IN THE ARC of A.O.C.’s two-decade evolution, from cramped wine bar to modern institution with beautiful locations in West Hollywood and Brentwood, Suzanne Goin essentially codified an entire branch of L.A.’s dining culture. She concentrates the tastes of the California seasons, intensifying them with flavors gleaned from North Africa, western Asia and the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, Italy and France. Dates stuffed with Parmesan and wrapped in bacon; fried chicken drizzled with chile-cumin butter with a side of romesco aioli; the “ode to Zuni” roasted chicken with bread salad: They are constants in a chaotic world. The menu never feels stale, though. There’s an innate synchrony with the farmers market — roasted peaches will flank duck breast in the summer, while duck sausage stuffing with apples, dates and walnuts signals fall — but also flashes of imagination like green quinoa dumplings, the grains popping on the tongue, smoothed with sumac-flecked yogurt. Would a Riesling from New York’s Finger Lakes region or a Châteauneuf-du-Pape with some age pair nicely with those flavors? That’s the domain of co-owner and wine director Caroline Styne.

• 8700 W. 3rd St., West Hollywood, (310) 859-9859; 11648 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 806-6464; aocwinebar.com