Botanica | Silver Lake, CA

July 21, 2017 by Veronica Kablan in Los Angeles Restaurants

A visit to Botanica is a bit like walking through your computer screen into a perfectly curated Pinterest board. It’s positively idyllic: glassware sparkles in a flood of afternoon sun, dreamy florals bring pops of color to patinaed wooden shelving, crusty loaves of Bub & Grandma’s bread beckon from a table loaded with take-home treats, all while impossibly chic Eastsiders catch up with friends over matcha lattes and glasses of rose. As the details within the space unfurl, the impressiveness of this operation sinks in - every object has been carefully curated, from the cluster of glass orb lamps above the bar to the clean, unfussy font on the menus. And just when you think the experience cannot possibly be more beautiful, your food arrives, and there are flowers on it. If the thought of Instagramming this place doesn’t cross your mind at least once, you’ve got to be dead inside.

What is perhaps most impressive about Botanica, however, is that its impeccable aesthetic is backed up with serious substance. Founded by former food writers Heather Sperling and Emily Fiffer, Botanica is not just another vegetable-forward, hip Silverlake hangout (though both “vegetable-forward” and “hip” could be counted among its descriptors); it is a thoughtful, multi-faceted operation that aims to nourish, support, and give back to its community. By partnering with organizations like Empower LA and offering employees benefits like healthcare and maternity leave, Sperling and Fiffer are making a positive impact in both their neighborhood and in the restaurant industry. Through their online magazine, they're able to break the confines of geography by offering Botanica's own recipes to readers all over the world. And by sourcing the highest-quality ingredients possible for their dishes and their small, curated market, they're able to offer remarkably delicious, healthful cuisine to their patrons, while simultaneously supporting local farms and small businesses in their community.

Following a “no rules” food philosophy, Botanica’s menu highlights fresh, seasonal vegetables accented with organic dairy products and sustainably raised meats. There are nods to Sperling’s Lebanese heritage in the form of middle eastern flavors like za’atar and labneh, and dishes that make vegetables sing like only a truly passionate healthy-eater (like Fiffer) could. During the day, options range from sweet fruit and granola dishes to savory eggs and salads, with a tempting list of coffee drinks made with Coffee Manufactory beans. At night, things get more romantic as the candles are lit, and the menu is flipped over to feature heartier, more substantial dishes, complimented by a thoughtfully constructed list of natural wines - not to mention a healthy list of whiskies to choose from.

On a recent quiet weekday, we made the pilgrimage to Silver Lake to visit Botanica - a trip that had felt like a long time coming, even though the restaurant's grand opening was in May. The space was pleasantly full and lively, with enough seats to choose from in both the cool, airy restaurant and on the charming outdoor patio. The waitstaff were friendly and attentive, welcoming us within moments of our arrival with warm conversation. It's no surprise that in the short months since Botanica's opening, a loyal base of regulars has already formed - a few were seated near us during our meal, and their servers had already memorized their favorite dishes.

To begin, we enjoyed some cold drinks, obligatory on a warm July day. The iced latte made with their house-made cashew-date milk is a perfect way to caffeinate without heating up, and the delicate, lightly sweetened nut milk is creamy and satisfying. For something even more refreshing, there is the Cucumber Lemon Ginger Spritzer, a vibrant green concoction that is tart, fizzy, and downright fun to drink.

When a menu boasts something as delightfully alluring as "Cake for Breakfast!," we have little choice but to order it - because who hasn't wanted to indulge in a little bit of cake for breakfast on occasion? This version, a gluten-free, almond-orange-honey cake, is topped with mounds of vibrant roasted fruit, a generous dollop of cream, and a dusting of orange zest. It is the perfect compromise between having your cake and eating breakfast, too - sweet and decadent enough to qualify as cake, nourishing and healthful enough to qualify as a proper breakfast. The fruit is especially delicious when soaked into the coarse crumbs of the cake - a perfect bite was a mixture of both apricots and berries, a touch of cream and a generous bite of cake.

Eggs and vegetables are the most essential building blocks of a perfect brunch, and fortunately the team at Botanica are adept with both. Their "Our Favorite Romesco" dish offers heaps of perfectly cooked seasonal vegetables stacked atop a thick smear of nutty, peppery romesco sauce, dusted with sprigs of fresh herbs and flowers, and crowned with a crispy fried egg. The vegetables, a melange of summer squash, leeks, cauliflower, and potatoes, are roasted to perfection with just a touch of char. The potatoes, especially, are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, offering a burst of flavor with each bite, while that runny egg yolk brings creamy richness to the party.

Finally, to meet our ever-important leafy-greens quota, the fulfilling and flavorful "Niçoise-ish Salad." A work of art in a bowl, this salad came loaded with fresh, crisp greens, tender green beans, savory tomatoes, briny olives, and creamy potatoes. A scoop of hardwood-smoked Blis tuna and a delicate six-minute egg supply a healthy dose of protein, while a coating of delicate mustard-tarragon vinaigrette helps to marry the flavors together. And true to form, the whole ensemble is studded with happy little microgreens and tiny purple flowers.

No trip to Botanica is complete without a stroll through the market, where many of the ingredients from your meal can be purchased to take home with you. The refrigerator is stocked with fresh dairy and eggs and a vibrant rainbow of produce, while long shelves boast organic wines, jars of oils and spices, and house-made coconut cacao granola (which, be warned, is impossible to resist - our little container disappeared in just a day or two). All the components for a Botanica meal are here, and with a quick visit to the recipes section of their online magazine, you're invited to re-create the magic at home.

With both style and substance, and some undeniably delicious food, it's impossible to deny Botanica's allure. The icing on the breakfast-cake? The owners and staff are genuinely kind, wonderful human beings who are happy you've come, and are quick to invite you to their community - a community that we'd be honored to be a part of.

Botanica
1620 Silver Lake Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Caffe Vita | Silver Lake, CA

March 28, 2017 by Veronica Kablan in Los Angeles Coffee Shops

Along the invisible line that joins Los Feliz with Silver Lake, there's a somewhat chaotic five-street intersection. Most days, the Southern California sun beats down hard on you here; there aren't many trees to offer shade, and the wide sidewalks and streets mercilessly bounce that heat right back into your face. Luckily, the intersection's many corners can offer some respite - it is Silver Lake after all (or is it Los Feliz?), a part of town where there is culture abound. On one side, there's Crossroads Trading Co. for the vintage lovers. On another, the historic Vista Theater for the cinema lovers. And sandwiched in between is Caffe Vita, a haven for coffee lovers.

Caffe Vita is something of an institution in the coffee world, having been at the cutting edge of the third-wave coffee movement when they began roasting sustainable, fair-trade coffees in Seattle in 1995. Since then, the brand has slowly expanded with stores throughout the Pacific Northwest and New York City. In 2013, Caffe Vita opened up its first shop in Los Angeles, offering up a taste of home to displaced Seattle natives and proving itself a worthy contender among Southern California's exploding coffee scene.

Even those not aware of the brand's legacy can immediately sense its presence - its carefully curated vintage-cirque-meets-rock-and-roll aesthetic is visible at first glance, with a gleaming gold art deco sun above the door and a mural depicting a slightly terrifying circus monkey offering a latte and "real service." Inside, the café is cavernous, with soaring high ceilings and stairs leading up to a second-story loft seating space. There's plenty of visual stimulus to enjoy in here, especially the huge Japanese-style slow drippers both on display and in action behind the bar. That subversive, cool-kid aesthetic is everywhere you look, and it's clear that this space was designed thoughtfully from the outset. It's beautiful and appealing, but in a way, it's a little bit too consistent that it leans toward calculated. It's missing an organic quality that you could probably find at the brand's original location in Seattle.

The massive space offers plenty of seating, so that even on a weekend, you'll be able to snag a table. The mood is fairly quiet and relaxed, with most of the upstairs seating occupied by people working away on their laptops, and those holding conversations keeping them low - maybe out of respect, or maybe so they can still hear the quiet, relaxing music that's being played. Behind the bar, the baristas are friendly and welcoming, and a glass case full of pastries sings its siren call. The menu is short and sweet, and offers a few different brewing methods to choose from. But, the cold brew from that steampunk-esque contraption behind the counter will have to wait, because I came for a cappuccino.

Served in a simple but elegant branded cup and decorated with intricate foam art, this cappuccino proved what all the fuss was about in Seattle. It was good. The espresso was robust, with a warm, toasted honey sort of flavor that reminded me of the caramelized edge of a golden brown olive oil cake. There was also a very subtle floral component, which created a compelling balance when experienced with the bold, bitter flavors at the beginning of the sip. As expected, the milk was perfectly steamed and velvety-smooth. Truthfully, this was one of my favorite cappuccinos yet.

Even from as far away as Seattle, Caffe Vita was undoubtedly a strong influence on Los Angeles' coffee culture through its trailblazing efforts in sustainability and connecting with community. It must have been daunting to set up shop in a city that while strongly influenced by their efforts, has exploded into a different animal, all its own. With only one location that also happens to be steps away from some of the best coffee shops that are native to L.A., it's difficult to tell how much of a stamp Caffe Vita has made on the city at this point - but if they keep pouring coffee that's this good, it stands to reason that the Caffe Vita name will one day be as synonymous with L.A. as it is with Seattle.

Caffe Vita
4459 W Sunset Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Sqirl | Silver Lake, CA

March 25, 2017 by Veronica Kablan in Los Angeles Restaurants

I have a confession to make. It's a really embarrassing one.

Up until a few weeks ago, I hadn't been to Sqirl.

I had been waltzing around Los Angeles, considering myself a "brunch expert," and I hadn't experienced what is widely considered the best brunch in the city. I know! I'm ashamed. And I'm here to say I'm sorry.

When I say that this place is widely considered the best brunch in Los Angeles, I do mean widely. Just about every list of where to eat in the city of angels includes Sqirl at the very top - and I'm not talking about lists of where to have breakfast or brunch or lunch in Los Angeles, I mean where to eat. Period. So that's a little bit amazing, since this is a breakfast-and-lunch-only kind of joint that closes at four o'clock in the afternoon each day. Just about every food critic in the country has written at least a paragraph or two about Sqirl, and the verdict is overwhelmingly positive. Jonathan Gold poetically sang Sqirl's praises in his L.A. Times review, calling founder Jessica Koslow "masterful." For LA Weekly, Besha Rodell said that Sqirl has "some of the most thoughtful, satisfying, beautifully executed food in town." And in what felt more like a love letter than a review, Bill Addison said "Sqirl is literally the neighborhood restaurant of my dreams."

The famous line at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

Koslow's new cookbook, Everything I Want to Eat, for sale at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA — Koslow's new cookbook, Everything I Want to Eat, for sale at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

Impossibly hip clientele at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

So what was keeping me from brunching at Sqirl? For one, it's basically on the other side of the world (we West Siders are the worst, aren't we?). And if you're going to drive an hour for brunch, do you really want to wait at least thirty more minutes in line once you get there (after, god help you, you've hopefully found parking)? And then there's always that pesky fear that it won't live up to all that hype - that you will have trekked across the city and waited in a line that's the stuff of legends, all for something you could have made at home. I mean, how good could ricotta and jam on toast really be?

Chalkboard Menu at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

Outdoor seating at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

Well, friends, I'm here to tell you that I was wrong. Even as a staunch hater of lines (fact: I got out of bed before 6 am while on vacation to avoid waiting in line for donuts), I can confidently say that Sqirl is worth it. Ricotta and jam on toast can be really good, and unless you're Jessica Koslow, you can't make it like this at home.

Jessica Koslow working the line at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

It all started with jam. Koslow, unhappy in her television production career, returned to a job she knew she loved - working in a kitchen. After some time in the South, learning the ins and outs of pastry and preserving, she returned to Southern California and started to make jam the old fashioned way, in a huge copper pot. Her seasonally rotating market-driven flavors were a hit, and before long, she'd opened up shop in Silver Lake. The jam operation later expanded to a café in the very same space, with the team behind G&B providing delicious coffee and Koslow offering a menu of bright, vegetable-forward breakfast and lunch fare. Koslow's food was thoughtful and innovative, often setting the perfect stage for her much-loved jams and preserves to shine. You can guess the rest: word got out, people started talking, and soon there was a permanent line around the block.

We joined that famed line at a respectable 9:30 on a Saturday morning (as all reports indicate that the line is actually at its worst at the opening time of 8:00 am), and while it was formidable, it was not as ghastly as I had once imagined. In fact, it moved quickly enough that I wasn't quite prepared to order by the time we made it to the register, let alone did I have time to take a moment to appreciate Koslow herself hard at work behind the counter. By the time we were through, a perfect table opened up, and we settled in with our coffees. There's an elegance to how Sqirl operates, no matter how chaotic it may seem from the outside.

As much as we wanted to taste absolutely everything on the menu, we restrained ourselves to four dishes: The Mosca Breakfast Sandwich, the Famed Ricotta Toast, Braised Chickpeas, and the Cauliflower Hash. We also had to sample a cappuccino with house-made almond milk and The “Al Puccino” - a sweetened iced cappuccino.

Cappuccino with house-made almond milk at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

The coffees were both delicious - just what you would hope from a café that was home to the inception of G&B, one of L.A.'s absolute best coffee shops. The espresso was rich and flavorful, and the house-made almond milk was perfect. The "Al Puccino" will please those who like their coffee on the sweet side. It's also a fun treat to have a foamy cappuccino served cold - it's a rare find here in the states.

The Mosca Breakfast Sandwich at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

The Mosca Breakfast Sandwich has both style and substance. Sure, it's great for the 'gram with a knife dramatically ensconced in its depths like the sword in the stone, a huge slab of griddled halloumi (be sure to add this when you order - it would be a mistake to skip it), a fried egg, and a healthy-sized chicken patty, all topped with a thick sauce of tomato, green peppers, and spices, and sandwiched between a shiny brioche bun. But then you bite into it, and it practically screams with flavor. When these already bold components combine - the savory chicken sausage, tangy halloumi, spiced menemen sauce - there is somehow harmony. Koslow didn't skimp on the fat in this dish, either, which makes it all the more decadent and satisfying.

Braised Chickpeas and The Mosca Breakfast Sandwich at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

Served with an impractically long piece of toast (it's kind of comical how they refer to this as "long toast" on the menu - "long" doesn't begin to describe it), the Braised Chickpeas are a heartwarming, stick-to-your ribs breakfast. The stewed garbanzos are reminiscent of the middle eastern breakfast dish ful muddamas, delightfully soupy and flavored with bright lemon and spiced baharat oil. On top, thinly shredded chard add lightness and crunch, and two soft poached eggs make it that much more satisfying. You're going to want to slurp up all this delicious sauce - luckily you'll have enough bread to soak it up.

Braised Chickpeas at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

Cauliflower Hash at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

Sqirl's Hash dish rotates seasonally, pairing fresh vegetables with roasted potatoes, fermented hot sauce, and a fried egg. The current special features tender roasted cauliflower, piri piri, and leeks. The hot sauce, served on the side, is really delicious and offers quite a kick. While simple, this dish was satisfying and felt healthy - especially since it came with a side of greens.

Famed Ricotta Toast at Sqirl, Silver Lake, CA

Like the good children we are, we made sure to save our dessert for last: the Famed Ricotta Toast. It's truly the stuff of legend - it's the single-most Instagrammed dish in the world (I have no concrete evidence to support this, but I've got a strong hunch), and there are whole articles dedicated to the art of its construction. And yet somehow, the actual height of that brioche took me off guard. It's massive. But like other toasts you may have eaten since toast took over the world, this one is not a tooth-breaker. Though thoroughly toasted (read: nearly burnt), the brioche remains soft and supple, providing a buttery pillow for the impossibly creamy ricotta and the tart jam to rest on. The flavors are spot on; the play of sweet and tart to salty and buttery is heaven. Do not make the mistake of coming here and not ordering this. Just trust us.

It's hard not to sensationalize a place that everyone in the world seems to love. You want to be a part of the excitement, to be a part of a movement, to eat the best thing you've ever tasted. On the other hand, it's also easy to unfairly criticize something popular just to be subversive. With this in mind, I maintain that Sqirl is great. Not everything we tasted was life-changing, but everything was good, and most was really good. If it weren't so far away, I'd be at Sqirl every week, just to make sure I could work my way through the entire menu. It's worth the hype, and it's worth a long drive - and I'm sorry I didn't experience it sooner.

Sqirl
720 Virgil Ave #4
Los Angeles, CA 90029