Casa Madera and Four Other New Los Angeles Restaurants to Try Now
Los Angeles’ dining culture is as diverse as its neighborhoods and the people who inhabit them. And with each new restaurant opening, the scene becomes broadened by unique dishes, elevated cocktails and smart atmospheric design that add color and texture to the city. In a place where there’s no shortage of sunlight — and where bars and lounges close not long after midnight — a leisurely, thoughtful meal is oftentimes an afternoon or night’s main event. With this in mind, The Hollywood Reporter has compiled a list of places in L.A. (which is ongoing) that have opened in recent months and are making eating out an event again.
Casa Madera
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Casa Madera Opens at the Mondrian Los Angeles in Famed Asia de Cuba Space
Tucked inside the Sunset Strip’s Mondrian hotel, Casa Madera, an 8,000-square-foot coastal Mexican restaurant, is the newest dining destination from Noble 33 hospitality group, and the second Casa Madera location (following Toronto’s) for the restaurant (it is also Toca Madera’s sister restaurant). The immersive environment — which boasts a central bar, al fresco tables, booths and a private dining room -— exists both indoors and outdoors on the Mondrian’s covered deck. The menu is seafood-forward, flanked by quality meats and fresh ingredients: sea scallop and striped bass aguachile with bergamot and ginger, grilled octopus with sweet corn puree, seared wagyu with whiskey barrel aged soy air, and jalapeno and cucumber salad with cilantro and pink peppercorn. The brown butter tarta, a dessert with blueberry gelee and brown butter ice cream, is a particular standout. 8440 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood
Mirate
Chef Joshua Gil and his partner Matthew Egan, who together opened the Cal-Mex specialist Mirame in Beverly Hills early in the pandemic, have unveiled a second act in this more casual and lively Los Feliz sibling at the former Rockwell address. At Mirate, they’re investigating other Alta California flavors — including their take on a scallop tlayuda with uni sofrito and peanut salsa, as well as a wood-oven-roasted lobster with corn esquites — in a space whose new design pulls from Oaxaca as well as Frank Lloyd Wright’s local Ennis House, itself Mayan-inspired. 1712 N. Vermont Ave. – Gary Baum
Saltie Girl
Boston’s Saltie Girl, a seafood destination merging East Coast sensibilities with ingredients inspired by Spain’s cuisine, has now landed in West Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard. The expansive raw bar, made possible by relationships with fishmongers and purveyors, is a major draw, along with the restaurant’s tinned fish collection — one of the largest in the country. The menu includes seafood towers, daily oyster selections, a lobster roll, and seasonal crudos. There is also a separate menu wholly devoted to more than 130 different varieties of tinned fish, and a distinct pastry program with offerings like a coconut caramel brownie tart. The 90-seat restaurant and bar has indoor and patio seating. 8615 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood
Great White Melrose
Great White, the Australian-owned all-day café, has already made waves in Venice Beach and Larchmont Village, but recently expanded to its third location in West Hollywood on Melrose Avenue. The menu, helmed by Chilean chef Juan Ferreiro offers local, hyperseasonal, coastal fare, including items like ricotta hotcakes, mushroom fries with lemon zest and thai basil and a salmon coconut curry bowl with black rice, bok choy and sweet potatoes. Natural wines and coffee options abound to round out the morning-to-evening menu. 8917 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood
Cork & Batter
Cork & Batter, a new three-level dining destination with a rooftop, is in the heart of Inglewood’s growing sports and entertainment district: across from The Hollywood Park and Casino, walking distance to SoFi Stadium, and directly in front of the Intuit Dome. Connected to the newly built Sonder Lum Hotel, the restaurant features elevated bar appetizers and a range of entrees, including buffalo chicken sliders, a chimichurri skirt steak, truffle mushroom pizza, and spicy tuna crispy rice with serrano chili and ponzu. 3900 W Century Blvd, Inglewood
See our previous suggestions below:
Per L’Ora
Located in Downtown’s Hotel Per La and designed by Jaqui Seerman, Per L’Ora is an ornately decorated restaurant staying true to its roots (it’s housed in the former Bank of Italy building) by bringing coastal Italian flavors to Los Angeles cuisine. Developed in tandem with the hotel’s daytime Café Ora and rooftop hang Bar Clara, the menu features starters like Spanish mackerel with spicy tomato on toast and tuna carpaccio, mains that include a bone-in veal milanese with fermented chile vinaigrette, and a range of fruity desserts. The bar’s popular mezcal verde, apertivo, Genepy liqueur and lime cocktail rounds out the experimental drink menu. 649 S Olive St.
Mr. T
Mr. T, the contemporary French concept that first opened in Paris in 2017, has landed in Los Angeles under the direction of head chef Tsuyoshi Miyazaki and restaurateur Guillaume Guedj (Gyoza Bar, Ramen Bar, Passage 53). Inspired by the thrilling allure of late-night street food across the globe, the menu is expressed through classic French technique, as evidenced by fan favorites like roast lamb kebab and comte mac and cheese with mimolette flambé and cauliflower tiki masala. As for drinks, the burgundy and Bordeaux offerings are curated from Guedj’s personal collection. The restaurant, which has an open-air terrace, centers on a dining room marked by quartz, concrete and Tzalam wood sourced just outside of Mexico City. 953 N Sycamore Ave.
Caviar Kaspia
The iconic French caviar brand, which was born in Paris in 1927 and has long been a go-to destination for top artists across music and fashion, has now landed in Los Angeles on Melrose Place. The hybrid restaurant, lounge and boutique is operated by Kith co-founder Sam Ben-Avraham and former Iro executive Rahav Zuta, and the open-air garden seats approximately 50 guests. The menu includes lavish dishes like squid-ink spaghetti with uni butter, salmon roe, pecorino and dill; tarragon-infused grilled cheese; and Dungeness crab crostini with chili-lime dressing. And the caviar service offers seven different varieties, which range from $110 to $1,990. 8475 Melrose Pl.
Lemon Grove
Located on the rooftop of The Aster, a new private members club in Hollywood, Lemon Grove is open to the public, featuring views of the Hollywood sign by day and the nearby Capitol Records building aglow at night. Chef Marcel Vigneron’s menu is true to California cuisine’s market-to-table approach: hamachi pizzette with avocado, pickled asian pear, thai chili and furikake; mixed mushroom flatbread; lemon pasta; and a five-spice heritage duroc pork chop with peach habanero compote, melted leeks and wilted kale.
“The interesting part about Hollywood is that before all the buildings were here, there were actual lemon groves here so that history was something that we tried to pull up there,” Salt Hotels co-founder Kevin O’Shea told THR. “And I think the rooftop has this kind of agrarian look to it, where it’s this oasis in the craziness of the center Hollywood. You’ve got all this very urban landscape, so up there we tried to bring in a country, California look.” 1717 Vine St Floor 6
Crossroads Kitchen at The Commons in Calabasas
Along with popular now-chains like Butcher’s Daughter and Great White, which have both recently opened new locations on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, Crossroads Kitchen has expanded to Calabasas tucked in the oft celebrity-frequented retail and entertainment complex The Commons. This marks the second Los Angeles location for chef Tal Ronnen’s plant-based restaurant (there’s also one in Las Vegas), a testament to the appeal of flexitarian food options for Angelenos. The vegan Mediterranean menu features items like chilled leek and celery root soup, squash tortelli and black mission fig pizza, along with a robust cocktail menu that includes drinks like the “Hollywood Babylon” made of chopin, limoncello, lavender simple syrup and lemongrass. 4776 Commons Way Suite A, Calabasas
