7 Los Angeles Restaurants in Pretty Strange Locations
There’s no proper signage at Ludo Lefebvre's Trois Mec. When it opened in April 2013, puzzled first-time diners ambled between a dry cleaner and doughnut shop before finding beneath the neon sign of the previous restaurant, Raffallo's Pizza. "It's the perfect place for a modern, fine-dining restaurant," says Lefebvre. "Don't you think?"
In Los Angeles, the answer is yes. In a city of strip malls, chefs are choosing locations well off the beaten path—and packing the diners in night after night. “Los Angeles is unique in that it doesn't really have one central, urban center,” says DineLA director Stacey Sun. “It lends itself nicely to the old Field of Dreams adage: 'If you built it, they will come.'" Just click through this slideshow, and you'll find proof of that adage.
Trois Mec1/7Trois Mec
Strip malls are de rigueur for L.A. eateries, but the one Trois Mec inhabits is particularly un-glam. Near Highland and Melrose, the former Raffallo's Pizza is tucked neatly behind a gas station. "The space didn't carry any of the pretense of going into a well-known location," says chef Ludo Lefebvre. "No one would have ever expected it, and our guests are still surprised when they walk in. Plus, it had its own parking lot, which is huge in Los Angeles."
Fred Licht2/7Hinoki & The Bird
David Myer's Hinoki & The Bird serves Japanese-inspired small plates in a condo complex far from any restaurant row in Century City—a neighborhood that has never been known for great dining. Although maybe it's not so surprising: The Century complex is owned by The Related Companies, which is known for collaborating with acclaimed chefs (such as the restaurant collection in New York's Time Warner Center), and, perhaps more important, it's a stone's throw from CAA HQ.
<a href="http://GastronomyBlog.com">Cathy Chaplin, GastronomyBlog.com</a>3/7DGM
Somewhere in the heart of Koreatown, there's a quiet, unassuming alley that you probably can't even find. But let's assume you do find it—right in the middle are two doors marked only with Korean letters: This is DGM (or DwitGolMok), a 1920s speakeasy with a Gangnam twist, serving serves traditional Korean dishes and drinks in a space that typically gets packed as early as happy hour. Expect tiny seats, K-pop, servers who don't speak English—it's like being in Seoul, and almost as hard to get to.
4/7Eatalian Cafe
Out in Gardena, a 30-minute drive from downtown L.A., in an industrial zone populated by warehouses, lies Eatalian Cafe, a no-frills restaurant serving Italian classics like spaghetti alla puttanesca and pizza with arugula and prosciutto crudo. Originally a commercial pasta-and-mozzarella-making operation, the cafe opened in 2010 in an unused space and eventually garnered a reputation for the best authentic Italian in the area—although given the area, there wasn't much competition. To sate downtowners unwilling to make the trek, the café opened a small outpost—EnjoEAT Espresso & Classico—last month in Culver City.
Joe Wyatz5/7Eureka Tasting Kitchen
At Eureka Tasting Kitchen, diners are literally 300 feet from an active runway where private jets and helicopters take off and land. The glass-walled gastropub, which opened in April 2013, is part of the Jet Center building at Hawthorne Airport, not far from where both Tesla and Space X are based. Celebrities like Cindy Crawford and Elon Musk have been known to get Eureka burgers—like the Napa burger, with roasted tomato, pesto aioli, Havarti, pancetta, and arugula—to go.
6/7The Tripel
The everyone-knows-your-name coastal town of Playa Del Rey has never had a reputation for fine dining—or, really, any kind of dining. Until, that is, 2011, when Top Chef alum Brooke Williamson opened the gastropub The Tripel, serving inventive fare like crispy pig's ear salad and spicy coconut-and-red-curry biscuits. Now even Santa Monica residents, who have no reason to leave home, trek south to an area booming with development: A branch of Simmzy's is slated to open this spring/summer, and Williamson is opening the beachside Playa Provisions, which will be home to a whiskey bar, an ice cream shop, and a high-end restaurant, Dockside.
Google Street View7/7Alma
When Alma, Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurant of 2013, first opened, its only neighbors on its desolate downtown street were a hostess club and a former pot dispensary. Today, however, the vibrancy of downtown is well documented (see BA's guide to the neighborhood here), but getting into Alma is still an arduous process: The restaurant is booked two months out.
