Chicken a la roast

There are lots of places where you can score a tasty roasted chicken. Some people swear by Zankou, others Costco. But sometimes you want some service with your bird.

Le Petit Jardin

The secret to the roasted chicken at Raoul and Celine Sotelo’s sweet little restaurant-cum-flower shop is that it gets finished in a pizza oven, so the skin gets good and crisp. A little fresh garlic tucked under the skin and rubbed on the outside before cooking helps too. The juicy half-bird comes with a heap of shoestring fries.

* Chicken, $14.95. 1456 S. Robertson Blvd., L.A., (310) 278-5294.

Avenue

The “grandmother’s chicken” at Christian Shaffer’s chic, beachside boite isn’t his grandma’s recipe, rather his imagining of that of a hypothetical French grand-mere. Half a Jidori chicken goes skin-side down in a hot black steel pan to brown the skin. Then into the oven it goes to finish cooking. It is served with a rich gravy and roasted root vegetables.

* Chicken, $24. 1141 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, (310) 802-1973.

Cafe Pinot

The chefs at this sophisticated cafe in the shadow of the Central Library have the roasted chicken recipe nailed. They paint the skin with whole-grain mustard and add whole mustard seeds for flavor and crunch. Then it cooks on the rotisserie for about an hour and a half. A small mountain of parsley-

flecked fries accompanies.

* Chicken, $19.25. 700 W. 5th St., downtown L.A., (213) 239-6500.

Wilshire

Chef de cuisine Noah Rosen uses his Grandma Lea’s recipe, which includes grated carrot, ginger and orange zest, to make the matzo balls he serves with organic roast chicken breast at this progressive American dining room with the dramatic patio. What pulls the dish together is the rich chicken consomme the waiter pours into the bowl tableside upon service.

* Chicken, $28. 2454 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 586-1707.

The Blvd.

Cut, the other restaurant in the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, seems to get all the attention. But you can also eat very nicely, thank you, at this spot. Among the options: a slow-roasted chicken breast paired with braised morels, whatever beautiful vegetables chef Conny Andersson finds at the farmers market, and horseradish mashed potatoes.

* Chicken, $33. 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 385-3901.