The space that houses the newly opened FOOD +LAB might be cursed. A few doors down from Dusty’s, near the corner of Sunset and Descanso, the teeny storefront was most recently occupied by the very short-lived Meet Market and Flore Café before that. If not cursed, it’s not exactly lucky.
Yet, despite the open-and-shutter reputation of its address, FOOD+LAB’s future looks bright. For one thing, this is the third installment of the mini chain founded by mother-son catering team Esther and Nino Linsmayer—they also have a location in West Hollywood and a kiosk in the Pacific Design Center. For another, their menu is innovative and full of the fresh, organic ingredients that everyone seems to be craving these days.
Currently serving breakfast and lunch (a dinner menu is coming soon), FOOD+LAB offers a long list of traditional sandwiches with major personality. Think: Organic Turkey with pear, honey, and fig compote; Austrian Meatloaf with dried tomato aioli, fried onions and Dijon; Grilled Cheese with three fancy cheeses and caramelized onion. Vegan and vegetarian options are also available.
I ordered the Egg Salad Sandwich with asparagus on 5 grain bread. No complaints. It wasn’t overrun with mayo and the asparagus had a nice snap to it. The mayo-chicken ratio was a little off on the Pulled Chicken Salad, but the additions of apples, grapes, candied pecans and mandarins saved it. For better or worse, the portions are huge.
The chalkboard menu also features complete coffee selection and a range of fresh juices. I had the lemonade, which was pretty thick and easily split (and diluted) to make two full glasses. Also squeezed into the small café is a market section of sweets, teas, coffee and other tantalizing goods to take home.
Sandwiches: $8-12; Organic Salads: $11-13; Breakfast: $5-12.
–Valentina
FOOD+LAB
3206 West Sunset Blvd (Map It)
Los Angeles, CA 90026
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hiya Valentina! My friend Cindy & I were really looking forward to this place (I heart the cute name) but we were kinda underwhelmed (though I enjoyed your photos, as always). The Food+Lab offerings felt uninspired and pretty run-of-the-mill. Maybe it’s because we love Forage so much more, ha. Have you been?
Hi Kat, I feel like it’s a good fit for the space. I think the food is good but not spectacular. I like that’s it’s fresh and there’s lots of interesting sandwich choices. The baked goods don’t even come close to forage, but it works.
I’ll have to give it another try. Perhaps it was our choices that day that were boring.