CHARLES NAMBA and Courtney Kaplan’s Echo Park gem exists at the intersection of Japanese pub, neighborhood restaurant and tiny atelier — the kind of place where the owners present their latest fixations on the plate and in the cup, so that you too become rapt. Namba crafts a distinct California izakaya repertoire, honing two dozen or so raw, steamed, fried and grilled dishes with a native Angeleno’s intuition for seasonality. His salads are some of the most compelling in the city; I’m thinking in particular of a patchwork of tomatoes and shaved corn mingled with pickled cucumbers and brined tofu in a balsamic-ginger vinaigrette that tasted of summer but reached beyond the needs-noadornment clichés. Double down on yakitori (including skewers of prized chicken oysters with yuzu kosho) and splurge on the fried rice with Dungeness crab.

Kaplan’s selection of sake is one of the deepest and most exciting on the West Coast. I brought a visiting friend here after he gave an incredible performance in a staging of Haydn’s “The Creation” at Disney Hall. I asked Kaplan if she could recommend a sake that felt as celebratory as Champagne. When she poured a golden sparkling liquid that tasted of melon, my friend’s eyes popped with joy, and I was reminded why I often bring out-of-towners here. An even more immersive imbibing experience awaits next door at the couple’s sake bar, Ototo, where the finesse of the okonomiyaki and other drinking foods has all but caught up to the cooking at Tsubaki.

• 1356 Allison Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 900-4900, tsubakila.com