Hinoki and the Bird, Rose Cafe and Flower Boy

hinokiAnother week in LA attempting to get to the latest and greatest.  We met our friend at Hinoki and the Bird located in Century City in the ground floor of an apartment building.  Big fan of the architecture in the space.  An open kitchen, open bar, indoor and outdoor seating, music that is loud but not overwhelming, warm colors and lighting.  Great vibe.

hamachiEverything is family style.  I admit I am kind of order the share which is in almost every restaurant these days.  I do like sharing but not at every meal.  You end up just tasting a little of everything and I feel like I left a party of passed appetizers vs actually having a meal.  This too will pass.  Highlights for me was the hamachi served with jicama, celery root and fuyu persimmon.

porkbellyCrispy suckling pig with apple and chili jam was really good.  Not a great picture on my part.

sweetpotatoThe sweet potato was top!  I love the Japanese white yams roasted with creme fraiche and pieces of lardon.

okraOkra is something you rarely see on a menu served with coriander and cumin.  Another fave.

1Later in the week we went to the Rose Cafe in Venice.  I had been there for lunch and returned for dinner.  The service there is fantastic.  The food, also family style, is quite good too.  The place is big although spread out into several rooms so you don’t really realized how many people are there.

brusselsFavorite dish there is the brussels sprouts.  I had them at lunch too (better pic).  Roasted brussels that are made crispy before putting into a bowl of dashi with a poached egg on top and chopped scallions.  It is one of the best brussel sprout dishes I have had period.

storeMy friend told me to check out Flower Boy, a store on Lincoln.  In Venice, Lincoln is becoming the next retail mecca of cool funky shop keepers stores.  They have all left Abbott Kinney and the next movement is on Lincoln.  The only issues is parking which is a problem through out LA.  Flower Boy is part of the “concept” shop that we see in the up and coming areas of Brooklyn and other urban areas that are growing.

flowersThey sell a variety of things from flowers.

clothesTo clothing.

musicGreat sound system.

fridgeFridge for things to take home.

LAhatHats, t-shirts, books, jewelry, candles and other items.  The coffee shop is the center with a slew of pastries.

gjelinaI also went to a LA investor party at Gjelina in the private room on the top of the restaurant.  A fantastic room with an open kitchen and sweet roof deck.  This was the spread to start.  Oh, did I mention that there were 50 men there and I was the only woman in the room.  Well, that would be for another blog post.

Comments (Archived):

  1. Jenna Abdou

    This is a great post, Joanne. Love the pictures, excited to hear about Lincoln, and going to make the Brussels this weekend!

  2. jason wright

    tasty looking. where’s the street shot?

    1. Gotham Gal

      none there. it is the bottom of an apartment building. kind of strange.