Cocktails in the wilderness
Cocktails in the wilderness
Nossa Caipirinha Bar, Mount Washington, facialists, One&Only Mandarina, womenswear boutiques, Guerneville escapes, MORE
THE ASK • FOUND SF
Here’s a scoop: FOUND is launching in San Francisco later this year. It’s never too early to get on the list. We’re also looking for Bay Area-based contributors. If that’s you, hit reply or email found@itsfoundla.com with FOUND SF in the subject line and we’ll chat.
RESTAURANTS • FOUND Table
Hillhurst’s unsung hero
Brazilian bar and restaurant Nossa, in Los Feliz, is the unsung hero of Hillhurst Ave. Ever since chef Rory Cameron (previously of Found Oyster) took over the menu in 2022, there’s been bright, fresh crudo and ceviche, pitch-perfect pão de queijo, and expertly made cocktails.
Nossa attracts less foot traffic than its nearby neighbor All Time, making it viable for a casual weeknight dinner without much of a wait. It’s also moody enough for a date, and spacious, with plenty of tucked-away two-tops.
Think of it as a handy go-to if you’re anywhere east of Western Ave. — whether for drinks and snacks, or a full-on meal. Which you’ll have no problem making out of the creamy, dreamy prawn moqueca with yellow curry paste, bell peppers, and coconut milk, or for something heartier, the dry-aged picanha steak.
To drink, of course, there’s the requisite caipirinha. Even if you’re not one for cachaça, barman Shannon Inouye will make you a convert. –Kelly Dobkin
→ Nossa Caipirinha Bar (Los Feliz) • 1966 Hillhurst Ave. • Dinner Mon.-Sun. • Reserve.
LA RESTAURANT LINKS: What’s in vogue for LA eating and drinking this year: standing reservations, dessert carts, wet martinis • High-end omakase Sakurako opens in Little Tokyo • Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong shutters in Koreatown after a decade • Cipriani opens first West Coast location in Beverly Hills • Another first: Sugarfish in Orange County • What is hop water trying to be?
GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Boutiques, womenswear
Just One Eye (Hollywood), luxury fashion, jewelry, & furniture gallery
Terminal 27 (West Hollywood), tucked away boutique, cutting-edge curation
Dover Street Market (Arts District), LA outpost of Comme des Garçons-driven concept store
Mohawk General Store (Silver Lake), stalwart Silver Lake shop with eye for indie designers
Noodle Stories (Beverly Grove), quirky, high-end selection
Aralda Vintage (Beachwood), stylists’ favorite for vintage designer partywear
The Row (Melrose), Olsen twins’ Melrose Place flagship
Bode (Hollywood, above), experts in tailoring and knitwear
Arcade (Arts District), vintage clothing and jewelry from Pickwick Vintage Show organizers
Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or email found@itsfoundla.com.
REAL ESTATE • Sold
The call of Mount Washington
Mount Washington is one of those “I wish I’d bought there 10 years ago” neighborhoods. Even so, real estate in the hilly hood remains relatively affordable compared to its neighbors to the west, Los Feliz and Silver Lake. Last year, only one property sale in the neighborhood hit the $3 million mark, a mid-century modern house designed by a Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice.
Several other homes that found buyers in the back half of last year paint a picture of the upper end of the Mount Washington market right now — residences which could indeed look like bargains, say, 10 years from now.
→ 3940 San Rafael Ave. (Mount Washington) • 2BR/2BA, 1082 SF • Richard Neutra-designed modernist gem • Listed: 10/20/23, sold: 12/12/23 • Sold price: $1.975M • Listing broker: Tracy Do, Coldwell Banker.
→ 646 Dimmick Dr. (Mount Washington, above) • 3BR/3BA, 2015 SF • Modernist house with two-car garage and elevator • Listed: 6/16/23, sold: 8/11/23 • Sold price: $2.015M • Listing broker: René Wiebensohn, The Agency.
→ 3734 San Rafael Ave. (Mount Washington) • 4BR/3BA, 2689 SF • Sited atop Mount Washington, recently redone • Listed: 10/16/23, closed 11/22/23 • Sold price: $2.75M • Listing broker: Alyssa Valentine, Compass.
LA WORK AND PLAY LINKS: Emma Stone lists Spanish-style bungalow in Westwood for $3.995M • Ikea to bring smaller stores to LA • The return-to-office wars are over, survey says • Office etiquette classes are hot • The MBAs who can’t find jobs.
GOODS & SERVICES • Facialists
Poreless
There are seemingly as many facialists as Starbucks in Los Angeles, but some rank far above the rest. Here are three of our favorite practitioners to know right now.
→ Cynthia Franco Aesthetics (Beverly Hills): If you can snag a slot with Franco (she might be busy with clients like Cara Delevigne), take it. She’s known for making skin feel baby-soft with her expert dermaplaning, and is one of the first to carry the Plasma Gun — a tool described as “the fifth state of matter” that aims to shrink pores, aid hairline growth, and more.
→ Kosha Spa (Sherman Oaks): True skincare junkies know aging happens on many levels (you need to think about muscles, bones, and fascia too!). This holistic spa addresses all of it, while also offering everything from intuitive energy work to buccal massage and gua sha.
→ Kristina Kitsos (Beverly Hills): Kitsos is loved for her magical hands and vast knowledge (she grew up in her dad’s plastic surgery office). Her latest treatment, Mesotherapy, hails from Europe and bestows a dewy glow that combats winter dullness. –Zoe Schaeffer
WORK • Thursday Routine
Deliver us
CHRIS WEBB • CEO/founder • ChowNow
Neighborhood you live in: Mar Vista
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’m in our office in Culver City, likely finishing off a coffee from either Bar Nine or Destroyer, while meeting with members of the team. Thursdays are usually busy at the office, partially because chef Tam cooks breakfast for the team that day. The main kitchen is a focal point within our HQ; it’s equipped with top-of-the-line appliances and a 27-foot island, so we take advantage of the space whenever we can. For our Thursday breakfasts, there’s typically a mix of savory and sweet options, omelets, bacon, pancakes, etc., but she’s known for a breakfast burrito that rivals Cofax’s.
What’s on the agenda for today?
This week I’m meeting with Erin, who runs comms and event planning at the company, to discuss upcoming After Hours at HQ chef events. We launched the series in 2022 to bring the local hospitality community together for events that support the industry.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Likely dinner at Birdie G’s with the family. It’s our favorite, and our four-year-old son absolutely loves it. The odds are pretty high that if you’re there on the earlier side you’ll catch us eating at a booth in the bar (also our son’s favorite table). We always start with cornbread, but the sleeper hit on the menu is the “tinned” salt spring mussels served with yuzu kosho mayo and matzo. I also like to try a new place on the weekend. Sushi Note’s new Beverly Hills omakase bar is at the top of my list.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Lately I’ve been taking my son to UCLA on the weekends so he can bike around the campus. It’s one of the best “parks” in LA and keeps us busy for hours. We’ll often stop and watch the UCLA tennis team practice. We then head to Lulu at the Hammer Museum for brunch. Alice Waters was there setting up the restaurant a couple weeks back, which was big for the food nerd in me.
Any weekend getaways?
This time of year we try to go skiing, but the snow has been so awful around the country that we haven’t made it to the mountains yet. Instead we’re going to San Diego to see family and eat at Addison (bucket list for me).
What was your last great vacation?
We recently went to Mexico for a week. It was our first real vacation in years, so we splurged and went to the One&Only Mandarina, just north of Puerto Vallarta. It surpassed my high expectations. If you’re looking for some R&R and have a bunch of credit card points to unload, I highly recommend it. It doesn’t have the culture and history of Mexico City or Oaxaca, but it’s pure paradise.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Sports 101
Nets vs. Clippers, Crypto.com Arena, (Downtown), Sun @ 1230p, section 101, $164 per
Nets vs. Lakers, Crypto.com Arena, (Downtown), Fri @ 730p, section 101, $279 per
Rangers vs. Kings, Crypto.com Arena, (Downtown), Sat @ 730p, section 101, $283 per
GETAWAYS • Guerneville
Plush wilderness
Lately, my vacation craving is for wilderness — with plush amenities, of course. The Russian River Valley on the outskirts of California wine country fits the bill. Here, two excellent lodging options:
→ The Stavrand (Guerneville, above): A newly renovated historic mansion that provides creature comforts like luxury linens, strong showers, and organic Juice Beauty products made exclusively for the hotel. A trim 21 rooms, The Stavrand easily meets the mark for isolation. Better yet, some rooms come equipped with outdoor cedar soaking tubs for stargazing.
The inn’s restaurant serves a prix fixe of California cuisine with produce from an on-site garden. The rest of the six acres are home to a pool and hot tub, lawn games, fire pits, and a short walking path that leads to town, where bikes and kayaks are available to rent. The best choice for leisure, however, is to grab a book from the hotel’s lending library, find a nook to curl up in, and escape into another world under a bower of Redwoods.
→ Farmhouse Inn (Guerneville): Even the most central part of wine country was sleepy in 1991, so it’s hard to imagine the vision that brother-and-sister duo Joe and Catherine Bartolomei had when they purchased Farmhouse Inn, a storied address built in the 1870s. And yet, once on site, it quickly becomes clear. From the cool silence of the enveloping trees to the crunchy gravel paths between the (naturally) farmhouse-style rooms, the prevailing mood is tranquility.
Inside the rooms, find marble-acquainted bathrooms with heated floors, walk-in steam showers, and gas fireplaces. And at the center of the property, a “wellness barn” offers herbal bath treatments and customized massages. But the biggest draw is its eponymous restaurant, which earned a Michelin star in 2006. Despite the retirement of founding chef Steve Litke in 2021, Farmhouse still hits as the Russian River dream you won’t want to wake up from. –Caitlin White
GETAWAYS LINKS: In Temecula, Murrieta Hot Springs reopening Feb. 1 with new hotel and spa • Longtime chef partners open Alice B. restaurant in Palm Springs • Mid-century modern residence in Palm Springs lists for first time in 65 years • What’s the latest on Clear identity checks? • What to see at Paris Design Week.
ASK FOUND
A few FOUND subscriber PROMPTS for which we are seeking intel:
I’m looking for a new kitchen table and a sofa. Which furniture stores should I visit?
I love a hotel bar. Which LA hotels have great bars?
What’s your favorite restaurant in LA (if you haven’t told us already)?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or or email found@itsfoundla.com.