Plugs — Jeremy Adler

L.A. food and drink recs from a Westside restaurateur

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. (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. :))

#26 is Jeremy Adler, an owner of Cobi’s in Santa Monica and the restaurateur behind Beethoven Market, an exciting revamp in Mar Vista coming soon. Jeremy and I met through Resy: I was on the content team in New York during the early days of the reservation startup, and he was out here, selling it to the best restaurants in L.A. Before all that, he was born and raised in Los Angeles and spent a decade in New York managing restaurants like Tabla, Esca, and EN Japanese Brasserie (followed by Eveleigh over here) before moving back west to start a family. He now resides in Mar Vista. You can catch him at the Santa Monica Farmers Market every Wednesday morning. Here are his Plugs!

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Restaurant — HC Seafood

HC Seafood in Oxnard is my no-frills spot. Spot prawns by the pound (I think they're up to $49/lb) cooked perfectly on an electric grill, concrete tables, and a very liberal BYOB policy. My wife and I usually arrive with a spritz or a bottle of bubbles or something very minerally and white from Buddy's wine shop in downtown Ventura. I know that seems like a lot of money for local seafood, but there are spots here in L.A. charging $70 for four pieces; you are getting at least 10-12 pieces per lb for less at HC. Get the spot prawns in a plastic tray, NOT in a clamshell, because they continue to cook, and it fucks up their texture.

HC Seafood in Oxnard, CA.