Modern teardown
Chez Mia, Beverly Crest listings, Superba Food + Bread, digital nomads, Ojai, Flowerboy Project, best beauty boutiques, MORE
THE ASK: We’re seeking to add to our excellent group of contributors to FOUND LA (and NY/SF/MIA). These are very flexible freelance roles that don’t necessarily require a professional writing background — mostly passion and impeccable taste. Is that you, or a friend? (We’re also looking for contributors for our forthcoming Paris & London editions.) Drop us a line at found@itsfoundla.com.
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Très chic
The Skinny: The Boujis Group (Olivetta, The Draycott) is back with Chez Mia, a French newcomer that fits right in on a West Hollywood stretch of Melrose dotted with high-fashion houses and design shops. It opened in early last month.
The Vibe: There’s a bar and a few tables inside, but the sprawling patio is why you’re here. With a color scheme reminiscent of the Beverly Hills Hotel, feminine touches like frilly pink umbrellas and scalloped mint green detailing on the curved dining chairs balance out a geometric tiled floor. Potted plants and fountains surround the dining area making for a welcome escape from WeHo, while a well-heeled, enthusiastic crowd gives the space a light party vibe.
The Drinks: The restaurant’s signature cocktails veer towards light and refreshing, with ingredients like watermelon and pureed peach (and a surprise red bell pepper appearance). Opt for one of the bar’s takes on classic cocktails, or sip a glass of Crémant from the predominantly French and Italian wine list.
The Food: Bright Provençal flavors with glitzy embellishments. Creme fraiche-filled gougeres are topped with a hefty dollop of caviar, while paper-thin hamachi crudo is anointed with a sliver of truffle. A few handmade pastas — fluffy ricotta-filled agnolotti on a simple tomato ragu, linguine bathed in butter and white truffle shavings — and wood-fired fish and meat round out the menu. The tender Wagyu New York strip is worth the $165 price tag. And the pommes frites, thicker than average (but not quite steak fries), are superb.
The Verdict: So pretty you’ll want to take up residence, assuming you can afford the rent. –Karen Palmer
→ Chez Mia (West Hollywood) • 8478 Melrose Ave • Dinner: Mon-Wed 5p-12a, Thurs-Sun 5p-1230a • Reserve.
LA RESTAURANT LINKS: The great Helms Bakery reveal… and the 13 things not to miss • Tokyo-style cocktail bar coming to Long Beach next week, behind El Barrio Cantina • What does the future hold for Downtown LA as a cocktail destination? • NorCal’s Dungeness season is delayed • At America’s great restaurants, great artists steal • What’s the cost of drinking bargain natural wine?
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Which LA neighborhoods have paid the most mansion tax? A new dashboard tracks the answer to that question in real time, and per the LA Times, “Westside neighborhoods accounted for nearly half of all mansion tax sales. Unsurprisingly, the 5th City Council District — which holds neighborhoods such as Bel-Air and Beverly Crest — raised the most at $83.3 million across 138 sales.”
Here now, three properties in Beverly Crest that have recently come to market a little above the magic $5M line — and one that price chopped its way down just below.
→ 2807 N Deep Canyon Dr (Benedict Hill) • 5BR/6.1BA, 4617 SF • Ask: $4.995M (down from $5.895) • Tudor-style residence with swimming pool and paddleball court (“can easily be converted to pickleball court”) • Days on market: 6 (and previous) • Agents: Heather Gussman & Paul Czako, Gussman Czako Estates.
→ 2200 Coldwater Canyon Dr (Beverly Crest, above) • 4BR/5BA, 4397 SF • Ask: $5.7M • gated compound with tennis court north of Sunset • Days on market: 15 • Agent: Dante Keshishyan, Blackstone Realty & Mngmt.
→ 1400 Laurel Way (Beverly Hills Post Office) • 6BR/7BA, 5575 SF • Ask: $6.495M • midcentury modern teardown (“not necessarily a teardown”) with incredible views • Days on market: 2 • Agent: Robin Gaur, Keller Williams.
WORK • Field Report
Remote control
We’ve officially rounded the corner on autumn: Daylight Savings has come and gone, and a late Thanksgiving will soon slam us right into December (i.e. holiday party season). If you live in certain cosmopolitan environs — and if you’ve ever been on Instagram — you know damn well what this all means: An entire class of white-collar professionals attempting to sublet their places for winter, planning remote work anywhere from LA to Lisbon, from great surf to great skiing. And it begins… now.
Per an August 2024 MBO report, “digital nomads” now constitute one in 10 American workers, their numbers growing 147% since 2019. Their economic effects continue to be profound: Italy, Japan, and Thailand all introduced digital nomad visas this year, joining a slew of other countries who already have them on offer (along with, occasionally, economic incentives). Haven’t you heard? Digital nomads are great for the world. They’re also — haven’t you heard? — solipsistic, selfish perpetrators of a global housing crisis ruining regional cultures everywhere, who the locals openly detest. To be fair: Go to Mexico City in January, throw a rock, and you’ll hit a mezcal-sipping creative director from East LA or North Brooklyn.
But as the Great RTO Wars rage on, with companies trying to compel (or force) workers into the office with various levels of success, and those aforementioned local backlashes against nomads coincide with nomads’ burnout, depression, and anxiety from permanent destabilization, it’d seem the unmoored hordes may start to ebb.
I recently tried my own hand at international remote work for the first time, staying two weeks with someone working to open a hotel in Greece. On paper, it sounds phenomenally cool, and in some ways, it was. Ferrying to a long weekend in Sifnos was amazing, and in Athens (where they’re still adjusting to digital nomads), I’d spend mornings going into the city center, grabbing coffee, lunch at Feyrouz, walking through a city park, browsing record stores, seeing art — but then, at 3, it was back to the hotel for work, just as New York was waking up, breaking for dinner around 8, checking my phone throughout, sometimes not finishing meetings until midnight or 1.
Admittedly, less glamorous than it sounds. It’s hard to imagine keeping this schedule much longer than I did, especially somewhere I don't speak the language or have a network of friends on the ground.
Then again, I’d be lying if I weren’t hoping for either the FOUND London or FOUND Paris bureau posting when launch time comes — at least for a week or two. –Foster Kamer
LA WORK AND PLAY LINKS: Meet the TikTok anthropologist mapping LA’s grocery stores • Music streamer Beatport signs Arts District lease • Amazon workers 'appalled' by AWS CEO’s return to office remarks, urge policy reversal • ETFs are where the fun is.
WORK • Thursday Routine
American hustle
JEFFREY GOODMAN • CEO and partner • American Gonzo Restaurants
Neighborhood you live in: Venice
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Since we’re now again open at 7a in Venice, I’ll typically take a first meeting over coffee at our restaurant Superba Food + Bread with one of the different leaders in our company. After that, I’ll walk back over to our HQ, where it’s usually a little quiet, because Thursdays are a hybrid office day.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I’ll spend most of the mid-morning and early afternoon working on restaurant development. Right now, our focus is on getting American Beauty at The Grove fully constructed, and kicking off operations for Superba Food + Bread Calabasas. Later in the evening, I transition to tastings with the team. Superba is currently working on eight or nine new dishes with the changing of the seasons into fall, revolving around squashes, cabbages, and all the great things at the market right now.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
This weekend I’m up in Ojai, hanging out with some friends. We have Friday dinner reservations at The Dutchess, and then we’ll hit Three Birds for coffee Saturday or Sunday and probably squeeze in a second dinner at Rory’s.
How about a little leisure or culture?
This time of year, Sundays are mostly dedicated to watching football. I’d love to actually get to a Rams game, but so far don’t have any tickets in my hand. As far as live music, the plan is birthday tickets for LCD Soundsystem this month.
Any weekend getaways?
Most weekend getaways are to places where I have restaurants, like San Diego or Newport Beach. But I try to get out to hike with my wife Hope and spend time on the beach, and time with the dog, always collecting new restaurant experiences along the way.
What was your last great vacation?
Thanksgiving last year in New York City with my parents and sister. I grew up in New Jersey, and my family all now lives in New York. I got to visit my hometown, have a Thanksgiving feast with the family, and was also lucky to sneak in a few great dining spots in NYC.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
The Sonos wireless turntable. I have a collection of close to 400 vinyls between my houses in Venice and Ojai.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Flowerboy Project on Lincoln for bouquets. I celebrate people with flowers regularly, and it’s hard to find a florist that isn’t corporate and doesn’t do the obvious thing. For the nine years I’ve lived in Venice, they’ve been my go-to for quirky, edgy floral design. Also, Sonoratown for chivichangas if anyone’s craving Mexican food.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Deck the Halls
LCD Soundsystem • Hollywood Palladium (Hollywood) • Thurs @ 8p • general admission, $166 per
Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time • Hollywood Bowl (Hollywood) • Fri @ 7:30p • terrace 4, $525 per
Sting 3.0 • Wiltern Theatre (Koreatown) • Tues @ 8p • floor 4, $432 per
GETAWAYS LINKS: Revamp, expansion planned for PSP (Palm Springs) • Loquita/Lucky Penny team opens new restaurant La Vaquera in San Juan Capistrano • Realm Cellars launches new tasting room in Calistoga • Inside San Miguel de Allende’s reopened Casa Dragones • CLEAR’s growth paradox.
ASK FOUND
FOUND subscriber PROMPTS for which we’re seeking intel:
Where are you excited about dining this fall?
What’s your favorite bookstore in Los Angeles?
Which spa are you booking to escape the chaos of the season?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfoundla.com.
GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Boutiques, beauty
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of LA’s best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundla.com.
Strange Invisible Perfumes (Venice), small-batch botanic perfumes distilled in South of France