Restaurant of the Summer
Camelia, Eagle Rock listings, Copper Cow Coffee, Playa Provisions, the big stay, LA Homefarm, best SLO region restaurants, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Open sesame
In a slow year for LA’s restaurant openings, one new project in particular has been hotly anticipated by virtually everyone who tracks these things: Camelia. Last week, the chef Charles Namba and (his wife and partner) sommelier Courtney Kaplan — owners of beloved Echo Park izakaya Tsubaki and its next-door sake bar, Ototo — opened the doors at last to their new French-Japanese bistro in the Arts District.
Camelia is significantly bigger than Tsubaki in size, scope, and ambition. It’s more centrally located, and its arrival comes with lofty expectations, given the way Tsubaki and Ototo are consistently great.
Good news: Camelia measures up.
The interiors are beautiful, as a lofty, warehouse-style space has been refashioned into a certified bistro. Brick floors, dark wood-and-rattan chairs, mahogany booths, and giant windows make for sexy, warm, elegant environs. There’s a patio, but inside you can peer in on machinations of an open kitchen, helmed by Namba and chef de cuisine Nestor Silva, another darling L.A. talent (of the pop-up Malli and Rustic Canyon).
Camelia’s beverage program makes early arrivals for cocktails a compelling idea. Kaplan is showing off her expertise in both sake and wine, including a generous number of half-bottles on offer. And unlike Tsubaki and Ototo (and many other of the best restaurants in town), Camelia boasts a full bar.
For its first Friday dinner service, the restaurant was booming, and everything we tried was fantastic. Favorites were the soon-to-be requisite black sesame parker house rolls (above), purple yam blinis with Dungeness crab and ikura, koji-roasted chicken in a seaweed cream sauce, and for dessert, kokuto caramel pudding with soba-cha and cherries. If there’s one complaint to be had, it’s that Camelia’s menu is slightly over-engineered to be shared. Still, with open arms we welcome what’s bound to be Los Angeles’ Restaurant of the Summer. –Emily Wilson
→ Camelia (Arts District) • 1850 Industrial St • Sun, Mon & Thurs 5-10p; Fri-Sat 5-10:30p • Reserve.
LA RESTAURANT LINKS: NYC’s Prince Street Pizza popping up at shuttered Hollywood Arby’s starting Aug 8 • Levain Bakery opening second LA outpost on Abbott Kinney • A Dante-inspired wine bar opens deep in the Valley • Jon and Vinny’s is coming to the Valley, too • Why halfway decent is the new great for cocktail bars.
REAL ESTATE • Sold
Soaring in Eagle Rock
Following last week’s real estate tour of Glassell Park, we’re moving next door to Eagle Rock, a neighborhood where the median sale price of single-family homes now sits at $1.336 million, per Redfin (a $300k jump up from Glassell Park).
At the higher end of Eagle Rock’s offerings, there’s solid activity above the $2 million mark. However, in the three recent sales seen here, each seller hit the market with a too-aggressive initial asking price before quickly recalibrating, slicing a hundred thousand (or two) off, and getting the deal done.
→ 5217 Dahlia Dr (Eagle Rock) • 5BR/4BA, 2749 SF • updated Colonial-style house with swimming pool • Listed: 4/23/24 for $2.99M • Sold 7/8/24 for $2.75M • Agent: Tara Ozanyan, Compass.
→ 1621 Hill Dr (Eagle Rock) • 3BR/3BA, 2162 SF • Spanish style house built 1940, recently updated • Listed: 5/3/24 for $2.799M • Sold 6/17/24 for $2.625M • Agent: Jason Winicki, Compass.
→ 1943 Estes Rd (Eagle Rock, above) • 4BR/4BA, 3449 SF • midcentury charm in the Eagle Rock hills • Listed: 4/17/24 for $2.6M • Sold 6/24/24 for $2.3M • Agents: David Knight and Esther Clauson, Keller Williams.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Stadium Seating
Red Sox vs Dodgers • Dodger Stadium (Elysian Park) • Sat @ 410p • section 32FD $228 per
Kenny Chesney with Zac Brown Band • SoFi Stadium (Inglewood) • Sat @ 5p • section C129 $228 per
Patton Oswalt and Friends • Largo at the Coronet (West Hollywood) • Sun @ 730p • GA $46 per
WORK • Thursday Routine
Coffee fix
DEBBIE WEI MULLIN • founder • Copper Cow Coffee
Neighborhood you live in: Culver City
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’ve just dropped my son off at school and handed off the baby to the nanny. I’ve filled up my huge water bottle, and have my second coffee on deck (today it’s Copper Cow’s Churro coffee).
What’s on the agenda for today?
First, I’ve got some quiet head down time in the morning to work on to build on a presentation for a key account. I’ve got a lunch date with another LA founder, and then I’m on calls with my team for half the day. I end the day with a final walking call on my way to my son’s school to pick him up, taking out the earbud just as he runs up to me. Copper Cow Coffee is on the road to officially becoming certified organic, so there’s a lot of work/catch-up calls to be done ahead of its launch this coming fall.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
My son and I are the early birds of the house (while my daughter and husband sleep in). We often sneak off early in the morning to a neighborhood cafe. Our current favorite is Motoring Coffee because it has all the LA people-watching combined with vintage cars (even a vintage delivery truck that’s been turned into a communal table). Coffee for me, cars and croissants for my son.
How about a little leisure or culture?
A favorite spot for us on the weekends is Huntington Gardens on the east side, but the easiest default Saturday morning is a family bike ride to the beach. I live in Culver City and there’s a hidden bike path along Ballona Creek that we can take from our house all the way to the beach without being exposed to traffic, and often get brunch at Playa Provisions.
Any weekend getaways?
We love to get out of the city and go to Big Bear for some mountain time, or just down to Malibu for hiking and good eats. Our favorite day trip right now is to go on the Sara Wan Trail and get some fish and chips at Malibu Seafood at the base of the trail.
What was your last great vacation?
Last summer we went to Vietnam for a month as a family. Our parents and kids came, and it was incredible — exploring the food and beaches with everyone, instead of being solo like I always am for work.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I have a nice bike from REI (and a bike seat) that I’m able to go everywhere in with my son. I rarely get in the car for everyday activities like grabbing a few groceries or a cup of coffee, and it’s now my son’s favorite way to travel.
What store or service do you always recommend?
I’m not a very organized person, and have struggled to keep my home in order my whole life. Recently I invested in having a professional organizer help get my home (and home office) in better shape, and have been blown away by the impact on my life.
WORK • Happiness
The big stay
The “great resignation” of the pandemic years, when workers quit en masse in search of life’s meaning, has reportedly given way to something much less fun: the “big stay.”
Per a Robert Half survey from the spring, only 35% of U.S. adults plan to look for a new job this year. Last year, 49% were looking. Gen Z workers, particularly, are sheltering in place: Only 44% are on the hunt this year, down from 74% last year.
The WSJ offers a number of reasons for the inertia: more job satisfaction (Robert Half says 77% are happy at work), fewer job postings, a more laborious search process, and diminished prospects for big comp bumps.
All seem plausible (but 77%!). Another anecdotal explanation that tracks: Employees in flexible environments don’t want to risk giving them up. It’s an interesting turn in the RTO-hybrid-remote conversation. Maybe the best way for employers to hold on is to let go after all. –Josh Albertson
LA WORK AND PLAY LINKS: Hospitality vets opening new private club Gravitas in Hollywood • Tracking the recent surge in LA country clubs’ revenue • In former Pilgrim Church, Hotel Lucille nearing completion in Silver Lake • Venture capitalists now charging founders for meetings • ‘Leisure sickness’ is real and how to avoid it.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Larder
Farm to door
Angelinos are spoiled, with our multi-weekly farmer’s markets and backyard lemon trees. But there’s something special about being gifted a box of seasonal, organic produce you didn’t have to procure yourself. LA Homefarm’s always makes for a stunning doorstep delivery. It’s available in sizes for 1-2 people to 5 or more, with produce from eight local farms. –Zoe Schaeffer
→ Shop: Farm Product Box (LA Homefarm) • $35-$200.
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GETAWAYS LINKS: Historic Terminal at LGB reopening this month following renovation • New completion date for LAX People Mover: Dec 8, 2025 • Tasting menu restaurant Solstice debuts in The Village Big Sur • End of an era: Street addresses coming to Carmel • Breeze Airways eyeing Hawaii flights from SNA, SBD • On the Big Island, long-awaited runway upgrades coming to LIH.
GETAWAYS • The Nines
Restaurants, San Luis Obispo region
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of the best in LA and surrounds. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundla.com. For the full archives, click here.
Nate’s On Marsh (San Luis Obispo), seasonal Cali-Italian menu with kitschy, Western-themed dining room