Modern Animal

A Long Goodbye to Animal, the Restaurant That Changed Everything in LA | Eater LA

"For 15 years I watched a loud, aggressive, stripped-down LA restaurant that helped rewrite how Angelenos eat, and it served its last dinner on June 17. Animal made a name for itself by pioneering nose-to-tail cooking and offal-forward plates — the signature chicken liver toast (their only appetizer), loco moco topped with foie gras, crispy fried pig ears dressed with chile and lime under a fried egg, pork belly with kimchi, quail fry on grits with slab bacon and maple jus, yellowtail collar, deep-fried rabbit legs, bone marrow slathered in chimichurri, and veal brains with vadouvan — all delivered to hip‑hop blasts in a packed, raucous dining room. In the early days Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo kept costs down by butchering whole animals and sourcing pig ears and heads from Niman Ranch, pork jowls from Peads & Barnetts, and veal brains from small farms, but rising ingredient prices, shrinking availability (partly because farmers began selling cuts to pet‑food brands), the on‑and‑off foie gras bans, changing diner tastes, and the personal choice by the chefs to prioritize family and other ventures ultimately made the restaurant unsustainable. Animal wasn’t perfect — early service struggled with wine temperature and guidance — but its rebellious spirit, willingness to mix LA’s diverse neighborhood flavors into shareable, high‑execution plates, and its deep roster of alumni helped ignite a citywide movement that reshaped Los Angeles dining." - Bill Esparza