There’s something iconic about old Taco Bell and IHOP buildings, or at least local architect Sean Knibb thought so upon his thoughtful redesign of a Culver City A-frame, former pancake house now the permanent home to LA’s most famous street food chef. Called quite simply A-Frame, the picnic-inspired space balances Asian minimalism with eclectic LA design through knotty wood-paneled walls, use of natural light through window and ceiling detail and clean tabletops where the food and space take center stage. A small bar lingers open longer than the restaurant, which stops serving at 12am, attracting a bohemian Culver City crowd smug to have landed LA’s coolest chef of the food truck movement.
The Food
Restaurateur David Reiss joins forces with chef Roy Choi who feels no to dress-up his feel good, sometimes terribly unhealthy modern street food with a Korean kick. Kettle corn and bittersweet tempura appetizers take pride in a more cumbersome presentation as well as crab cakes with crème fraiche and Korean style wings that are never very attractive to eat while standing up at the food truck. Main dishes like peel n’ eat shrimp, ahi tuna and carne asade torte dazzle in flavor followed by fried apple pie or ‘thick ass ice cram sandwich’ of the day for dessert.
Last Word
LA’s most acclaimed truck food chef finds permanent home at picnic-inspired Culver City eatery inside a former IHOP.
