Baby Bistro
Restaurant · Chinatown
1027 Alpine St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Highlights
Seasonal farm-fresh ingredients, creative dishes, natural wines
Seasonal farm-fresh ingredients, creative dishes, natural wines
"At LA’s hottest neo-bistro, couples discuss regenerative coffee farming over low-intervention wines likened to “finding a flower you tucked away in an old journal.” It’s an Echo Park porch party where someone named Whisper will describe a Loire Valley Cabernet Franc as “paying homage to your elders while kicking the ball around with the youth.” Everything on their list is written in lowercase letters, which is definitely one way to teach Gen-Z how to order wine. “In order for the medicine to work, sometimes you need to withstand a little prickle” L’absurde Genie des Fleurs ‘Delta’ Chardonnay from Languedoc, France" - carlo mantuano
"Want to impress somebody who calls you baby? Take them to Baby Bistro. This former pop-up now resides in a Craftsman bungalow on the edge of Chinatown, sharing the same plant-filled courtyard as Perilla and Bakers Bench. Dinner feels like renting a breezy coastal cottage for a last-minute mini-moon. The menu is just six dishes, and if you’re a table of two, your server will wisely suggest ordering all of them: soft onion bread perked up with feta, spicy cucumbers with tender strips of squid, and pickled turnips that were peacocking at the farmers market that morning. It’s the perfect amount of food, and adds up to $140 before tax and tip, so even with a couple of glasses of French wine, it’s a decent value for a date night you aced." - brant cox, sylvio martins, cathy park, garrett snyder, cathy park, cathy park, cathy park, brant cox, sylvio martins, cathy park, brant cox, brant cox, sylvio martins, cathy park, brant cox, sylvio martins, brant cox, cathy park, brant cox, brant cox, sylvio martins, garrett snyder, sylvio martins, cathy park
"On the edge of Chinatown, you’ll find a quaint bungalow courtyard that's home to gems like Perilla and Bakers Bench. The more recent addition of Baby Bistro beefs up the roster even further. A night at this cozy Craftsman feels like you drove up to Cambria and rented a coastal cottage. With lots of two-top nooks and a tight, six-dish menu, it’s a restaurant built for pairs. Plan on ordering everything: soft onion bread perked up with feta, flaky white fish in a bordelaise bath, and vegetables that were peacocking at the farmers market that morning. At $140 for the whole menu, it’s still more affordable than a weekend getaway, even after adding a few glasses of natural wine." - sylvio martins, brant cox, cathy park
"The menu is intentionally minimal — a bread course, four savory dishes, and just one dessert — and the single sweet is built to align with the restaurant’s vegetable-focused ethos: a pine nut cookie base topped with cucumber crémeux, sweet-and-sour poached rhubarb, fennel fronds, and a spritz of thyme-infused white wine vinegar (a combination that could read like a salad). Executive chef and owner Miles Thompson, who once considered cucumber his favorite food, says the dessert better fits the restaurant’s focus on vegetables and that “A buttermilk cake with cream cheese frosting doesn’t really vibe with our ethos.” According to Thompson, the dish was the “most well-received item on the entire menu” when the project was a pop-up." - Bettina Makalintal
"Baby Bistro started as a sold-out string of rotating pop-up dinners by chef Miles Thompson (Allumette, Michael’s) and partner Andy Schwartz, and now has a permanent home in Chinatown as of May 8. It’s a charming 100-year-old Victorian bungalow that seats 35 in the same Alpine Courtyard complex as Perilla and Baker’s Bench. The duo’s new restaurant is where Thompson brings a new menu showcasing farmers market ingredients at their peak, accompanied by Schwartz’s wine selections. Though the set-up seems somewhat close to a tasting menu format, Thompson insists it is not. Always check the menu to see what Thompson procured and prepared, like the turnip tofu dish that uses Gardena’s artisan Meiji Tofu, and bread baked in a hotel pan with Walla Walla onions, butter, and onion seeds; deglazed with mirin; and finished with a light soy sauce. — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest" - Matthew Kang
