Celebrate the changing season with L.A.’s hottest happenings, from a female-centric wine shop to new high-end museum eateries.
The hamachi crudo at Fanny’s FANNY’S PHOTO BY WONHO FRANK LEE
These cultural favorites have top-notch culinary experiences to match.
BY JASMIN ROSEMBERG
Christina Kim and Sean Daly designed Lulu with sustainable materials. LULU PHOTO BY JUSTIN CHUNG
Commune Design is behind Fanny’s dramatic decor FANNY’S PHOTO BY WONHO FRANK LEE
LULU AT THE HAMMER MUSEUM
“A dining experience at Lulu is about opening up the senses,” says renowned chef Alice Waters, who pioneered California’s farm-to-table cuisine when she opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1971. Now, the legendary food activist on the forefront of regenerative agriculture has teamed up with Hammer Museum Director Ann Philbin on the museum’s new indoor-outdoor eatery Lulu, which debuted in November. Helmed by David Tanis, Lulu embodies the museum’s mission to create a more just world through art. Christina Kim and Sean Daly designed the airy space with sustainable materials, like wood from fallen trees, and ingredients for the three-course prix fixe and a la carte lunch menus come from regenerative farms. Seasonal standouts include baked Sonoma goat cheese and California halibut carpaccio. Enjoy dishes with biodynamic wines—including the first regenerative California rosé— alongside local art and a Jorge Pardo mosaic. Says Waters, “Lulu will fully engage the senses of everyone who comes to experience this beautiful intersection of art, food and learning.” Westwood Village, hammer.ucla.edu/restaurant
Lunch dishes at Lulu star local produce LULU PHOTO BY JUSTIN CHUNG
FANNY’S AT THE ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES
Named after Fanny Brice—the entertainer famously portrayed by Barbra Streisand in 1968 biopic Funny Girl—the Academy Museum’s two-story restaurant and cafe recalls the heyday of Hollywood dining. “Much of that vision related specifically to dinner service, where there’s an incredible attention to detail and, of course, tableside service... a more theatrical approach,” says Bill Chait, who created Fanny’s with fellow restaurateur Carl Schuster and philanthropist Wendy Stark. While the quick-service lunch caters to museumgoers, chef Raphael Francois’ dinner menu is a revival of classics, like steaks, chops and seafood—with performative tableside Caesar salad prep and steak carving. Drinks by Julian Cox, such as The Gladiator and Black Panther, reference cinema, and a mural by L.A. artist Konstantin Kakanias honors Hollywood legends. Designed for see-and-be-seen dining, the open space channels a film set with wooden details recalling set construction and glass walls that enable onlookers to peek inside. Stay tuned for theatrical menu additions involving live cooking, dinner and movie screenings, and music events. Miracle Mile, fannysla.com
SNACKS! from MOTHER reinvents the oversize ’90s denim styles PHOTO: COURTESY OF MOTHER
The high-waisted Twizzy Skimp jeans. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MOTHER
Look good enough to eat in SNACKS! from MOTHER, the L.A.-based brand’s nostalgic new denim collection that nods to the ’90s. “My mom worked late, so our house was always filled with snacks so I had something to eat when I got home from school,” recalls MOTHER creative director and co-founder Tim Kaeding, whose throwback nine-piece capsule collection has fit names like Fun Dip Puddle and Twizzy Skimp. Available in classic light, medium and dark washes, the 100% rigid cotton jeans launching mid-February flaunt pretzel-detailed buttons, candy-coated rivets and back patches made of pineapple leaves. Perfect for L.A., which Kaeding calls “the capital of cutting-edge casual style,” the exaggerated proportions focus on silhouette over fit. “The jeans are looser, oversized and puddle on the floor,” Kaeding says. “We weren’t fitting to a specific body—this capsule allows you to size up or down and decide for yourself.” motherdenim.com–Lauren Nehorai
Favorite Daughter’s welcoming new Beverly Hills outpost is designed by Fai Khadra. PHOTO: BY NO REVISIONS/UNSPLASH
“We’ve never felt like fashion girls, because fashion always felt intimidating,” say Erin and Sara Foster, co-founders of the L.A.-based Favorite Daughter lifestyle brand. “We wanted to make clothes that have the quality of high-end fashion pieces, but at a reasonable price point.” Aft er launching their chic but comfy clothing online, in partnership with Centric Brands, in 2020, Favorite Daughter’s debut brick-and-mortar store opened last December in Beverly Hills. The welcoming shop designed by Fai Khadra features pastel pinks and pistachios and a Maurice Harris fl oral chandelier. In addition to the stylish sweaters, jackets, dresses and denim, the shop carries special-edition items from Jennifer Meyer and Roxanne Assoulin. The sisters promise: “It’s a place you’d want to go to try on clothes with your girlfriends.” Beverly Hills, shopfavoritedaughter.com–Abigail Woods
PHOTO: BY STEFANIE KEENAN
When it opened in Silver Lake in 2017, Vinovore (a play on “carnivore”) became the first L.A. wine shop to carry all-female winemakers—plus woman-made beer and goods. “Being a woman in business and knowing its challenges, I wanted to support other women in business as much as possible,” says Coly Den Haan, who, along with co-owner Angelica Luna, just unveiled a second outpost in Eagle Rock. The bigger, slicker new location features the same fun ambiance and animal-themed decor (think panther and swan table bases and animal prints), along with “’80s/’90s Miami deco revival” details inspired by the building. Whereas wine shops can feel utilitarian, Den Haan added warm, quirky elements like a “wine zodiac” animal chart, which matches customers’ predilections with color-coded bottles. “I can tell you what to drink all day long, but, ultimately, no one knows your palate better than you,” Den Haan says. In addition to natural, woman-made wines and beers, the Eagle Rock shop carries goodies from like-minded local female brands, such as sourdough doughnuts from Gemini Bakehouse, sandwiches from Otoño, Canyon Coffee, candles, gift boxes and more. Eagle Rock, vinovore.com–Jennifer Buckley
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