I experience a sort of existential shift every time I part the heavy red curtains of Dear John’s. My eyes widen to acclimate to a darkness so deep it sucks the tension right out of my shoulders. My ears perk up at the sound of ice dancing around a shaker. My body relaxes as it hits the cool leather of the banquette. Within seconds, I’m enveloped in a cocoon of familiarity and calm. Whatever else is happening in the world, my martini, made just the way I like it, is on its way. Here, the perfect creamed spinach exists; chicken parm gets the chicken Kiev treatment, with warm mozzarella that oozes from the center; tater tots are made “bougie” with petite dollops of caviar; and the chopped salad contains an entire deli case of ingredients.

I wasn’t around in the early 1960s, when Frank Sinatra and his celebrity pals filled the dining room. But Hans and Patti Röckenwagner and partner Josiah Citrin breathed new life into the space when they saved the building from demolition in 2019. An initial two-year lease has been extended through 2028 and I, like many customers, am happy to delay this Hollywood ending. — J.H.

11208 CULVER BLVD., CULVER CITY, (310) 881-9288 l DEARJOHNSBAR.COM