A fall salad, top, is filled with farmers market produce; gindara nitsuke (soy-simmered cod), above.
Courtney Kaplan and Charles Namba’s 32-seat Echo Park gem follows the izakaya playbook: two dozen or so raw, steamed, fried and grilled dishes informed by Namba’s L.A.-native penchant for combing the farmers markets, and matched with Kaplan’s mastery of sake. That’s the tidy summary of Tsubaki. It’s far more difficult to convey the drive and heart that animates the restaurant until you’re shoulder to shoulder with other diners in its tiny space. One server lifts the lid off a donabe full of clams, and the steam blasts scents of seaweed and cultured butter. Another parses the fine points of melon, mineral and umami flavors present in by-the-glass sake options. You split a potato croquette in half with chopsticks and find the filling of roasted corn, cotija, crema and lime evokes the flavors of elotes. Note how the chicken oysters on a yakitori skewer displays dots of yuzu kosho as distinct as the eyespots on peacock feathers. Tsubaki is my back-pocket restaurant for a dinner that impresses out-of-towners every time, including vegetarians. While Namba and Kaplan have been focused on opening their new bistro Camélia downtown, chef de cuisine Klementine Song has seamlessly steered the kitchen of their flagship. A meal here is as magnificent as ever. — B.A.
1356 ALLISON AVE., LOS ANGELES, (213) 900-4900 l TSUBAKILA.COM
Courtney Kaplan and Charles Namba’s 32-seat Echo Park gem follows the izakaya playbook: two dozen or so raw, steamed, fried and grilled dishes informed by Namba’s L.A.-native penchant for combing the farmers markets, and matched with Kaplan’s mastery of sake. That’s the tidy summary of Tsubaki. It’s far more difficult to convey the drive and heart that animates the restaurant until you’re shoulder to shoulder with other diners in its tiny space. One server lifts the lid off a donabe full of clams, and the steam blasts scents of seaweed and cultured butter. Another parses the fine points of melon, mineral and umami flavors present in by-the-glass sake options. You split a potato croquette in half with chopsticks and find the filling of roasted corn, cotija, crema and lime evokes the flavors of elotes. Note how the chicken oysters on a yakitori skewer displays dots of yuzu kosho as distinct as the eyespots on peacock feathers. Tsubaki is my back-pocket restaurant for a dinner that impresses out-of-towners every time, including vegetarians. While Namba and Kaplan have been focused on opening their new bistro Camélia downtown, chef de cuisine Klementine Song has seamlessly steered the kitchen of their flagship. A meal here is as magnificent as ever. — B.A.