Venice glow
RVR, Betsy in Altadena, Musso and Frank, Jamie Patricof's routine, Cheviot Hills listings, flying taxis, Maui, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Forged in flames
Walking through the hand-painted door at the recently reopened Betsy in Altadena, the first thing you notice is the warmth of owner Tyler Wells and the restaurant’s staff, who welcome guests with neighborhood familiarity. Once inside, another kind of heat hits you: the rush of flames from the open kitchen (an irony lost on no one in this fire-ravaged community), which fills the room with light, smoke, and a beckoning rhythm. It feeds the space as much as the guests.
Betsy runs on community. The team is local, the sourcing personal, the diners often displaced (but originally from down the block). Wells knows his farmers, his fishermen, his vintners, his ranchers, and those ties show up on the ever-evolving menu. Coming back to eat in Altadena isn’t casual — it’s an intentional choice. The dining room hums with energy, neighbors pulling chairs close, conversations overlapping, friends spotting each other anew. The buzz doesn’t stop at the door, spilling onto the sidewalk where people drink natural wine and catch up as the sun dips over the San Gabriel Mountains.
Chef Joey Messina holds down the line, the crew cooking in tandem behind him. At the center of the restaurant is the custom-built hearth, constantly fed by a flurry of activity. Marbled ribeyes, charred broccolini, and swordfish laden with blistered tomatoes — it all comes off the flames with unpretentious precision. For anyone craving crisp, refreshing decadence, order the farm lettuce Caesar, which is equal parts cheese, greens, and crunch.
The soundtrack ties it all together. The Creation’s Making Time has diners air drumming the fills, Talking Heads cuts drift out between courses, and the flicker of the fire keeps time with the music. Betsy is a place reborn, carrying forward the spirit of a community. –Darin Bresnitz
→ Betsy (Altadena) • 875 E Mariposa St • Daily 5-10p • Reserve.
RESTAURANTS • Intel
FRESH INTEL: Disregard the midsummer eulogies, Virgil Village’s Melody is very much alive and well. According to a recent Instagram post from the wine bar, they’ll be teaming up with chef Mae-Louise and Joseph Geiskopf’s traveling culinary concept outfit Onry, who will oversee the food menu six nights a week indefinitely. Expect equal parts experimental and international food and wine, turntables, indoor-outdoor dining room to patio vibes, and business as usual, Wed-Mon 4-10p.
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Mellow gold
Chef Travis Lett’s buzzy California-Japanese izakaya RVR was an immediate hit the second it opened in Venice — “one of the most stylish, most delicious, and most surprisingly fun restaurants to land on the west side in quite some time,” we said in October 2024.
Since that opening, RVR has consistently rated as one of the toughest tables in town. Reservations for dinner get immediately snapped up when they’re released 30 days out, and people start lining up for walk-in tables before the place opens at 5p.
One solution to this problem: