Spoon By H

101 Best restaurants of Los Angeles

@latimes

"#62 Last year David Chang proclaimed Yoonjin Hwang’s 20-seat, low-on-the-radar Beverly Boulevard cafe his “restaurant of the year” to his million-plus Instagram followers, and lines soon trailed down the sidewalk. Hwang’s quiet, artful approach to food has calmly carried on past the tsunami of hype. Open since 2012, Spoon by H at first focused mostly on desserts and flavored teas. In the restaurant’s tiny kitchen Hwang builds kinetic, color-blasted sculptures from cut fruits and shaved ice. She pulls extra crisp rice flour waffles, ornamented with berries, caramelized bananas and Nutella, out of the breakfast space and into the treat zone. Hwang really sets herself apart, though, with the restaurant’s savory dishes, particularly her interpretation of tteok mandu guk, rice cake and dumpling soup. She takes cues from tonkotsu ramen, crafting a milky, meaty broth from pork and beef bones. In goes a whirl of vegetables and textural garnishes among meticulously crimped dumplings. Every spoonful is different and vital. It’s the kind of dish you’ll go out of your way to introduce to visitors; while they blink in wonder and their shoulders relax, you glow with pride and say, “This is Los Angeles.” No alcohol. Lot and street parking. Credit cards accepted."

In the Loup - a foodie's world map

@victoire_loup