LA’s Modern Love Affair with Iberian Cuisine, and Why it Makes Perfect Sense

Led by our newfound love of conservas, Spanish and Portuguese food is so hot right now.

At the beginning of the pandemic we hoarded backside , filling grocery carts and cabinets andholes in the woodswith bean and tuna . Now , after two years and alteration of pandemic life , we are using our behind not for subsistence , but for celebration — you’re able to hardly walk through a vino prevention ornew restaurantwithout listen the key signature scrape of aluminum , the pop and skin of can after can of gourmet Spanish - fashion conservas . tin Pisces the Fishes have taken over the city .

If you call for chef Sandra Cordero , proprietor ofGasolina Cafein Woodland Hills , it ’s about darned metre . She is from Galicia on the Northwestern tip of Spain , one of the realm with a believable claim to the Spanish conserva throne , and she ’s been await eagerly for Angelenos to identify the magic she ’s known her intact life . “ You ’ve been missing out , ” she says , adding that “ it ’s a trend right now , but I call back it ’s here to persist . ”

Gasolina now carries around 20 diverseness of conservas , from tuna belly to octopus , cockle to Scorpio fish crown , and client are digging in at all hours of the day . There are even people on a regular basis ordering conservas during the breakfast rush , a thrill for Cordero . “ I get so excited when someone order them at 10 am , ” she says .

Bar Moruno

Photo courtesy of Bar Moruno

During the early days of the pandemic , conservas became a grand luminosity dejeuner , or an aperitivo hour treat with a nice baguette and a little spritz , a glimmering moment of relaxation in a high-pitched - anxiety time . And they also became something of a lifeline for local vino bar and shops , many of whom pivoted into offering buttery items and bite . Conservas worked for workshop for many of the same reasons they worked for our doomsday prepper selves — they’re fun , festive , and low - maintenance , designed to take up small space and to be highly shelf - stable , with fairly good margins for the shop to boot .

In jab into these conservas , Angelenos seem to have reawakened our love for food from the Iberian Peninsula at large .

Food trends are cyclical , surging and recede in waves of gibbosity . Between our preference for tapas - trend feeding and the urban center ’s newfound love life of conservas , LA was ripe for a broader reemergence of Spanish and Lusitanian nutrient — and reemerge it has . There have been a bevy of recent opening that are pushing tappa bark , pintxos , paella , and more back to the forefront of our culinary landscape painting .

San Laurel

Photo courtesy of San Laurel | Conrad Los Angeles

To Brendan Collins , chef and spouse at Santa Monica ’s new Spanish restaurantDono , California is a innate fit for Spanish cuisine . He and restaurateur Michael Greco partner on the opening , even taking a delirious journey from Madrid , through Rioja , and up to the legendary solid food upper-case letter of San Sebastián - Donostia , from whence their eating house Dono gets its name .

They sleep together the food and the drinks , of course , but for Collins , “ it ’s as much about the social interaction , partake great food , let a chalice of cotton gin and pop … friends , great music , and love life history . ” That ethos , of culinary art as an integrated piece of celebratory living , is a shared virtue between LA and Spain .

Collins also feel a lot of cultural overlap between Barcelona and LA . He says the City of Prodigies , “ has a fantastic modern culinary art that is n’t held back by traditionalism . It is a vivacious city with amazing energy and architecture — it is very reminiscent of Los Angeles . ”

Dono

Photo by Wonho Frank Lee, courtesy of Dono

The Iberian peninsula and California are a natural pair in terms of climate , civilisation , and more , so it only makes sense that our cuisines are converge once again . lionize the rehabilitation of our simpatico sentiments at these outstanding Spanish and Portuguese eating house around town :

San Laurel

Downtown$$$$The universally beloved chef , restaurateur , andphilanthropistJosé Andrés is often credited with generalise tapas in the US in the first place , so it ’s utterly meet that he is baffle in on their resurgence in LA . Chef Andrés is institute several Modern restaurants to life in the Conrad hotel downtown , the first and fine of which is ring San Laurel . The eatery is located on a terrace of the hotel overlooking Disney Hall just across the street , a befittingly dramatic aspect for Andrés ’ characteristically forward - look and graceful Spanish culinary art . At San Laurel that is filtered through the lens of California produce , so there ’s Tomato Tartare , cured Striped Bass Crudo with ashen escabeche , Grilled Romaine with Manchego foam as a main course , and a combust Basque - style cheesecake for afters . How to book : Reservations available through theirwebsite .

Dono

Santa Monica$$$Chef Brendan Collins ’ crazy enquiry route stumble to Spain paid off — Dono is a wonderland of Spanish cuisine spiked with local California perspective . startle with cured Ibérico pork and of course of instruction a tin of conservas , grab a classic Croqueta with Bacalao and a few of their farmers market - influenced vegetable tapas , and finish up with the African - Lusitanian Piri Piri Chicken . There is also paella , of trend , both traditional seafood and a California vegetable variant with epazote whip ointment . And do not skip out on a Gin and Tonic or a big spyglass of decked - out sangaree . How to book : reservation available throughResy .

Otoño

Highland Park$$$Chef Teresa Montaño was born in New Mexico and has been in LA for a long time , but she has made her name cooking adorable , soulful , forward-looking Spanish solid food . Otoño has been a Highland Park essential since it opened in 2018 , serve Montaño ’s take on Spanish intellectual nourishment seen through an LA genus Lens . That intend an undefiled Pan con Tomate and perfect Croquetas but also huitlacoche puree under the vegetable skewers , shiso and XO sauce with the Scallop Tartare , and dashi in the Paella Negra . They also have some of the good gin and tonics around , a large selection of Spanish Vermut , and you may get your Txakolina served in a traditional , playfulness as blaze Porrón . How to hold : Reservations uncommitted throughResy .

Gasolina Cafe

timberland Hills$$Whether you want a morning jolt , a mid - twenty-four hours pickup , or an evening boost , Gasolina Cafe is ready to fire you . Chef Sandra Cordero ’s Spanish smear open on Ventura Blvd in 2015 , and has steady add layers ever since . They do coffee , sweets , testicle , and toast during the day , and then around 4 pm they start come out bottles of first-class Spanish vino and tins of the best conservas , to go with a tapas menu of charcuterie , salads , and more traditional Spanish small plates . It ’s a double-dyed casual spot , the kind you may find yourself wandering into over and over again , becoming a regular without really realizing it . specially if you encounter to carry into one of their specialPaella Nights . How to book : booking available throughTock , pickup orders throughToast .

Caldo Verde

Downtown$$The newest restaurant from star local chef Suzanne Goin and restaurateur Caroline Styne is connected to the Downtown LA Proper Hotel , with scenicCara Caraserving similarly inspired bites and cocktail onthe glittering rooftop . Caldo Verde has all of the usual pieces for a hotel restaurant — sleek inner , adorable patio , commodious fix , artful design — but the computer menu of Portuguese - work plates is new for the category . Yes , there are simple salads and seafood on the menu , but the Avocado Toast has Piri Piri , the Chopped Salad has chorizo , and the Proper Lunch special comes with Gazpacho . For dinner , things get taken up a notch with Piri Piri Chicken and a seafood - stacked Caldo Verde stew for two , plus Iberian - inspired drink like Carajillo and a Spanish Sour , with interface wines and sherry that mate absolutely with sweet . How to book : reservation available throughOpenTable .

Dos Besos

Pasadena$$For a recollective prison term , Old Town Pasadena was a nutrient barren , as bland and tourer - focused as any shopping center in town . But the vista has improved over the years , and it got a vast boost when hubby and wife team Alejandro Llobet Domenech and Kit Romano converted their Paella catering operation into the brick - and - mortar Spanish eatery Dos Besos . The carte du jour skews traditional , with more than a 12 essential tapas , a few salad , and a handful of larger format proteins . The paellas are clearly the heart of affair , and they are excellent — compact with seafood or vegetables , and always crusted with the all - important socarrat , the toasty Elmer Leopold Rice on the bottom of the genus Pan . How to book : Walk in , or call626 - 696 - 3741 .

Cobras & Matadors

Fairfax$$Perhaps the most of import piece of a tapas dinner is the vigour in the room , the way the crowd buzzes as feeding bottle pop and plate after scale lands at your tabular array . There are few places with energy as good right now as Cobras & Matadors , which reopened this Spring near The Grove after a years - long foramen . The space is tiny but it buzz with conversation , and the menu is unforesightful but perfect , mostly Spanish with some French and Californian skin senses , which makes it an ideal spot to dodge in for a few photographic plate and a bottle of wine . It ’s BYOB , so the pairing are up to you . How to book : take the air in , or call 323 - 272 - 4924 .

Bar Moruno

Silver Lake$$Another landmark Spanish - influenced restaurant that had a mighty run cut too short was reborn this year — Bar Moruno . Chef Chris Feldmeier add his wood fire - focused Spanish and North African restaurant back with a few unexampled twists , admit a killer ginmill curriculum and plenty of tinned fish . Knock back a Salmon Martini or a Hopped Grapefruit tonic water with some Cockles in Brine , then move through Tortilla Española , some of their spacious selection of vegetables punched up with Moroccan and Tunisian spice , and on into big - format , wood - fired protein . Then stop byRapido , their side by side food market , for conservas and canned cocktails to take home . How to book : Reservations useable throughResy .

Nata’s Pastries

William Tecumseh Sherman Oaks$$Just because there are trendy new restaurants serve Iberian cuisine does n’t mean we should dismiss the classics . Chef / owner Fatima Marques ’ Lusitanian bistro on Ventura Blvd has been going strong for 17 year , leveling up over time from a bakeshop that specialized in the iconic Lusitanian egg custard prostitute Pastel de Nata into a full - serving restaurant with an expansive all - solar day computer menu of Lusitanian tappa . At lunch there are sandwiches and Panini with Piri - Piri Chicken or the Portuguese blimp Chouriço , and for dinner they do traditional tapas and also large plate like Feijoada and several preparations of the salted cod Bacalhau . And lest you leave , the tarts that made them famous persist fantastic . How to book : Walk in , call 818 - 788 - 8050 for pickup or order delivery from third - party apps on theirwebsite .

Casa Cordoba

Montrose$$The small foothill town of Montrose does n’t get a lot of tending for its food scene , but Honolulu Avenue has a bustling strip of successful eating place , including the nine class - old Casa Córdoba , a Spanish - fashion spot with a lively terrace and an expansive menu of Spanish classics . There are charcuterie boards and tapas of both centre and seafood , several paella , and two versions of the Catalan dome dish Fideuá . The vibe is fun and insouciant and totally understated , which may be thanks in part to the giant mound of Sangria on almost every board . How to book : Reservations available throughOpenTable .

La Española

Harbor City$If you ’re looking to bring some of the best Spanish food home with you , Harbor City anchor La Española is your best bet . They make fantastic Spanish sausages in firm , and they also import excellent gammon , cheese , spiciness , and conservas and sell them in - store . Their extract is grand , and it ’s easy to build up an full meal out of their charcuterie , olive , and conservas , but they also make perfect simple sandwiches with jamon serrano , mackerel fillets , or chorizo , and on Saturdays they serve well some of the good paella around . How to book : Walk in , or ordering ahead forsandwichesorpaellaonline .

Otoño