Plugs — Emily Alben

L.A. food, drink, and leisure recs from the almond milkmaiden + LINKS

Plugs is The Angel’s recs column. Every week, 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, plus a selection of Angel-curated links. (Plugs are for paid subscribers of The Angel only; upgrade your subscription to receive all six!)

#55 is Emily Alben, a baker and recipe developer who recently decamped from Ojai to move back to L.A. I first met her at Pinyon, where she baked seasonal sweets and ran pop-ups. Now that she’s returned to the Eastside, you can find her edible wares at the new Eagle Rock tea room Flowers Finest (where recent bakes have included blueberry brown butter oatmeal cookies and apple cider tea cakes) and Capri Club, where she’s been popping up with tiramisu. With the holidays approaching, Emily will soon be baking off festive treats and pre-order pies. Stay tuned to @almondmilkmaiden for the menu drop! In the meantime, here are her L.A. Plugs.

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Restaurant — Noshi Sushi

Noshi Sushi on Beverly is by far the restaurant I have been to the most in my lifetime. If I love you, I have taken you to sit in the well-worn booths with layers upon layers of decor and laminated menus. When I would visit L.A. from Seattle growing up, my aunt would take me and my cousins and order a side of rice, a side of spicy tuna, a side of spicy mayo, a side of sesame seeds, and a side of ginger, then mix it all together until homogenous, creamy, and baby pink. You can’t go wrong with their nigiri (my order is salmon, jumbo scallop, and ikura), hand rolls (spicy yellowtail or salmon skin), and perfectly crispy tempura. Aside from finally accepting credit cards, very little has changed since the late 90s, including the staff, and for that, I’m very grateful.

Photos by Emily Alben.