Hedley & Bennett founder Ellen Marie Bennett PORTRAIT BY SHAYAN ASGHARNIA
“My mom’s Mexican, and my dad, his family is English and Swedish,” says Glendale native Ellen Marie Bennett. “But everything was very much centered around food.” After attending culinary school in Mexico City, Bennett began working at L.A. restaurants Providence and Baco Mercat—which is when she identified a need for stylish but functional aprons that made a chef feel the way an athlete does stepping into uniform. “I thought, if I could give people that feeling in the kitchen… we can become like the Nike of the culinary world.” Bennett founded her brand Hedley & Bennett (hedleyandbennett.com) 11 years ago at 24 years old, making chic custom made-to-order aprons for chefs including Nancy Silverton, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, and Evan Funke. “It started to build this very organic cult following,” says Bennett, who’s outfitted hundreds of thousands of U.S. restaurants and home cooks, plus cooking shows like Top Chef. She’s collaborated with brands from Vans to Madewell, and expanded into knives, cookware, accessories and kitchen tools. She’s also noticed growth in the Mexican food scene: “People are actually attributing where the food is from in Mexico versus just calling it Mexican food,” she notes. “And there’s a celebration of the culture.” Here, Bennett dishes on her favorite Mexican spots in Los Angeles.
“I would say [this is] at the top of the heap for me. It’s actually a food truck, and it’s near my office in Vernon, Downtown L.A. But they have these shrimp-fried tacos with this crazy tomato sauce on top that is spectacular. And their ceviche is incredible. Basically, anyone that has ever gone there, they’re believers.” mariscosjalisco.net
Crab tostada, elote asado, fried chicken and coastal-driven bites from Damian PHOTO COURTESY OF DAMIAN
“They have the craziest supply chain to get their flour tortillas made—like they bring in flour from Mexico, and they have it trucked in, and they’re just so delicious. And then all of their meats are cooked on charcoal, so they have a really smoky texture and flavor. And it’s the best for their chimichangas and their tacos in general. They’re amazing.” sonoratown.com
“Damian has one of my favorite brunches in the whole city. It very much takes me back to my days in Mexico City—it has such a transporting kind of energy in there, and I love it so much, and everything from their nonalcoholic drinks to every dish is just amazing.” damiandtla.com
I love Salazar for late afternoon. If you’ve got a family, you want to have something low-key and easy, but you want to have a margarita, Salazar is awesome for that. It’s all outdoors. It’s in Frogtown, and it’s just a really good vibe, and the food of course, is great too.” salazarla.com
“This is for people that love birria, which is essentially stewy meat that you dip into the sauce of the drippings from the meat. They’re like tacos, and they’re reddish on the outside, and they have melty cheese on the inside, and then you dip them into a brothy stew. That spot is legit. It is so, so good.” instagram.com/tacosybirrialaunica
Damian’s agua frescas. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAMIAN
“They make a bean and cheese burrito that I had for the first time at Nancy Silverton’s house. She was like, ‘This is my favorite burrito in the city.’ And then I had it, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re not kidding.’ And then they have a birria burrito. If you’re going to have people over and you just want to get a bunch of burritos, you go to them.” burritoslapalma.com
“This Oaxacan restaurant has been around forever. They won a James Beard Award. It’s like over closer to Koreatown. And I just I love their whole vibe and ethos, and they are just so unapologetically them, and I think they’ve just done a really good job of embracing Oaxacan culture here in L.A.” ilovemole.com
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