For three years, Cara Haltiwanger lowered foil-wrapped breakfast sandwiches to customers from her apartment window and carefully distributed them through a red plastic bucket. Looking to move out of his East Hollywood apartment and grow the business to support a burgeoning hot sauce retail line, he gave the sandwiches a brick-and-mortar store of its own in November.
“I said to myself, 'You know, you've been in Los Angeles 20 years,'” she said. “'Let's give this a full circle moment and try it.'”
The Alabama-raised bartender moved to Los Angeles and, around 2008, wanted to explore food professionally. He learned in the kitchens of Animal and Fresh and began appearing at Bar Lubitsch with fried chicken and other items, including what would become their famous breakfast sandwiches.
“To be honest, I was very poor,” she said. “A lot of times I didn't have money to buy food, so I would just sell grilled cheese sandwiches, but then I would add bacon, egg, grilled onion and avocado. “That’s how the breakfast sandwich was born.”
Calabama owner Cara Haltiwanger chats with a customer from a window of the new Hollywood restaurant.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
When the pandemic hit, he continued delivering sandwiches from home, delivering them to customers waiting on the sidewalk. It went viral and was sold out almost every weekend.
Popularity helped keep Haltiwanger afloat; She could support herself by ordering sandwiches, working as a private chef, and her line of hot sauces. She was never convinced she needed to open a store, but after walking around a small white building with enough space for her irons, she knew it was the one.
“Honestly, I fell in love with it,” she said. “I love how old it is, although that is costing me a lot. I love the antique stools that are cemented into the floor. “He is so adorable and cute and has so much character.”
Now fans line the small storefront, surrounding the roughly 250-square-foot restaurant with bright yellow awnings and an accessible window. They're there for Haltiwanger's breakfast sandwiches, fresh-baked cookies made from their grandmother's recipe, and, soon, bottles of their sweet and smoky sauce and hot sauce. Calabama is open Thursday through Monday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
6751 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, calabama.la
Bar Étoile
Gruyere cake under chive dust at Bar Etoile.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
A new restaurant and wine bar from the team behind one of the city's best bottle shops serves nouveau-French cuisine, such as Gruyère tarts coated with emerald green chive dust, unctuous beef tartare over Caesar dressing, and cubed bread , and fries with Montpellier butter sauce.
When Julian Kurland joined Jill Bernheimer at her Melrose wine shop, Domaine LA, they quickly realized they shared a dream of opening a neighborhood wine bar. After years of searching, they renovated a former furniture store on the outskirts of Melrose Hill and, with about 2,400 square feet to play with, expanded the scope beyond wine, but they would need a chef.
After a successful career at Voodoo Vin, executive chef Travis Hayden wanted to take a break from his culinary career. “I wasn't even sure I wanted to continue cooking in restaurants,” he said. “I just wanted a break, and I was going to need something really special to start over.” Hayden, who grew up on a farm, felt aligned with the owners of Bar Etoile, given their attention to the natural wine growing process. The trio traveled to London and Paris, drawing inspiration from local cafes and wine bars.
The dividing line between bottle shop and restaurant is the way the wines are made: Kurland and Bernheimer gravitate toward organically grown, minimal-intervention wines that use native yeasts. But the beverage program also offers martinis, Negronis, gimlets and other classic cocktails. Bar Etoile is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 4pm to 11pm.
632 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 380-5040, baretoile.com
Zira Uzbek Kitchen's plov, or traditional rice pilaf, served with beef, carrots, roasted garlic, and chickpeas.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Uzbek cuisine Zira
They have been married for more than a decade, but on one of their first dates Gulnigor “Gigi” Ganieva remembers her future husband telling her he wanted to open his own restaurant. Azim Rahmatov didn't know where or when it would happen, but he wanted to bring traditional Uzbek cuisine to the United States. With Melrose's Zira Uzbek Cuisine, the couple finally did it.
“I thought, 'Why not have a restaurant where I can serve good food from my culture and also have a gathering place and a sense of community for Uzbeks?'” Rahmatov asked.
Zira Uzbek Kitchen's husband and wife team Azim Rahmatov, right, and Gulnigor “Gigi” Ganieva.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At first he thought they could open one when they lived in New York City. The two Bukhara natives then moved to Los Angeles, where they found less community and even fewer Uzbek restaurants. Curious friends asked about cooking and hosted dinner parties at her house; Rahmatov realized that Los Angeles needed more restaurants dedicated to Uzbek food, where plump manti, or large hand-shaped dumplings, are filled with meat or vegetables and rich pilafs and stews are enhanced with bright pickles. .
They tapped family and friends to run the kitchen, with one chef focusing on manti doughs, handmade noodles, bread and more; another prepares the ingredients of the day and focuses on main dishes, such as pilafs; and the third runs the grill of kebabs and other marinated meats for two days.
“We just wanted to make sure every dish was represented and show the variety of the food,” Ganieva said. “Only the dumplings are cooked three times: we boil them, steam them and fry them. “We wanted to have a little bit of everything.” Zira Uzbek Cuisine is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
7422 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 332-4086, zirauzbekkitchen.com
Tacolina and the Jaguar Room
A new two-in-one operation in Silver Lake combines tacos with speakeasy cocktails. Santa Monica's Blue Plate Restaurant Group (Blue Plate Oysterette, Blue Plate Taco) has expanded east with Tacolina, a Baja-inspired restaurant in the lush patio that formerly housed De Buena Planta and Tintorera. At dinner, find handmade tortillas containing fried snapper tacos; pork suckling pig; skirt steak with tomatillo sauce; and juicy deviled shrimp. At brunch, look for chilaquiles, breakfast cakes, and bloody Marias.
Silver Lake speakeasy, the Jaguar Room.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Attached to the patio restaurant, but with a separate entrance through the adjacent shopping center, through a door next to a red light, is Tacolina's sister speakeasy, the Jaguar Room. This dimly lit, slightly jungle-like bar serves Latin-leaning cocktails like carajillos, palomas riffs with habanero and yuzu, and a guava tequila daiquiri. The Jaguar Room is open Monday through Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m. Tacolina is open Monday through Friday from 5 to 10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Tacolina: 2815 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (424) 567-8226, tacolina.la; the Jaguar Room: 2815 W. Sunset Blvd., Suite 103, Los Angeles, jaguarroom.la
Source Grains and Vegetables
Fountain Grains & Greens Korean Rice Bowl with Persimmon Kimchi, Eggs, Garlic, and Charcoal-Roasted Chicken with Persimmon Vinaigrette.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
With grain bowls, salads and sides packed with farmers market produce, the new East Hollywood storefront serves bites that rotate based on the freshest bounty. At Fountain Grains & Greens, chef and founder Aric Attebery (formerly of Bouchon Bistro, Otium, Blue Hill at Stone Barns) offers dishes that may include persimmon kimchi, tarragon cream, charcoal-grilled meats, beet greens, chicken skin furikake or lacto-fermented corn seasoning.
Attebery comes from a lineage of Angelenos in the restaurant industry, with previous generations serving as a sommelier for the Brown Derby and a restaurateur at Melrose Hill. With his own experience in fine dining, the chef sought to bring the same attention to agricultural sourcing in a fast-casual environment. It's the first project for Attebery from new restaurant group Backyard Hospitality, which is already planning other concepts for Los Angeles. Fountain Grains & Greens is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
4850 Fountain Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 522-3020, eatatfountain.com
Panda Inn reopens its doors
The birthplace of one of the most prominent Chinese chains in the country returns with a new image and new dishes. Master chef Ming-Tsai Cherng and his son and daughter-in-law, Andrew and Peggy Cherng, would change the face of fast food with Panda Express, but before wok-fried noodles and vegetables spread to shopping malls across the United States United, there was the more upscale Panda Inn, which debuted in Pasadena in 1973.
In 2023, the original Panda Inn closed for renovations: an eight-seat sushi bar, a more modern aesthetic, ample bar seating, multiple private dining rooms, and new artwork and dishes incorporating Ming's Taiwanese and Japanese culinary expertise. -Tsai Cherng. In addition to traditional dishes such as orange chicken, the renovated Panda Inn serves new dishes such as Taiwanese braised pork rice and popcorn chicken, and Yangzhou-style lion's head dumplings and shredded tofu. At the sushi bar you will find original sashimi, oysters and maki, such as unagi with mascarpone or the classic shrimp with honey and walnuts in tempura form. Panda Inn Pasadena is open Sunday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
3488 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 793-7300, pandainn.com
In November, the original Panda Inn reopened its doors in Pasadena after a major renovation that included a sushi bar, a more open floor plan, bar seating and more.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Ghirardelli Santa Monica
Ghirardelli, one of the most famous chocolate shops in the world, is now open across from the Santa Monica Pier, with 3,900 square feet dedicated to chocolate, milkshakes and more than a dozen varieties of ice cream, including some topped with hot chocolate made in-house daily. The new location features retail shops, restaurants and items such as chocolate covered strawberries, hot chocolate, fresh brownies and more. Ghirardelli is open in Santa Monica Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
1541 Ocean Ave., Suite 105, Santa Monica, (424) 490-0410, ghirardelli.com
