The December Hit List: Lulu, Bridgetown Roti, Tokki, and More

There are a few great things to know about the Hammer Museum in Westwood: one, it’s free; and two, it’s home to the first Alice Waters-conceived and David Tanis-helmed restaurant in Los Angeles. While Waters worked on the concept with museum director Ann Philbin, Tanis runs the day-to-day, including creating the menus of ever-changing, simple, classic California cooking. Restaurant seating is mostly outdoors; tables are surrounded by native grasses and plants, and they’re made from a 50-year-old bunya tree that fell two blocks from the museum. With its naturally breezy vibe, Lulu is great for a glass of wine and a bite after walking through the galleries. Right now, it’s open only for lunch; dinner starts in the new year.

This Italian stunner has Echo Park all abuzz for its stylish low-key vibe and Roman-inspired menu from chef Joel Stovall. Set inside a 1928 bow-and-truss building off the beaten path (i.e. Echo Park Boulevard), high ceilings give way to a golden glow throughout, with deeply hued green booths and pops of red for a bit of flash. Stovall, an alum of Orsa & Winston, isn’t strictly bound to the Roman playbook but instead travels through Italy, keeping one foot in California. That means you’ll find traditional dishes like cacio e pepe with things like agnolotti with chicken meatballs and pumpkin seeds. The wine list skews natural and Italian, de rigueur for this part of town.

Roti stands are as ubiquitous in Trinidad and Barbados as taco stands are here. And Caribbean food in general has more play in cities like New York and Miami than L.A. Those are two good reasons why this roving pop-up stands out. Chef Rashida Holmes’ flatbreads filled with curried chicken with Weiser potatoes and turmeric-spiced cabbage, or smoked goat shoulder with peanut sauce, are praise-worthy. Other dishes, like cod fish cakes, pigeon peas and rice, and cucumbers with benne seeds and jerk-spiced vinaigrette, should be definite add-ons. Order pickup or delivery from the Arts District homebase on Friday and Saturdays, or hit Smorgasburg on Sundays. Watch Instagram for other pop-up locations.

“When one door closes, another opens,” sounds like something your grandma would say. Seems fitting for a new pizza spot, whose name literally means “from the grandmother,” which took over a Japanese listening bar in the Arts District. The culinary team — Patrick Costa, Jose Cordon, and Lee Zaremba — have worked at all the big places, including Tartine, Felix, and Chicago’s Boka Group. Now they’ve teamed up for Italian soul food, from market-driven square pizzas to Caesar salads, eggplant caponata, and even yellowtail crudo, because this is L.A. Pretty sure your grandma didn’t make Aperol spritz slushies, but they, along with a few other well-curated cocktails, are bang-up tasty here, too.

Part of a new wave of modern Korean restaurants opening around Koreatown, Tokki is just the kind of mashup that speaks to L.A. right now. Chef Sunny Jang, who has worked at high-profile restaurants in San Francisco and New York (Quince and Atomix, respectively) plays with flavors and ingredients for the traditional-leaning menu (i.e. appetizers and entrees), creating boldly flavored dishes like fried rice cakes with rosé gochujang sauce, oyster mushrooms and Manchego, and kalbi steak with truffle aioli. There are soju cocktails, plus sake and natural wines to take you through the night.

The West Hollywood outpost of one of DTLA’s most popular restaurants finally debuted last year after a super-long buildout, but only for takeout. This spring, the dining room and patio opened, and the gleaming marble, gorgeous patisserie case, and open-air seating has been a hit since day one. If you’re a fan of the original DTLA location, after almost two years it’s finally back. While it doesn’t take reservations like WeHo, you can use Resy Waitlist when you’re within a five-mile radius to get on the list. 

While a lot of restaurants have opened during the pandemic, it seems like everyone’s just getting around to checking them out (thanks, vaccines!). Case in point: the Westside outpost of the growing Tartine bakery and cafe brand, which also has locations in Silver Lake and Hollywood. This one, however, is located in what was once a dilapidated funeral home — the one where Ronald Reagan was interred. Now it’s a beautiful spacious cafe with indoor and outdoor seating, a pastry case that makes you drool while standing in line, and lots of grab-and-go options, from granola bark to bottles of wine. The menu has seasonal flourishes, like burrata and tomatoes seasoned with sesame and fennel pollen, grain bowls, tartines, and so much more.

The diminutive Silver Lake wine bar was just getting its bearings when the pandemic hit, but chef Spencer Bezaire and wife Sabrina held on via insanely good hot sauces, a semi-permanent outdoor dining room, and pure chutzpah. The indoor dining room and bar has reopened, once again becoming a go-to for those addictive “big” fries, sometimes topped with merguez sausage and harissa; charcoal-grilled chicken wings with salsa macha; dynamite crispy albacore sandwich; and frolickly pét-nat and skin-contact wines by the glass.

Another casualty of the pandemic, the FO in the Arts District opened January 2020 only to close barely two months later. Chef and owner Sang Yoon didn’t let go, however: the DTLA location has reopened. That means the burger, baskets of fries, plus not-to-miss dishes like duck confit salad and roasted bone marrow with toasts are back, along with the excellent draft beer and wine selection, and cocktails. There’s a bonus to dining here, other than the great location, food, and drinks — parking is only $6 for customers, a boon for the bustling neighborhood. And yes, there is still no ketchup.

Chef Ki Kim, from Jungsik and Atomix in New York, teamed up with the team from Hanchic for this small 20-seater in the heart of Koreatown. Kim offers a contemporary spin on traditional Korean dishes for his tasting menus, things like Korean-style corndogs with prosciutto, Dungeness crab and homemade ketchup; bibimbap with black truffles; and beef tartare with sunchokes. Beer and wine is available, but outdoor dining isn’t; it’s indoor only.

For more than 90 years, the Eastside Deli has endured the Depression, a changing neighborhood, overdevelopment, recessions, and the always-evolving L.A. palate. The Angiuli family can add pandemic to the list — and expansion. For the first time in its history, the deli favored by politicians, cops, Dodgers fans, and anyone who loves a giant sandwich, now has a second location in Los Feliz. The new spot already has a following for its meatball and sausage subs, a cold cut that rivals the Godmother across town, and bricks of lasagna.