Naming the drinks is almost as fun as drinking them. That in itself is really difficult to do.”Ĥ. “If anything, we’ve just kept doing what we’re doing, trying to stay as consistent as possible. “We haven’t made one big menu change since we opened,” Molina adds. There’s still butterscotch budino, a la Mozza, but also a Basque-style burnt cheesecake ( of course ).Īny differences are subtle: maybe the sweet corn cappellacci suddenly becomes butternut squash for fall or lentils with sofrito replaces the green goddess-dressed summer succotash served with the cedar-smoked ocean trout. The favorites are all there: marinated bean salad, shaved brussels sprouts with toasted almonds and a blizzard of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, hamachi crudo, tagliolini with duck ragu, and meaty pork ribs. He pared things down when it was takeout-only - the restaurant never closed, just pivoted, during the early days of the pandemic - and there were some great family meals offered. But it’s what fills those categories that makes all the difference. Off the bat, Molina created a menu template for Hippo - plates of vegetables, fresh salads, charcuterie and cheeses, raw fish, bowls of pasta, and meat and fish from the wood-burning grill. How to tell when seasons change? Look at the menu. It has a lot to do with the neighborhood, everyone who has been supporting our specials, every time we had to pivot.”ģ. “I’m exhausted, so I know people know we’re here,” Molina says. He adds that a new HVAC system was also added for more filtration for everyone, and menus and payment are made via QR codes no cash is accepted. Now that indoor dining is offered again, the only real difference is having more space between tables and a bigger footprint outside, with an expanded patio.Ĭapella says they simply want to be safe and responsible for everyone during this unprecedented time. But that’s what made Hippo what it is today. The place always felt a little cavernous, and when full, it’s bustling and, sure, maybe a bit loud. It’s a very honest, trusting environment.” It’s endearing when guests watch the cooks, almost like sushi chefs. We wanted to get rid of all the pomp and circumstance. “At the time, we couldn’t pull the trigger on certain with Hippo and just said, let’s let everyone see everything. Kind of like a fishbowl from the sidewalk,” Molina says. “With Triple Beam, it almost feels like an atelier, where you can see the work getting done, you can see all the action. one that hides the kitchen and the hard-working crew. In this case, it meant fewer windows and walls, i.e. As with most restaurants trying to open in a certain timeframe, delays and budget constraints often dictate the final result. Keeping things simple worked in Hippo’s favor. “If that meant that most people who come here are from a close radius, great. “Ultimately, we wanted to serve the community,” he says. To Capella, Hippo was simply offering the best neighborhood restaurant it could be. “It’s just how people are eating right now. “Every night we want to put on the best dinner party in L.A.,” he adds. It took us a bit to get it where it is now.”Īfter working in more formal restaurants like Osteria Mozza, Molina said they wanted to open the kind of place where everyone pushed dishes in the middle of the table, sipped cocktails, shared bottles of wine, and enjoyed themselves. “It was a different beat on Figueroa than, say, the streets in West Hollywood, Venice or DTLA. “When Randy showed me the brand new building, there were definitely people out and walking around,” Molina says. Stripped down in design, it was never meant to be fussy or stuffy, but it was destined to be the focal point around which everything else buzzed. Tucked between the pizza shop and wine store, the massive space has a high arched ceiling, exposed wood bones, an Eric Junker floral mural covering one wall, and an open kitchen that’s full of energy. An outpost of Go Get ‘Em Tiger joined the party with a caffeine jolt next door. In the front along the sidewalk they opened Triple Beam with slabs of puffy, Roman-style pizza you buy by weight in the back, Highland Park Wine, sister to Silverlake Wine, with shelves filled with natural and biodynamic wines. When Hippo opened in 2018, the partners wanted to bring several businesses that the neighborhood might want together all in one place. The goal: Throw ‘the best dinner party in L.A.’ every night.
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