Plugs — Dan Frommer

L.A. food and drink recs from The New Consumer founder

Plugs is The Angel’s recs column. Every Saturday, you’ll get six picks — a restaurant, a bar, a shop, an ingredient, a person, and a treat — from someone in Los Angeles who knows what they’re talking about. (Plugs are for paid subscribers of The Angel only. However, if you’re in the restaurant industry and want a free subscription, hit me up. :))

#18 is Dan Frommer, a media entrepreneur and longtime technology and business journalist. You likely know Dan from The New Consumer, the boutique publication he founded in 2019, or the popular Consumer Trends report he authors in conjunction with the VC firm Coefficient Capital. Beforehand, he was Editor-in-chief of Recode and helped build Business Insider as the second hire. Dan and his wife, the fashion journalist Lauren Sherman, moved from New York to Los Angeles in early 2020 and have been cooking, dining, reporting, and writing from SoCal ever since. Here are his L.A. plugs!

---

Restaurant — Ètra

What if you opened a lower-Manhattan Italian restaurant in the middle of Los Angeles? I’m kidding a little, but between the food, the room, and the service, Ètra — from alums of New York’s Lupa and Estela — is the best new restaurant I’ve been to in a long time, and will be back soon.

Get the head-on shrimp with ‘nduja; get the chicory salad; get the chicken with Calabrian chili jus; get the pork ribeye with fennel salad. (Probably get a pasta — I can’t touch wheat or gluten, so can’t advise there.) Appreciate that you’re at a place where they have the foresight to ask whether you’d like a fourth meatball (perfect, and no breadcrumbs) for your four-top. Obviously!

And then come back tomorrow: Its daytime sister café, Café Telegrama, is a perfect new meeting spot with sufficient patio seating. You’ll be hearing more about this reimagined stretch of Western, at Melrose — there’s a lot of money going in — and so far, it’s a good showing.