Call of the wild
Wildcrust, best Thanksgiving provisioning, Bub and Grandma’s, Kapé, The Wilkes, Aviator Nation, Brent-Air Pharmacy, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Uncrustables
In recent years, Los Angeles has become a hotspot for sourdough pizza and pop-ups channeling pandemic-era popularity into permanent setups. For a long time, the city has been home to an outsized number of excellent strip mall restaurants. Highland Park’s Wildcrust, founded and run by a family of Angelenos, checks all three of those boxes, making it a near-guaranteed hit.
Located in a new-build off York Boulevard that also hosts neighborhood hits Fondry and Queen’s Raw Bar & Grill, Wildcrust has many (maybe too many) of the de rigeur modern design touches seen around LA. There are crimson benches, turquoise cabinetry, and napkins; dimmed lighting, lit candles, and communal seating. The soundtrack, early-2000s indie, the vibe, relaxed enough to suggest a long-standing neighborhood favorite.
You could sit here alongside a tower of pizzas and salad, filling in the cracks with the correct bottle of red, and leave truly content. Like the space, however, the menu can feel slightly forced: top-heavy with an unsurprising array of olives, meatballs, and crowd-pleaser salads. We opted for heirloom tomatoes with watermelon and ricotta salt, grilled peaches with burrata, and a Caesar with brown butter bread crumbs, all of which were solid.
The pizza is good, bordering on memorable. The salame piccante and funghi balanced the right proportions of crisp and chewy with just enough flour left on the edges of the Neapolitan-style crust to suggest a personal touch. The signature in-house lamb tzatziki pizza was uniquely delicious, but the feta, Calabrian chili, and mint toppings were unevenly spread, more features than flavors. This was a common problem with the other pies from the evening, too. When the right bite lined up, though, they were great.
Did some initial expectations come down to table level by the time we got the evening’s check? Maybe. But the warm vibe, busy tables, and a seemingly satisfied crowd suggest it’s on track to become a Highland Park fixture. And sometimes, even for a restaurant that checks all the trend boxes, that’s just fine. –James Royce
→ Wildcrust (Highland Park) • 4705 York Blvd • Tue-Sun 5-10p • Reserve.
RESTAURANTS • Intel
WEEKEND WARRIORS: FOUND favorite Lasita (Chinatown) has extended its hours, with its new weekend-only breakfast/lunch setup they’re calling Kapé. Expect Filipino-inspired coffee, housemade pastries, and bread and breakfast sandwiches on the front patio. The Longanisa breakfast sandwich is particularly notable: It elevates the standard egg-and-cheese with house-made pan de leche, Philippine-style sausage, and mojo aioli. Sat-Sun 10a-2p.
SOUNDS GOOD: More menus-for-alternative-meal-offerings madness: Bub and Grandma’s (Eagle Rock) has overhauled its BG Nites dinner menu for the fall with eggplant parmesan, pepper steak, potato gratin, chicken piccata, tuna melt with Jimmy Nardello peppers, and other offerings, including live music. Sun-Mon 5-10p. –James Royce
LA RESTAURANT LINKS: What’s doing at the new location of sushi standout Morihiro in Victor Heights? • Ramona Room, amaro and snack bar from Bar Zinizki and Dune teams, opens in former Elf Cafe space in Echo Park • Sawtelle hotspot Benitora, specializing in giant gyoza, closes • Eric Wareheim (and friend of FOUND Gabe Ulla) want to feed you steak • Give the gift of a restaurant.
WORK • Thursday Routine
Encore performance
DANA SLATKIN • executive chef & owner • Violet Bistro + Cooking School & The Wilkes
Neighborhoods you work in: Westwood Village & Brentwood Village
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Thursdays are the most jam-packed day of the week. I start with a giant bowl of oatmeal and blueberries, because I often don’t eat lunch until after service in the late afternoon. I meet with our accounting advisors from home at 10a to discuss the financials from the previous week. Then I’ll jump in the car and head to The Wilkes — our new restaurant in Brentwood Village where we’ll be reinterpreting nostalgic steakhouse favorites with seasonal ingredients — to check on the construction process. I get so jazzed whenever something new gets installed! [The Wilkes opened to the public earlier this week. -Ed.]
Next it’s over to Violet to assist with lunch service. I like to be at the host stand greeting guests, but I usually end up bussing tables and cleaning bathrooms. At 230p, our management team meets to discuss operational issues, upcoming events, and budgeting. Afterwards, I try to go home for an hour to put up my feet and have a latte (I call this “treat o’clock”). By 5p, I’m back at Violet to help with dinner service. There’s usually a line of guests waiting to get in at 530. There’s nothing more gratifying than creating a space people want to be in!
What’s on the agenda for today?
This week, we’re discussing our uniform policy. What can we ask our team to wear that allows them to express their individuality while still presenting as a cohesive team?
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I take Monday nights off but many of my favorite restaurants around town are closed that night, like Dear John’s. So my hubby and I usually end up at one of our favorite bars: Scopa, Little Fatty, Bar Toscana. We like to try new restaurants and support small businesses. I’ve been trying to make it to RVR, and when we can get in, Anajak Thai is a fun time.
How about a little leisure or culture?
My favorite leisure activity lately is a flea market. I love hunting for treasures for the restaurants and our home, I love the people-watching, and exploring other parts of Los Angeles. On a free night, nothing beats a show at The Geffen Playhouse or a concert under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl.
Any weekend getaways?
Summerland is a lovely trip for a Sunday. You can get there in just over an hour, explore all the antique shops, have a lovely lunch in Montecito, then be back in LA in time for dinner. Field + Fort has beautiful gifts, strong coffee and delicious chocolates for a late afternoon treat. I could spend hours browsing Godmother’s Bookstore, and I get into big trouble buying vintage treasures at Big Daddy’s Antiques.
What was your last great vacation?
We went to visit my daughter at Ballymaloe, a cooking school in Cork, Ireland. It was such a treat to spend a week in Ireland: The people were jolly and hospitable, the food was soulful and the scenery was lush and serene. Ashford Castle was dreamy. And the Indian food in Dublin was top notch.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Brent-Air Pharmacy. It’s been there since 1950 and they carry everything from my favorite candies (violet pastilles by Les Anis du Flavigny) to my favorite toothpaste (Tom’s of Maine fennel flavor) to flu shots. And the staff couldn’t be sweeter.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I’m obsessed with vintage lighting, and I’d been searching for months for the perfect chandelier for the dining room at The Wilkes. I finally found it at Liz’s Antique Hardware, one of my favorite shops in LA for things that have soul and patina. This one is a gigantic spoke chandelier, in the style of midcentury Italian lighting maker Stilnovo.
Where are you donating your time or money?
We give a lot of Violet gift cards to schools and organizations in the neighborhood. I also support causes that are near and dear to my heart: World Central Kitchen, my alma maters (Marlborough, UC Berkeley, Culinary Institute of America), and public radio.
WORK & PLAY LINKS: Pasadena selling former CalTrans homes along failed 710 Freeway corridor • WeHo-based Grindr on track to go private • Meta opens WeHo flagship for AI glasses and VR headsets • A point-and-shoot guide for the film-camera curious • Have we finally moved on from the pandemic’s ‘it’ sofa?
CULTURE & LEISURE • Culture Mash
Tate McRae • The Kia Forum (Inglewood) • Sat @ 7p • Section 109 $597 per
Kenny G. • Cerritos Center (Cerritos) • Sat @ 8p • Grand Tier Right $367 per
An Evening With Annie Leibovitz: On Her New Book, Women • The Wiltern (Koreatown) • Tue @ 7p • Sec MEZZ Row L, $60 per
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Extra smooth
Back when I lived in Los Angeles in the late aughts, I’d occasionally stop by the electric-blue Aviator Nation store on Abbot Kinney in Venice to browse the buttery-soft sweats with retro designs. In its early days, Aviator Nation felt like a hip, West Coast insider label.
Since its 2006 debut, though, the brand has expanded to 20 locations nationwide, including outposts in Venice, Malibu, and Manhattan Beach. The once sweats-focused line now spans everything from puffer jackets to cashmere sweaters to activewear. That latter category is what’s brought the brand back into focus for me.
Founder Paige Mycoskie first dipped into leggings and such just under a decade ago, but earlier this fall she launched her largest collection yet, and it has become my new obsession. My forever go-to workout is SLT (what I like to call Pilates on crack). It’s a tough workout — you’re basically planking for half the class — so comfortable workout gear is non-negotiable. I’ve already expressed my love for Splits59’s Airweight leggings, and now I’m adding Aviator Nation’s new line to the rotation.
I’m especially into the vintage white ribbed high-rise leggings ($138) and matching scoop-back bra ($112). They remind me of the thermal underwear I used to wear as a kid under my snow pants, only sleeker and way more flattering. Made from nylon and spandex, the pieces are free of chemicals like PFAS, phthalates, and bisphenols, making them a safer choice than options from many other activewear brands. –Kat Odell
→ Shop: Aviator Nation (Venice, Malibu, Manhattan Beach).
GETAWAYS LINKS: SoCal airport delays worsen • Critic says classic Seattle restaurant Canlis isn’t what it used to be• The bifurcation of the Hawaii travel market.
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GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Provisioning, Thanksgiving
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundla.com. Access the full archives.
Hop Woo (Chinatown, above), for legendary Chef Lupe’s Chinese Style Roast Turkey w/ turkey, gravy, garlic fried rice ($85 per) at friendly, family-operated joint since 1993, order with at least 5 days’ notice