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The 4 reservations you need to make now at LA’s hottest 2023 restaurant openings

A photo of Red logo
by Kristin Braswell
Updated July 11, 2023

Los Angeles is influencer central, so it’s no surprise that its hottest new restaurants are also camera-ready trendsetters. Experimental Indian street food snacks and genre-defying small plates—they’re just some of what the city’s most dazzling restaurant openings of 2023 are serving right now.

There’s no better way to kickstart the summer than to check out these four stellar debuts that include the newest restaurant from Top Chef star Jackson Kalb.

This kaleidoscopic group of restaurants proves why LA’s culinary landscape is shining brighter than ever—read on for a guide to the four places making a splash in the City of Angels right now.

A photo of Ospi Brentwood restaurant
4.5
4.5 (359)
$31 to $50
Italian
Brentwood
About the restaurant

Meet the seafoody sibling to Italian restaurants Ospi and Jame Enoteca. Steered by chef/owner (and former Top Chef contestant) Jackson Kalb, Jemma di Mare sailed into Brentwood in May and serves red-sauce classics in one of LA’s ritziest pockets. The interiors are unabashedly nautical featuring deep blues, decorative ropes, and exposed wood galore. The menu is just as ocean-flavored and all about bounty from nearby waters, resulting in hits such as squid ink prawn scampi and taglioni that’s served alongside a whole lobster (an especially Insta-worthy dish for two). It’s East Coast-inspired Italian with a dash of California—and one of the splashiest new additions to Brentwood’s expanding restaurant scene.


Top review
Karen
Dined 3 days ago
Super friendly service with delicious food. Everything on the menu is a hit!
A photo of Bar Chelou restaurant
4.8
4.8 (432)
$50 and over
Contemporary French
Pasadena
About the restaurant

Pasadena is home to a slew of French fine-dining spots, but it welcomed a free-spirited addition to that genre in January. Chelou is French slang for “unexpected,” and that’s exactly what chef Douglas Rankin (Trois Mec, Petit Trois) delivers at his most whimsical spot yet. Bar Chelou’s contemporary French dishes take unexpected detours to Japan and Spain, best exemplified by the Ibérico pork chop dressed with hot mustard and fennel pollen furikake. Feast on it all in an eccentric setting inspired by the Pasadena Playhouse next door—Bar Chelou makes for a standout pre-theater meal—complete with an arched doorway, dramatic drapery, and a regal green color scheme. To all that, add well-balanced cocktails and an ever-changing list of small-production wines, and you’ve got one of the buzziest bistros in town.


Top review
Charles
Dined 7 days ago
Great place for innovative small plates and good wines.
A photo of Baar Baar - LA restaurant
4.6
4.6 (453)
$50 and over
Indian
Downtown
About the restaurant

Sophisticated South Asian shared plates—and a wild weekend brunch—set this modern Indian restaurant apart in NYC. When it unveiled a Los Angeles location in May, Baar Baar brought its Bollywood-meets-boudoir aesthetic to the city’s downtown. Award-winning chef Sujan Sarkar turns out imaginative small plates such as sweet potato chaat with whipped feta and a stewed Kashmiri duck taco that will satisfy even the most serious LA street-food connoisseur. Wash it all down with a cocktail inspired by acclaimed Indian blockbusters such as the RRR (rum, cacao, and coffee bitters), and know that you’ll be back to dine at this sleek and sultry hotspot soon—fittingly, the restaurant’s name means “again and again” in Hindi.


Top review
christinevip
Dined 7 days ago
Excellent food, creative cocktails, and great service. The lamb kebabs were our favorite dish, but we enjoyed everything starting with the crisps and chutneys, to multiple curries, to the gulab jamun cheesecake. We'll definitely return.
A photo of Superfine Playa restaurant
4.5
4.5 (217)
$31 to $50
Italian
Playa Vista
About the restaurant

The hit Rossoblu team has brought its Italian cooking chops to Superfine Playa, a bright, casual restaurant that debuted in April at the swanky Runway Playa Vista mall. Owners Dina and Steve Samson branched out from their Bologna focus to spotlight California produce at their new restaurant. Think grilled Baja California striped bass with a warm potato salad, olive pesto, and a yellow tomato sauce. Housemade pastas such as rigatoni with chicken liver ragu are a highlight, as is the craft cocktails and snacks-forward happy hour that runs from 3 pm to 5 pm Wednesday to Sunday. There’s seating aplenty at cozy booths, a sunny patio, and at a minimalist bar. Next up on the Superfine Playa menu: New York- and Neapolitan-style pizzas that were smash hit at a pop-up at Rossoblu.


Top review
Laurievip
Dined 4 days ago
The Burger was fantastic, I have been a few times but this was my first time ordering the burger. Very tasty, juicy, flavorful and cooked to perfection. Can't wait to have it again.
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