Confidential 040826
Inside Lapaba and sharpening knives, plus oysters, flowers, burritos
Edge case
If you, like me, are the type of home cook too lazy (or afraid) to buy a whetstone and fire up YouTube to learn how to sharpen your own knives, there are plenty of knife sharpeners who roll around town, popping up at farmers’ markets or even, in some cases, coming to you. Enter: Steven Sharpens, a relatively young, self-taught whippersnapper who pops up at grocery stores and markets in Brentwood, Burbank, San Gabriel, and Sierra Madre.
WORK • Thursday Routine
Guilty pleasures
BRIAN BORNEMANN • chef & owner • Crudo e Nudo
Neighborhood you live & work in: Santa Monica
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Thursdays, I start with bodybuilding at Deuce Gym, followed by a flow class at Open. Then, I’m in the restaurant by 1130a. Thursdays are our first post-farmers’ market day of the week, so we just got a bunch of prep done and a bunch of new dishes on since Wednesday. We usually get in a box of Seremoni-grade rockfish and Baja kanpachi on Thursdays, which the team sukibikis [a Japanese descaling technique] and hangs for the next week to dry-age. Wine deliveries come in before the weekend and we get the by-the-bottle list and chalkboard by-the-glass menu updated.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Today, I’m stoked to be going to my friend Duyen Ha’s Top Chef premiere. In the meantime, I’m working on the usual mix of paying bills, emails, and planning the menu for the week. I also luckily got some good news back on a project that has been in the works on the street.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I’ve really been enjoying Shirube recently. It’s a cozy neighborhood izakaya that’s open every day. I’m also looking forward to my next sneaky night at Capo — it’s a guilty pleasure. Also, Bar Betsy is in the works, and despite how freakin’ far it is, I will be there as soon as they are ready.
Any weekend getaways?
I am big on getaways. As someone with no real days off, getting out of town is crucial. Laguna has Casa Loma, Petit Pali, and nearby, my favorite place: The Ecology Center. Ojai has the best hikes, a beautiful river, amazing restaurants and markets, and the best light in the state. The Valle de Guadalupe is my third, and it is too much goodness to describe, with amazing local food and a truly rustic and Mexican raison d’etre.
What was your last great vacation?
I had the best time in Paris last year. Honestly, it feels like the city is the best it’s ever been. Friendly, complete, classic, modern. I had the best “Mexican” food of the year while there — a wild asparagus tostada with a housemade tortilla that blew my mind — at a restaurant called Crudo.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I got the 145n bottle wine fridge from Wine Enthusiast to expand our wine program at Crudo e Nudo. Feels good!
What store or service do you always recommend?
I highly recommend Open. It unfortunately isn’t a very small business, but the quality of the offering is too good. From meditation to flow, to core, to sauna and cold, it’s a one-stop shop for a good reset.
Where are you donating your time or money?
I donate my time to The Ecology Center. It is the only certified regenerative and organic working farm, education center, and restaurant around. It is the happiest place on earth.
THE NINES • More FOUND
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best in LA and surrounds.
RESTAURANTS • FOUND Archives
Go west
For too many years, Westsiders have endured a drive to Silver Lake to taste chef Zach Pollack’s cooking. Still, it was worth it for his house-made pastas, pizzas, and dreamy chicken liver mousse at Alimento and Cosa Buona. But both of those restaurants recently shuttered, making way for Pollack — who once helmed Sotto with Steve Samson in Beverly Hills — to return west. Now it’s Eastsiders who will trek to his newly opened Cosetta, in Santa Monica’s Ocean Park neighborhood. It’ll be worth it for them, too.