Earlier in the spring, chef Mario Alberto and partner Daniel Oh brought to Koreatown a new vegetarian dining experience with Los Angeles at top of mind.
Along Vermont Ave, Olivia’s offerings represent the diversity of the city and implements fresh farmer’s market ingredients whenever possible. Think savory menu highlights like fried olives, Einkorn focaccia with pimento cashew cheese, Yucca chocolate torte, Weiser potato kimchi pizza and a fried “chicken” sandwich (Asian pear, cucumber kimchi, spiced slaw and sesame leaf).
“I’m getting back to my roots at Olivia; back to a time of exploration and curiosity without too much manipulating of ingredients. Just trying to cook honest and simple damn good food,” said Alberto upon the restaurant’s opening, who describes his approach to the restaurant’s cuisine as first and foremost Angeleno. “Our foundation is in California cuisine, but the flavors we’re playing with pull from the unique melting pot of this city’s cultures, with flavor combinations that pop and surprise, but make beautiful sense to anyone who lives and eats here.”
Before helming Olivia, Alberto cultivated his talents as part of the opening team at Gjelina and served as executive chef at Laurel Hardware, Ysabel and Gracias Madre.
Now serving the very neighborhood he lives in, Alberto already counts the likes of chef Roy Choi and Anderson Paak as diners. Ryan Phillippe even took to Instagram to express his praise.
And while we think you should try out Olivia, chef Alberto has kindly shared the secret to making his plant-based pimiento dip. Ideal for picnics and parties, the dip is a blast of flavor that combines cashews, sun dried tomatoes, garlic and a mix of spices.
See the full recipe below.
Ingredients
1 qt Raw Cashews (soaked overnight in water)
11 oz Tomato Confit
5 oz Sun Dried Tomato
12 oz Water
3 oz Rejuvelac
4 oz Confit Garlic
5 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
1/4 tsp Celery Salt
2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
1 oz Chipotle
2 ea Chile de árbol (toasted)
Method:
1. Take Tomato Confit, Garlic Confit, Water, Rejuvelac, Salt, Cumin Powder,
Celery Salt, Smoke Paprika, Chipotle, and Chile de arbol into a Vitamix (or
comparable blender) and puree to a fine paste.
2. In parts, add cashews until fully emulsified.
3. Then add Sun Dried Tomato and emulsify.
4. More water can be added to get desired consistency.
Olivia is located at 205 S Vermont Ave. 90004.
Photography by: Photo by Jesse Hsu for Olivia
