Plugs — Shira Barlow

L.A. food, drink, and leisure recs from a registered dietitian + 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!)

#82 is Shira Barlow, MS, RD, a registered dietitian and author with a private practice in Los Angeles. Shira wrote The Food Therapist, a goop Press book about breaking bad habits, eating with intention, and indulging without worry. Recently, she launched

EVEN BETTER

on Substack, where she shares the inner circle stuff she talks about with her clients, the recipes she has on repeat, and the products she actually uses. Shira has a master’s degree in clinical nutrition from NYU and completed her residency at Mount Sinai in New York City. She’s lived in L.A. for almost two decades. Here she is with her Plugs!

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Restaurant — Toscana

Yes, Toscana in Brentwood has been known as a commissary for power players for over 35 years — the type of place where you see your friend’s dad dining with his pals who probably play poker with Larry David and Ted Danson. It’s giving: non-trendy wearers of Solomons and Merrills with a rolodex of the best doctors (in all specialties) in the city, which I love and feel comforted by. I’m prepared to say Toscana serves the best salmon dish in all of Los Angeles. The fish is cooked in the wood-burning oven and served CRISPY but moist (I know, everyone hates that word, but I had to) on a bed of perfectly pungent and peppery greens with the juiciest (deep red, bordering on purple tomatoes). It’s a literal dream dish for me, and the easy-going, attentive service and ambiance easily make you feel like you could be in Italy. It’s not cool, and that’s the point — the way Musso & Frank and Dan Tana’s are never out of style. I highly recommend going for lunch when the space — housed in a nondescript, bunker-like building with floor-to-ceiling windows — is light and bright, and it’s not too crowded to get a table among the retired studio heads and former agents.

Photos by Shira Barlow.