Los Angeles is a city exploding with new eateries. Brave chefs and hospitality workers have been knocked down over and over the last few years. Many had to reinvent their menus to survive.
However, this is a resilient city where culinary creatives from all over the world continue to flock and test out inventive ideas – often bringing diverse cuisines and melding cultures, all while using California farm-fresh produce. This innovative energy has always been the beauty of sunny LA.
Matū
LA is always at the culinary forefront. The team behind Sugarfish brings a 100% grass-fed-wagyu tasting menu that changes nightly, featuring rich, high-quality beef from First Light Farms in New Zealand.
Expect cuts in a variety of preparation methods, such as tartare, bone broth, warm red filet (with Japanese Caesar salad), braised cheek and sliced ribeye, followed by a rich chocolate dessert. This popular, dimly lit Beverly Hills restaurant drips with foliage and offers a set price per person, but additional items can be ordered.
Cobi’s
Transport yourself to Southeast Asia at this spot just a block from the beach in Santa Monica, with dishes like curry puffs, flaky roti and dry-aged branzino with yellow curry, mint, cilantro and Thai basil, all arriving on vintage plates. Add a heaping portion of nasi goreng – flavor-bursting Indonesian-style fried rice with shrimp or pork belly – and round out your meal with a soft-serve sundae tower with brownie bites, peanuts and caramel or Thai tea pudding with flavored boba.
It all comes courtesy of Indonesian-raised Australian chef Cobi Marsh, who was handed the foodie torch from the restaurant’s previous, five-decade-long owners. The dining experience includes intimate garden-patio spaces and a cozy, eclectic room with kitschy floral prints and throwback grandma-style décor.
Gastro Garage
There are gimmicks, and then there’s fire fun. A sort of molecular gastronomy, this eight-course pop-up dinner stars “Gastro Mechanics” flaming and searing their ingredients with blowtorches until they transform into deliciously unique dishes – think torched maple-glazed carrots on drill bits with a foam dip, sous-vide salmon scorched before your eyes with foam essence, tender marinated short ribs, deconstructed pizza, Cubanos and brioche doughnuts injected with everything from nitrous foam to peanut butter or double chocolate.
Cabra
Atop the Hoxton hotel in downtown LA, you’ll find Peruvian-inspired cuisine in a beautiful setting. Arrive before sunset for a memorable rooftop dinner with city views and shareable plates, such as goat empanadas, salmon ceviche and a highly craveable wood-fired cauliflower with quinoa crunch, mint and limey huacatay.
The restaurant’s impressive menu features wood-fired skirt steak bathed with tots, stir-fried veggies and saltado sauce and crispy branzino in a pineapple sweet-and-sour sauce, with a potato herb salad. Clink the night away with a gin-based coconut-banana tropical fizz.
Ka’teen
Tulum seems to be LA’s favorite getaway, and now you don’t even have to leave to find yourself in the Yucatan’s lush jungles. A bamboo tunnel leads into this dimly lit hotspot at the new Tommie Hotel in Hollywood, with more than 5000 sq ft of outdoor dining space shrouded in foliage, candles and hanging basket lamps. Selecting from a menu curated by James Beard nominee chef Wes Avila, guests are encouraged to share striped-bass ceviche, Mexican lager–battered Baja fish tacos, whole-grilled pescado Zarandeado and juicy, banana-leaf-wrapped cochinita pibil – all arriving on boards with various salsas and accouterments to make your own tacos. Ilegal Mezcal cocktails and a side of frijoles de la olla (beans) should be mandatory.
Soko
Tucked inside the Fairmont Miramar lobby in Santa Monica, this eight-seater sushi bar offers a small menu consisting of traditional nigiri, Japanese cucumber salad, creamy miso soup and shareables like platters of bluefin tuna platter and an eight-piece sashimi omakase. Those who appreciate the artistry of sushi will love watching chef Masa Shimakawa mold the rice and slice fresh cuts of fatty tuna (toro). Add uni and salmon roe to your order, alongside a delightful Konteki Tears of Dawn sake.
Girl & the Goat
Bravo’s Top Chef winner and a James Beard–decorated chef, Chicago’s Stephanie Izard not only brings Cabra to downtown LA, but also Girl & the Goat to the Arts District, where unexpected flavor bursts occur throughout your meal. This globally inspired New American menu excites with every course by exploiting sweet and savory medleys, often with a toasted-quinoa-crunch texture, even in dessert.
Angelini Ristorante & Bar
Since 2001, Italians have flocked to Angelini Osteria in Beverly Grove, but now chef Gino Angelini – who hails from Rimini, Italy – has expanded and created this brand-new location closer to the ocean, in the swanky Palisades Village. Savor the delightful antipasti starter of cold lobster salad and warm Mediterranean octopus salad. Diners who adore Angelini’s pasta skills can now enjoy his signature lasagna verde made with homemade spinach pasta, beef-and-pork ragu, béchamel and parmigiano.
