing because usually when you go to a Chinese restaurant they don't really give a shit
05:37about ambiance and you know it's a lot of like fluorescent lights the best you'll get is like a pink
05:45tablecloth and a man dressed in a maroon bow tie and and you know like that's a vibe too but
05:51this is a whole different level.
05:56Look at that okay see this is how you know it's really quality because see how the skin is very
06:02separate from the meat and that's like really puffy that's how you know how that it's like really crispy.
06:15What's great about LA it's this metropolis where you can like just be transported into a totally different world.
06:24That is something you can only get in LA and that feels like home to me.
Comments

Recommended