Tomat Is an Unlikely Destination for Genre-Defying Food Near LAX

Westchester Roots

Although Natalie Dial grew up in Montana with freezers full of elk, antelope, and game birds, she is actually a fourth-generation Westchesterite. In the 1940s, her great-grandmother bought a building on Sepulveda and turned it into a Jim Dandy supermarket, making it Westchester’s first commercial building. Later, her grandparents built a property management company that developed several locales in the city. They became, Dial says, “completely dedicated to Westchester for their entire lives.” Her parents, who met when they were in middle school, were both raised in Westchester. 

Posner’s parents also met in Los Angeles, although when he was three years old, they decamped for England, where he grew up in Suffolk and North London. “We lived in the countryside,” Posner says. “England, back then, you could buy your meat, you could buy your fish, and you could buy your baked goods, but you couldn’t buy a vegetable anywhere.”

The Meet Cute

Dial and Posner met in the Gambia in 2013. He was in med school. She was working on a master’s degree in global health research. “Harry was this adventurous guy going to the fish market and farmers’ market and cooking everybody the most elaborate meals, but on an incredibly economical budget,” Dial says. “It was so impressive.” They stayed friends. Pursuing her PhD, Natalie eventually moved to London, where Posner was working as a doctor. “And that’s when everything fully started,” Dial says.

During his residency, Posner had a few months off and decided it would be “really fun” to do a course at Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland. He ended up staging at several restaurants in London, worked at a pastry shop in Italy, and cooked at Inua in Tokyo. “I fell in love with his cooking and him, and had this feeling that everyone else would also fall in love with his cooking,” Dial says. “So in that way, I think that it was always in the back of our minds that we were going to go into food one day.” 

The Big Plunge

In 2019, Dial and Posner were living in the UK, when, thanks to her family’s real estate connections, the couple heard that a restaurant space in Westchester was opening up.“At some point, we’d already decided that we wanted to move back to L.A.,” Posner says. But was the timing right? They figured they might not get another opportunity like this, so they returned to Southern California, arriving two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were getting ready, guns blazing, and then lockdown happened,” Posner says. Despite an assortment of COVID-related issues, they found an architect, finalized their plans, secured the permits, and started construction. Along the way, they also had a child. Toward the end of the process, they hit several permitting delays, but in October 2024, they finally opened Tomat as a daytime cafe and bakery. Two weeks later, they expanded into a full restaurant.

The Vision

The full, three-story space is anchored by the restaurant, with a dozen or so tables and eight seats at the bar, on the ground floor. The second floor, with a second kitchen and an event space for private dining, meetings, and parties, can hold another 50. And the rooftop terrace features a 1,500-square foot garden of drought-tolerant, native plants. Tomat also relies on another 4,000-square-foot garden, located two blocks south, for its produce. There, with help from Urban Farms LA, they grow everything from lettuces, root vegetables, alliums, and English peas to passion fruit, grapes, citrus, persimmons, and avocados.

The vibe is casual-cozy, with pale wood tables, gold flatware, and minimal decor. “I think the first thing you’ll notice is that it is a green space,” Dial says. You’re leaving a swath of parking lot that LAX is surrounded by and walking into beautiful green tiles. We want everything to be simple, gorgeously made, made to last, and sustainable. We really want the joy to come from the food and seeing the chef and feeling connected to the kitchen.” As the restaurant becomes more established, they hope to host more events on the second floor — perhaps cooking demos and classes. 

To Everything, There Is a Season

To say that Tomat is market-driven is an understatement. “I think it’s just the way that both of us were raised and how we love to eat,” he says. Posner shops at the Santa Monica Farmers Market on Wednesdays and the Torrance Farmers Market on Saturdays. “It’s not a secret in the South Bay but it’s such a fantastic market. I don’t think that many chefs go there. I feel like they are slightly missing out on the different vendors that are down in Torrance,” he says.

That also means Tomat’s menu changes often. The piri piri chicken, which arrives with a charred orange meant to be squeezed over the meat, comes with a spicy remoulade made from chiles that have been grown, dried, and fermented at Tomat. When those chiles ran out, Posner replaced the dish with chicken marinated in turmeric and yogurt (a cross between a joojeh kebab and chicken tikka masala) which he served with grilled conehead cabbage.

Now that peas are in season, you might spot them paired with grilled California chanterelles or as a dashi, made from just the shells steeped in hot water. Posner might soon incorporate them into bhaghali polo, a dill and mint-heavy Persian rice dish that also uses fava beans as they come into season this spring.

Culinary Traditions

Posner was raised in two different but overlapping culinary traditions. His father was English and Ashkenazi Jewish. His mother is Persian and Sephardic Jewish. Both of those strands are woven through Tomat’s menu. “Food is their entire life. They always said that they learned to cook because the other one didn’t know how to, but they were both excellent cooks,” he explains.

Despite the quest for seasonality, there’s one dish you’ll always find at Tomat — the barbari bread with roasted tomato butter. Posner’s version marries the tang of classic barbari, a Persian flatbread, with the airiness of Italian focaccia. Made with organic Khorasan flour that’s grown in Utah and milled in-house, the top is brushed with an alkali paste so its crackly dome gets a deep, brown caramelization atop the fluffy dough. It comes with a ball of butter rolled in a powder of smoked, roasted, and dehydrated tomatoes and herbs. 

Posner also draws on his father’s East London upbringing for a twist on fish and chips. He opts for dry-aged steelhead trout and beer-battered, tempura-style mushrooms, Japanese sweet potatoes, and whatever else is in season for the chips. 

During L.A.’s rainy season, he threw a British classic, stargazy pie, onto the menu. Often made with fish heads that stick out through the top crust so they look like they’re gazing at the sky, Tomat’s version incorporates smoked trout and grilled vermilion rockfish skin, luxuriating in a rich broth with Gulf Coast prawn heads sticking out of flaky puff pastry. (Ed. note: Tomat’s beef cheek pie was a recent Staff Pick as well — Tomat knows their way around a savory pie.)

Sweet Stuff

Posner also draws on British tradition when it comes to dessert. “Sticky toffee pudding is such a classic but then you come to California, and we have some of the best dates anywhere in the world. It makes it so much easier,” he says. Using dates from Cali Medjool in the Coachella Valley, he makes a date loaf, drizzles it with a butterscotch sauce and serves it with a burnt milk gelato to take the edge off the sweetness. It has proved popular enough to outlive the seasonal rotation, as has the dark chocolate mousse with brandied prunes. 

Posner also loves playing with frozen desserts. Depending on the time of year, the menu might feature a tart and floral pomegranate rose geranium sorbet, a saffron ice cream with pistachio brittle (echoes of the Persian ice cream bastani), or a bay leaf gelato with apple tartar.

With spring in the air, Tomat is opening its rooftop terrace starting April 16. Expect cocktails, wine, and a small bites menu featuring items such as Welsh rarebit, Cornish pasties, and an onion tarte tatin. The rooftop will also host trivia every Wednesday, from 6 to 8 p.m. It’s the perfect place to have a sip, enjoy a sunset, and watch the airplanes land. 

Elina Shatkin is a multimedia journalist, podcast producer, and filmmaker. She is currently a producer for Good Food at KCRW and has previously worked at LAist/KPCC, L.A. Weekly, and The L.A. Times. Follow her here. Follow Resy, too.