New on Resy: N/Soto, Jon & Vinny’s Slauson, Ka’teen, and More

This minimalist tasting-menu pop-up at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo is the first new venture from Niki Nakayama and Carole Iida-Nakayama, whose innovative kaiseki restaurant n/naka has two Michelin stars. Pro tip: Get there early enough to enjoy a drink in the center’s tranquil James Irvine Zen garden.

Chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal, Son of a Gun, Petit Trois, etc.) serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner Italian-style at this casual community-focused South Los Angeles establishment. Come for the offbeat pizzas and housemade pastas, stay for the cookies — there are eight different kinds on the dessert menu.

Havana in the 1950s is the inspiration for this brick-framed Virgil Village salón de cócteles from the owners of El Cochinito and Tropical. Grab a seat at the mirror-backed bar and drift back into earlier times with something tall and cool.

Powerhouse chef-restaurateur Wes Avila (Guerilla Tacos, Angry Egret Dinette) brings coastal Mexican cuisine to the heart of Hollywood with this 5,000-square-foot, mostly outdoor destination restaurant. Your biggest problem here might be in deciding between the whole fish Puerto Vallarta-style and the 32-ounce rib-eye carne asada.

Truffles meet kimchi on chef Sunny Jang’s menu at this attractively austere modern Korean place in Koreatown’s lively Chapman Plaza. Spirits-lovers won’t want to miss the sabe — tequila- or rum-infused sake.

As if its cocktails, café fare, and roasted-in-Brooklyn java weren’t enough, the L.A. outpost of Stone Street Coffee ups the game with this second-story speakeasy. Bargain for ornate Prohibition-era furnishings (Tiffany lamps, an actual copper bathtub), and enjoy seven kinds of gin and tonic, burlesque shows on Tuesdays, and more.

Here’s good news: Everybody’s favorite roving pizza pop-up, famed for its rectangular focaccia-style pies, has settled into a permanent home — a colorful, greenery-filled indoor-outdoor Arts District space that adds a raw bar and a list of natural wines to the recipe.

Editor’s note: As of Jan. 24, 2024, Kinn has rebranded into a new concept, Jilli.

Chef Ki Kim (Benu in San Francisco, Atomix and Jungsik in New York) reimagines Korean food at this low-key tasting menu restaurant, with luxurious ingredients, refined technique, and a sense of fun. Let’s just say there are black truffles in the bibimbap.

Echo Park has never seen anything like this: a big, open, wood-framed space turned elegant with black-and-white marble, dark green banquettes and booths, and polished brass tableaux by photographer Matt Lipps in a 1928-vintage building. The fare? Full-flavored Italian with a Roman accent by chef Joel Stovall (Orsa & Winston).

Because there’s no such thing as too much Italian food, this homey local favorite definitely deserves a place on your hit list. You’ll want to order plenty — antipasto, pizza, pasta, main dishes ranging from salmon with pesto to sausage and polenta … and definitely wine, from a long list with offerings by the bottle and glass.

Perle chef Dean Yasharian cooked at Bar Boulud in New York and London, and clearly learned his classic French lessons well. You may be in Old Town Pasadena, but you’ll think you’re in a traditional Parisian bistro when you dig into Yasharian’s onion soup, escargots, coq au vin, and tarte tatin. Pro tip: Perle also has a full menu of vegetarian and vegan French classics you don’t want to miss.

The Abbot Kinney food and wine scene just gets better and better. The “wild ones” at this rustic-chic hot spot — think distressed brick, blond wood, and woven rush bar stools — are natural wines and cocktails, with snacks and small plates to match. A nice touch: Every wine is sold by the glass at this spot from the owner of the Butcher’s Daughter.

Everyone from David Bowie and Bonnie Raitt to the Foo Fighters cut discs here when Grandmaster was one of Hollywood’s top recording studios. Let’s just say the rock-and-roll spirit is still alive in its conversion to a big, bright, rambunctious restaurant with its let’s-try-everything menu (Italian, through an Australian filter), lounge, and killer-view rooftop bar.

A lush garden glowing with hanging lanterns, tropical cocktails, tacos, and grilled fish, plus fire dancers. You might think you’ve been teleported from Hollywood to the Riviera Maya when you step into this 10,000-square-foot oasis of food and fun.

It’s a natural wine bar and retail shop that overflows with pet-nat and skin contact wines, plus a full spread of Mediterranean-influenced dishes and multiple variations on that most covetable pasta shape: bucatini.  Pro tip: Grab a seat on the outdoor patio if you can.