Silver Lake's Barr Seco drew crowds to the block on opening night

On a late August evening in Silver Lake, a crowd filled the sidewalk south of Sunset Junction. Guests began bringing their own stools. Some sat in the back of their pickup trucks parked along the curb.

They are there to try out Barr Seco, the neighborhood’s newest wine bar. They range from the casual 25-seat dining room to the few bistro tables and, in the case of opening night, down the block.

“I think it was just word of mouth,” said chef David Potes, whose friend told him she had heard people talking about the opening at a nail salon. “It was a corner-to-corner place, it had an amazing atmosphere.”

David Potes, chef at Barr Seco.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

The chef attributes Barr Seco's instant popularity to the bar's permanence ethos and neighborhood necessity, as well as a see-and-be-seen aspect that seems almost intrinsic to some of L.A.'s new wine bars, like Stir Crazy and Café Triste.

An estimated 500 to 600 people attended Barr Seco's opening night, which coincided with the first anniversary of Santo, the adjacent sushi restaurant from the same restaurant group.

Mexico City-based Santo Group often combines Mexican and Japanese flavors, but at the new wine bar, opened in collaboration with creative director Olivia López, the menu also takes influences from Latin America in general, Portugal, Spain, the Mediterranean and, of course, California.

Potes, formerly of Stir Crazy and Okonomi and Yuji Ramen in New York, created the menu of small plates paired with natural wines from small producers, selected by sommelier and writer Kae Whalen, who worked at Kismet.

Potes drizzles brown butter over raw hamachi bathed in yuzu ponzu and lime zest. Pork for tostadas made with lágrima, or Iberian rib meat, is braised in multiple miso and chiles before being placed over crème fraîche and topped with cilantro. Burrata is bathed in marinated ikura, shiso and lemon. Scallop crudo is topped with salsa macha, yuzu and avocado.

Two small mushroom and huitlacoche toasts topped with cilantro, accompanied by a slice of lemon, on a ceramic plate at Barr Seco

“I don’t like to use the word ‘fusion,’ I always say ‘freestyle,’ like ‘Mexican-Japanese freestyle,’ but it’s not too crazy,” Potes said. “Using two or three different chiles with miso mixed in certain dishes can add a lot of complexity and umami to the dish.”

He and his team use induction cooktops and a toaster oven to craft a menu of tapas-style dishes, which he likens to the compilation of a mixtape or a magazine, drawing on the years he spent producing Hamburger Eyes, a photo magazine with a cult following. The chef began his culinary career taking photographs of food, then helping out in kitchens and then managing them. Now, he splits his cooking time between Los Angeles and Thailand.

On September 22, Barr Seco will launch its daytime menu featuring tomato miso soup, snacks, matcha yogurt bowls, cereal bowls, and a variety of small-batch coffees, teas, and aguas fresca. Barr Seco is currently open Tuesday through Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m.

3820 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, barseco.com

Moohan

One of Koreatown’s most prolific restaurant groups recently opened its first entry into the all-you-can-eat space, featuring a banchan buffet, a premium Wagyu beef category, and unlimited cuts of prime and marinated beef, plus grilled seafood, tartares, and handmade rolls. Moohan is the latest project from On6thAvenue, the hospitality group behind Quarters, Origin, Lasung House, and more.

According to group CEO Joon Hwang, the all-you-can-eat format is making a comeback, especially in the Korean barbecue scene. On6th wanted to test the format with a tiered pricing system, starting with a basic tier and extending up to a Wagyu omakase that includes herbed ribeye, Wagyu nigiri, brisket, short rib, and more. Each tier also includes the offerings of the lower tiers, with dinners priced from $34.99 to $89.99, and lunches priced even lower.

The salad bar includes not only banchan, but also dishes like fried rice, tempura, yakisoba, and sweet and sour pork. Also nearby are serve-yourself raw meats from the menu’s most basic, or “essential,” level, which includes pork belly, prime beef brisket, chicken curry, bulgogi, beef intestine, and more. The next level, “elite,” features tiger shrimp, whole calamari, rib eye steak, beef tenderloin with miso yuzu, bibimbap, and other classics, while the top non-Wagyu level, “prime,” adds beef tongue, marinated galbi, scallops, beef tartare, handmade tuna rolls, and more. To drink, Moohan offers a variety of soju, wine, beer, and soju cocktails.

Moohan was about a year in the making, with the team completely renovating the former Gwang Yang BBQ space. This is On6th Avenue’s largest Korean BBQ restaurant yet, seating over 250 people across a main dining room and several private rooms for larger groups. Moohan is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to midnight Saturday through Wednesday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday and Friday.

3435 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 123, Los Angeles, (213) 232-1136, moohankbbq.com

Civic 2064

The team behind a popular San Diego restaurant known for its extensive vegan offerings has expanded to Los Angeles, offering plant-based Italian fare. Calabria-focused Civico 2064 is now open in Los Feliz, the sister restaurant to San Diego’s Civico 1845, a nine-year-old Little Italy destination from Cosenza-born brothers Dario and Pietro Gallo that specializes in vegan and gluten-free takes on pastas, milanesas, stuffed squash blossoms, and other staples, in addition to dairy- and wheat-based classics. Many of these signature dishes made the jump to L.A., like meatless smoked eggplant milanesa, house-made vegan ricotta, and plant-based cannoli topped with chocolate-flecked almond cream. Non-vegan specialties include pappardelle brasato, with fresh thick egg noodles in short-rib ragout, and L.A.-signature linguine with clams and bottarga. Civico 2064, named for its address, also serves beer, wine and low-alcohol cocktails, and is open from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

2064 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 284-8483, civico2064.com

Barbara Genes Soul Food Cafe

A new restaurant specializing in traditional African-American food, focusing on family recipes and barbecue, has opened in Arlington Heights. Veteran private chef and caterer Eric Campbell's new restaurant, Barbara Genes, is named after her grandmother, whose recipes can be found inspiring the “TexaCali fusion” menu of meat and side dishes, brisket sliders, collard greens with smoked turkey, St. Louis-style smoked ribs, spicy sausages, and apple pies with homemade caramel sauce. Look out for some of Campbell's more creative creations, too, like the loaded fries topped with cheese, barbecue seasoning, and meat of choice, or the Soul Roll, which stuffs a fried egg roll with macaroni and cheese, vegetables, and smoked brisket or chicken. Barbara Genes Soul Food Cafe is open from noon to 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

4053 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 732-8600, www.bgsoulfood.com

Oki-Dog closes

Oki-Dog is closing its iconic Fairfax location. 404's Tom Carroll stops by to explore its role in L.A. punk history.

After a difficult year for restaurants in 2023The wave of closures continues into 2024, with some of Los Angeles’ most prestigious restaurants closing. Otium, Bicyclette, Son of a Gun, Yakitoriya, Otoño, Eagle Rock Brewery and other mainstays have announced their closures, but none have hit the L.A. punk scene and history buffs as hard as the iconic and world-famous Oki-Dog, which this week ended its decades-long run serving up pastrami fries and hot dog-stuffed burritos. Sakae “Jimmy” Sueyoshi founded his cult hot dog stand in the 1970s, naming it after his home in Okinawa. Its original proximity to punk clubs and inexpensive offerings made it a late-night destination for generations of musicians and LA Times food critic Jonathan Gold, Who called him? “A magnet for punks and hustlers, groupies and teenage runaways, for everyone who was happy that a $1.69 split order of burrito and fries was enough to fill three stomachs for a day. … Television shows featured it, glossy magazines promoted it, a thousand and one members of the purple Mohawk brigade sang its praises on beer-soaked stages.”

Following Sueyoshi’s death earlier this year, his family took over the reins and hoped to reopen elsewhere in January, but those plans fell through (a Mid-Wilshire Oki’s Dog, which also sells the signature hot dog burrito, operates under separate ownership). The LA Times’ 404 team’s Tom Carroll looks at the history of the famous hot dog stand and the current owners’ hopes for a return in 2025, if they find a new location.