I was offline for a bit visiting family in Oregon / Washington, so I skipped last week’s issue. I hit a few wineries, ate endless cheese with the fam and figured out my Dutch Brother’s order.
If you ever make it up to the Oregon Coast — slurpin’ kumies at Local Ocean is an absolute must. 🦪
Bites —
Lingua Franca’s signature matchstick fries have been looking a little different lately — turns out it’s because their matchstick blade has dulled. Now called, ‘Matchbooks’ and I’m here for it.
Acid League launched shortcut sauces — find ‘em at Whole Foods.
The Black Cat has been named LA’s first LGBQT+’s Historical Landmark. 🏳️🌈
Shin’s pizza now serves crispy nuggs with a kimchi aioli — and just dropped new hours + delivery.
McDonald’s Japan just announced their newest menu item, shrimp nuggets. 🍤
Great White’s strawberry probiotic smoothie screams Hailey Bieber. 🍓
Who knew Philippe’s had good wine, and for $8 bucks? MasVinoPlease did.
Mady from Camber rounded up some Hike + Brunch pairings for you.
After 12 years of biz, Mohawk Bend just announced they’ll be closing. Bye to the best buffalo cauli in town.
Birdie temporarily closed too.
Soup szn is here. Maybe start with the Found Oyster Chowder.
Squid Game Trails are coming to LA in December — Your ticket includes access to the games and a Korean marketplace ft sweet and savory items plus drinks curated by Yangban chef Katianna Hong. Tickets go on sale this week.
Heavy Water + Minor Figures came up with this blue heaven…
Collabs + Events 🗓
10/10 Sanditas x Woon
10/14 Autumn ikebana event at Yangban with Flower Play + Cle Cosmetics. — tickets here.
10/14 Schindler Salon ft. 4 courses of bites + sips by Bucatini and a furniture install by Pop-Up Home — tickets here.
10/17 Night Off Volume 10 — 4 course dinner by @georgesburgerstand , @sonoratownla, @woonkitchen, Dessert by @loreto_frogtown.
10/19 Chloe Cooks Meetup @ Homage — 7pm
Until 10/20, restaurants all over LA are offering special deals + set menus for DineLA. Most aren’t worth going to IMO — but Infatuation rounded up the deals that’ll actually save you money.
Opening Soon —
Highly Likely, (pictured above) Highland Park — projected Fall ‘23
Sua Superette , by Fly By Jing’s founder in Larchmont Village — projected late fall.
Little Fish, Echo Park — projected October
Holy Basil — Atwater Village, October
Woon, Pasadena, October
Cofax, Culver City
All Antico Vinaio, Abbot Kinney
Go Get Em Tiger in the Konbi space? Next to the old Konbi space? Something…
Butchr Bar, Echo Park
Argento, Silver Lake — any day now.
Anonymous Review: Airliner Bar
Our anonymous reviews will be submitted by different authors each week serving unfiltered thoughts + scene reports.
“I walk in around 8 pm and the immediate energy is fairly empty, a tad bit too bright, and touch of disorganized chaos (but not the good kind like you get when you walk into Capri Club on a Friday night)… I may be impartial, as I was in a flirty Saturday night mood and Airliner was off the bat not feeling ~energetic~.
I sit at the bar with a friend and right off the bat we are greeted by the bar director who takes our order. I ask her about the history of Airliner as I know it’s been a few previous establishments and I have this feeling in my body that spooky things might occur here. They have a ghost and his name is Carlos. I guess he’s nice to her, but not everyone. All of this before we even order!
I got the “Missed Connection” which consisted of Gin, ginger tea vermouth, Manzanilla sherry, celery juice, and goats milk. It’s truly the goats milk that sold me. I was pleasantly surprised by how many ingredients I found to be rare in a bar cocktail menu, shiso infused whiskey, Yerba mate vermouth, tomato sweet & sour OH MY! It made for a hard decision nonetheless. I was super happy with my cocktail, between the lip and weight of the glass to the dynamic layers of the drink, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey it took me on.
The ambiance was starting to overwhelm and not in a good way. The lighting was making me feel VULNERABLE (way too bright). Hard no so we move to the booth in the corner. 5-10 minutes later our bartender who took our order comes over to us because she forgot our food order which ya know, having worked in the restaurant industry is okay because we are human, but nonetheless a rookie move. Definitely first rodeo vibes. Thank god I wasn’t hangry or I would have been annoyed.
The citrus salad came shortly after— jicama, celery, green mango, radish, herbs and a nuoc cham dressing (the fish sauce really came out in a lovely way). It was one of the most congruent salads I’ve had in my life. I can really appreciate the intention that went into the preparation of this salad, particularly the knife skills.
The salmon tataki crispy rice was also quite lovely. Really good crispness to the rice, but the ratio was a bit off. The salmon got a bit lost since every component started to homogenize in our mouths. I think if the salmon was cold it could have stood out to a degree that would have allowed the dish to be a bit more rounded. Presentation wise it had depth, in taste, landed a bit flat.
We had heard about the back patio, so we checked that out after our food. About 20ish seats, half full. We felt a bit bamboozled it was completely different energy that what was happening inside.
I think The Airliner is doing a lot of things right between the flavor combinations both on the drink and food end, but just as important as the food, is the design imo and that needed work.
Flavors: 7/10
Ambiance: 2/10
I think if I want a bar with a fun food menu I’ll stick to Capri Club.
More on Eater.
Recent Bites:
Snow Crab Korokke Roll from Katsu Sando — this was sooo pretty, I wish I enjoyed it more. A nice little shared lunch though.
Social Hummus with a hefty pour of Nour’s new Sumac Serrano Green Goddess Dressing, topped with preserved lemons and served with lavash + crudités. DELISH! I simply can’t get enough.
Onigiri just tastes better in a place like this. $3.50 from Katsu.
Got the chance to try the Graza x Aura Bora olive oil martinis (non-acoholic) They aren’t terrible, but I wouldn’t classify them as a martini. They tasted more like a soda — like smarties candy.
Calling this the Endless Summer Snack Salad — part salad, part crudités. Romaine, kraut, olives, cornichons, raw veg, topped with Nour, dukkah and a small chunk of white tuna belly (I’m super into this brand atm),
Marleigh’s pavlova. Just divine, and I’m not a desert person.
Field Recordings made a chillable red / orange hybrid and it’s lovely. Plus it’s called Kitties.
🔗 Last Week’s Most Clicked Link:
Target’s new home kitchen line is coming for Our Place. (This enamel skillet for $10 is p cute though) 🍳
Damn, I guess we’re all a little more basic than I thought.
Have a great day!
Omg Woon in Pasadener!? 🙀 also lol @ the Nicole Kidman x AMC reference