Reflecting on a Summer of Nothing New
What I learned after 3 months of no new restaurants, coffee shops or bars
Hey!
Although we’re in for another heat wave this week, the West side has reverted back to gloomy, overcast mornings and my commute to work has doubled thanks to back to school traffic - summer is coming to a close.
In case you missed it, I took on a personal challenge to try no new restaurants, coffee shops or bars this summer - June 1 - August 31. With SONN wrapping up this past weekend, I wanted to share my takeaways from the challenge, and also highlight all of the amazing places I visited over the past 3 months - the not new but new to me, and my tried and true favorites too.
As a quick refresher, here are the rules I set for the challenge:
NO NEW RESTAURANTS, BARS OR COFFEE SHOPS!
“Places I’ve always wanted to try” need to be establishments that have been open for at least 1 year, ideally longer
Prioritize quality of food + experiencing something new over aesthetics/Instagram worthiness (and take minimal content when I’m dining there)
Pop ups / limited time collaborations are OK
Birthdays/celebrations at new restaurants planned by other people are OK *Editor’s Note a/o 8/31: Luckily was able to avoid this one !!
Overall, my favorite takeaway was the way this challenge made me think differently. Instead of letting Instagram, TikTok or Eater reports guide my next dinner reservation, I would refer to my Google Map and select from my saved list - which currently sits at 302 places. Or, frankly - I would pick a place that was convenient to me (when I wanted to stay in the neighborhood) or made the most logical sense for the plan I was making with friends - i.e. what’s close to a concert venue, or a halfway point between Eastsiders and Westsiders. Which isn’t a bad thing! I often feel the pressure to pick a new place every time I’m eating out in order to capitalize on the opportunity - but that added layer can honestly create a lot of unnecessary stress for the whole exercise. It was nice to make plans with less search filters, if you will.
I liked the simplicity of pulling from my existing list, and also deleting the “Instagram effect” - picking a place because it looked ~aesthetic~, or because I saw a lot of content creators + food authorities report on it. That all went away when I avoided new openings, or if the above were true about a place I chose - I at least knew the food, coffee, drinks etc were good because it had been open for a while, and I was able to gather positive reviews from friends and colleagues vs blindly trusting Instagrammy pictures + videos.
It wasn’t my primary driving force for SONN, but the idea of letting a new establishment “find their bearings” is something to call out here, too. Restaurants need time to work out all the kinks, and there’s a good chance you’ll have a better experience + get a true view of what they want to offer you if you give it a few weeks after opening. It’s something I plan to keep in mind as I entertain PR invites again - a free dinner is always a treat, but oftentimes the restaurants I’m most excited about are worth a little bit of a wait.
Another filter for this exercise was a focus on supporting my favorite institutions, in a time where it’s harder than ever for a restaurant to stay in business. Support the places you love, the ones you never want to see close! I made a concentrated effort to visit my favorite restaurants, coffee shops and bars throughout the summer, and still plan to do so outside the walls of the SONN challenge.
Everything New (To Me) I Tried This Summer
I was able to try 24 “new to me” restaurants, coffee shops and/or bars this summer. The one rule - they all had to be open for ~1 year or longer.
La Fe - an adorable cocktail bar across the street from Lowboy and Bar Flores - happy to have another option to hop to on this strip of Sunset
Pantheon Coffee - Greek-inspired coffee shop - great iced capp!
Federal Coffee - an easy stop in West LA, great for a morning commute pick up
Pop’s Bagels - good but certainly not the best bagels in LA! ‘Twas nice to pick up a bagel and eat it on the Culver Steps for some morning people watching
Son of a Gun - mini lobster roll !!
Heavy Head at Braindead Studios - adore this patio, formely Slammers Cafe
Mastro’s Steakhouse - an institution! Loved it
Sushi King - a no frills neighborhood sushi spot with good quality fish!
Paloma Venice - this AK corner has been many things over the past few years, but I think Paloma has staying power. The sweet corn agnolotti was a table favorite
Oste - a very very cute, Euro-style patio on the hectic strip of 3rd Street in WeHo. Recommend trying one of their Roman-style pinsas
Country Kitchen - Malibu - breakfast burrito absolutely lived up to the hype, and will become a staple in my Malibu beach day routine
Cold Shoulder - Blue Collar’s sister bar, LOVE them both
Sticky Rice - inside Grand Central Market before a visit to The Broad! Loved
Borekas Sephardic Pastries - probably my favorite of the summer?? Thoroughly enjoyed and the plate featuring pickles, tomato spread, and egg is such a fun eating experience
Tehran Market - the market is fun to shop in when I need to change up the cooking routine, but the real star is their kebab plate on the weekends.
Coffee Tomo - made to order pretzels - try the red bean & cheese!
The Formosa Cafe - it’s an idea I’ve had for a while, but SONN inspired the official kick off of “LA Classics” - a monthly dinner club to try historic restaurants in LA with friends. Formosa was awesome, super strong start for the club!
Moongoat Coffee - OC coffee staple, now sitting in 5 different locations. Loved and need to go to the cutie Laguna drive-thru next
Colossus Bread - delicious and genuinely think you can’t go wrong with the pastry selection here
San Pedro Fish Market - so yum and so summer! Look forward to coming back once their new brick and mortar opens
Hui Tou Xiang - Hollywood has made some improvements, but this area can be such a food desert. Loved this simple, relatively affordable dumpling spot before a show at Palladium
Birdie G’s - I really don’t know how it took me this long to try it, but Birdie G’s was wonderful! Love that you can order the full menu at the bar
Tonchin - DELICIOUS! I knew this one would be a hit. Will be back again soon
La Cha Cha Chá - Loreto’s sister. Don’t miss the LA churros!
My Tried and Trues - The places I always go back to, and have all been on TTS lists before
Favorite Bites of the Summer
Japanese Vegetable salad at Sushi King - 10/10 crunch
Spinach and cheese borekas at Borekas Sephardic Pastries
Padrino sandwich at Pizzana - truly, 2 meals this sandwich is so massive! But delicious and 100% worth the try if you’re big on classic Italian sammies
Chicken Caesar wrap at Ggiata lives up to the hype
Beef koobideh plate from Tehran Market - Saturdays & Sundays only
Red bean & cheese pretzel at Coffee Tomo
Peaches & carrot nduja at Birdie G’s - a perennial dish that is such a delicious & unique blend of flavors!
Tebasaki wings from Tonchin - 3x pepper
Mentioned many times before but Baklava croissant at Gjusta is truly one of my favorite pastries in LA!
Three Strikes
Confession time… I tried 3 new places that didn’t follow the Summer of Nothing New challenge - 1 strike per month! And I am not proud of it!! But the least I can do is give you the full review - see my notes below:
LA Grocery & Cafe - The Melrose Hill evolution continues with LA Grocery & Cafe, following Etra & Cafe Telegrama’s openings late last year. I don’t see myself shopping here necessarily but I loved the grab & go cafe options! Very cute gourmet grocery
Health Nut Santa Monica - I’m sorry but I’ve been waiting for this to open in SaMo for 2+ years and I had to capitalize on the invite to visit! Valley favorite + Kardashian favorite finally opened it’s location on the West side and your girl is thrilled! Highly recommend the tuna sandwich, hits just as good as it did 10 years ago!! Now I just need them to add the piña colada smoothie to the menu …
AhBa - Though the original outpost is in Laguna, I was able to swing by their newest location at The CAMP in Costa Mesa a couple weekends ago. Vibes are off the charts but unfortunately I found the coffee + food to be subpar at best. Considering a second try for drinks + apps when the rooftop is open but IDK!
In Conclusion
I thoroughly enjoyed my summer of nothing new and still plan to avoid new openings, prioritizing the saves on my list instead. There are a few new spots I’m excited about and plan to get to in the coming months, but I’ve already found myself being choosy / more calculated with my picks. So I’d say this challenge was a success! Going forward, I’ll be thinking twice about the restaurants I see all over IG + TT.
I’m brainstorming some sort of challenge for fall but have not committed to any specific guideline yet - stay tuned as I ponder!
Thank you always always always for reading and I hope this inspired you in some way - even if it’s just to try one of my favorite bites of the summer :) Share your thoughts, feedback, questions, etc by replying directly to this email or dropping a comment on Substack! See you next week, and until then… I’m hanging on TikTok! Xoxo