Culver City and its surrounding neighborhoods are booming with some of the best dining, drinking and entertainment in Los Angeles. The next time you’re passing through check out these local gems. If you’re looking for the best and tastiest for what there is to do in Los Angeles, we’ve got you covered.
The Lounge Spa
Let your stress melt away in an upbeat atmosphere fused with seriously indulgent spa treatments for your face, body and nails. Just beyond the velvet ropes, industry A-listers and locals in-the-know pamper themselves with cocktail-themed spa services like “mojito” massages (dry brunch exfoliation paired with a passion fruit and lime body butter Swedish massage, garnished with a refreshing peppermint scalp massage) and “Absolut” facials. Every visit starts off with a complementary tonic or tea that aids you with energy, clarity, recovery. Before your treatment, enjoy relaxing in your fluffy bath robe in one of two public lounges—the 950-square-foot mezzanine is perfect for parties.
LA Spice Cafe
The quaint casual cafe opened with a whisper about a year-and-a-half ago, but they weren’t newbies by any means. Owner LeAnne Schwartz has been catering high profile events for more than 25 years. When she and her husband stumbled on a perfect space to house their industrial kitchen and also include a cafe, they jumped at the opportunity. Enter executive chef Chris DeVillier, who showcases his expertise in the inventive, decadent and delicious offerings on LA Spice Cafe’s breakfast, lunch and brunch menus. Stop in for a quick grab-and-go and choose from their expansive selection of sandwiches and salads—a must is the Taste of Havana with marinated chicken breast, capicola, mortadella, house made pickles, Jack cheese, whole grain mustard on a fresh baguette—or sit down to fully enjoy fluffy lemon ricotta pancakes with lavender compote; the LA Spice Benedict with two poached eggs perched on two perfect homemade biscuits topped with oven-roasted tomatoes and crowned with a sublime avocado Hollandaise; and the grilled steak and stone fruit salad.
FIN
The stylish spot is situated on an inconspicuous stretch of Washington Blvd. and draws a dinner crowd for its Asian-inspired cuisine and inventive cocktails. Order up house signatures like the FIN roll with baked crab, rock shrimp, spicy tuna, cucumber and avocado wrapped in soy paper; sweet and spicy miso black cod; and kiwi scallops (jumbo scallops served atop fire grilled kiwi slices, topped with crispy lotus root). Pair cuisine with crafted cocktails like the playful Hello Kitty with Ketel One, pomegranate juice, fresh raspberries and black berries, lemon and agave. And if you really want to be on the DL, after your fabulous meal, head around back to the Alley bar, FIN’s ultra hip speakeasy.
Vintage Wine + Market
When it comes to wine, the ladies at Vintage Enoteca in Hollywood know how to please even the most discerning palate, which is why oenophiles farther west will delight in Vintage’s new wine market in the Culver City adjacent neighborhood of Palms. Scout out your next bottle from a curated selection of boutique wines that spans the globe. Also find chilled craft beer in the cooler (perfect to immediately enjoy next door at Phorage), cheeses, salamis and other gourmet wine accompaniments like crackers and artisanal chocolate bars.
Wheel House Cheese Shop
What happens when Alex Josef, a bonafide cheeseophile and entrepreneur teams up with Steve Jones, one of the best cheesemongers in the world? You get Wheel House Cheese Shop, a jewel box cheese mecca offering more than 100 types of cheese from nearly a dozen countries, in addition to a wide range of fine cured meats and charcuterie items. About a third of the cheeses are unique to L.A., such as cheese from Pholia Farm, a tiny goat dairy in southwestern Oregon that only produces a few hundred pounds of cheese per year, and Brazos Valley Cheese, a Waco, Texas, dairy whose cheeses have never before been available in Los Angeles.