DINING

Start brunch right with Pacific oysters with charred cucumber and urfa pepper mignonette at Sant’olina. Find fabulous fare and an al fresco ambiance at the Beverly Wilshire’s Blvd Privé.

Haute Spots+

The must-try restaurants of 2021

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER

MEROIS

Wolfgang Puck has expanded and extended his L.A. empire to include Merois and Ospero at the new Pendry West Hollywood hotel. Guests will come for the view at Merois, which celebrates the open-air allure of the City of Angels from the Sunset Boulevard hotel’s rooftop, and stay for a menu that spotlights the chef’s eye for the sophisticated subtleties of Japanese, Southeast Asian and French/Californian cuisine. Standout dishes include signatures such as Snake River Farms dry-aged tomahawk ribeye, as well as new items like marinated bigeye tuna with Kaluga caviar and rice crisp and warm lobster salad. Meanwhile, Ospero, located on the corner of Sunset and Olive Drive, is a more casual concept, an Americanized version of a European-style café. The restaurant — which features a terrace as well as indoor seating — plays to Puck’s other strength, Italian, with a menu of handmade pastas and housemade pizzas fresh from a wood-burning oven. 8430 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood (323) 918-3410

NUSR-ET

Beverly Hills residents blinked and missed the quiet, almost secretive opening of Nusret Gökçe’s 90210 Nusr-Et outpost. It’s the fifth U.S. restaurant and 24th global eatery from the man best known as Salt Bae, and his Golden Triangle location doesn’t disappoint. Guests enter the former Citizen space through a distinctive red door framed with Turkish tiles inspired by Gökçe’s homeland, where a portrait of the chef is waiting to welcome them and where those who favor social media as much as he does can share their “one and only” Nusr-Et experience. Inside, a modern space flanked by an open kitchen, a meat locker of “meat art pieces” and a selection of works by famous Turkish photographer Ara Güler that pay tribute to Hollywood are on full display, providing equitably aesthetic visuals for the restaurant’s key audience, the jet-setting entertainment crowd. (Though of course, no sight is more exciting to the L.A. elite than the meat-cutting, salt-throwing Salt Bae himself.) 184 -88 N Canon Dr, Beverly Hills (310) 921-5935

The Craftsman bungalow-inspired Bungalow Kitchen

SANT’OLINA

The h.wood Group has done it again — and by “it” we mean creating yet another L.A. hot spot. Sant’olina, the stunning new pop-up on The Beverly Hilton’s rooftop, offers a melting pot of Mediterranean cuisine with a distinctive SoCal vibe. The blue and green décor is meant to mimic a seaside escape, and the beachy feel is echoed in the cuisine, courtesy of a culinary team led by chefs Michael Teich, David Johns and Slab’s Burt Bakman. Diners will discover bright, vibrant, healthy and vegetable-forward items including Middle Eastern mujadarra, halloumi, cauliflower tabbouleh, chickpea matbucha, keftedes, bourekas and harissa-cured salmon. 9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills (310) 285-1260

THE BUNGALOW KITCHEN BELMONT SHORE BY MICHAEL MINA

Award-winning chef Michael Mina and hospitality veteran Brent Bolthouse have joined forces for their first California partnership. This new social dining experience and community clubhouse echoes the feel of Bolthouse’s supersuccessful Bungalow location in Santa Monica with its homey Californiachic feel, though with a distinctive sense of place that’s purely its own. As designed by Venice-based design firm Studio Collective, the 10,000-square-foot venue nods to the punk-rock edge of the Long Beach community by putting a contemporary spin on the traditional Craftsman bungalow, maintaining certain classic structural elements (wood plank ceilings, large fireplaces, a covered porch) and adding the hip, eclectic furnishings one might expect to find in a local musician’s home. A copper-topped bar, plush custom sofas, a 3,000-square-foot patio with views of the marina and a game room featuring rock and roll memorabilia vie for attention with the too-cool-for-school pool table. Mina’s California-specific, seasonal cuisine — such as garden “punch bowls” with crunchy, ice-cold veggies served with gazpacho shooters, decadent lobster pot pie and short-rib Pop-Tarts — seamlessly adds to the venue’s overall luxury-meets-laid-back feel. 6400 Pacific Coast Hwy, Long Beach (562) 719-9400

THE BLVD PRIVÉ

The Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel is the latest place to include a dedicated outdoor space in its arsenal with the opening of its al fresco The Blvd Privé. This elegant hideaway features California-inspired menu items, Ruinart champagne, fanciful cocktails and décor that’s a nostalgic throwback to the Beverly Hills hotel’s 1970s-era opening. At this magical outdoor spot, dine in privacy underneath illuminated gas lamps imported from a castle in Edinburgh, enclosed by lush green hedges while enjoying locally sourced cuisine created by chef Amir Nematipour. Signature items include branzino with chermoula and BBQ lime; a roasted acorn squash winter salad with California-grown kale, quinoa and cranberry dressing; a Snake River Farm beef filet paired with truffled gnocchi, roasted greens and peppercorn sauce; and for dessert, a Privé cocoa bar made with chocolate moelleux sponge, chocolate crémeux, hazelnut crush and cocoa nib nougatine. 9500 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills (310) 275 5200 Don’t miss Wolfgang Puck’s marinated bigeye tuna with Kaluga caviar and rice crisp at Merois.