In May of this year, a then-months-old eclectic bistro in the laid-back seaside town of Hermosa Beach, located in the greater Los Angeles area known as the South Bay, got a nod from the Michelin Guide, which called it “the kind of place you want to come again and again.” A month later, the headline of Los Angeles Times restaurant columnist Jenn Harris’ review blared: “With the new Vin Folk, Hermosa Beach becomes a culinary destination.”
The article’s headline certainly isn’t wrong, it’s just a strong punctuation mark to an ongoing story that South Bay locals already know well: Hermosa Beach’s restaurant scene has been quietly percolating for the past few years. With Vin Folk, as well as other newly opened spots like AttaGirl, Stecca Taverna, superb pizza spot Redwood Pie and a residency of Sushi | Bar, what was once an area crammed with brewpubs and cafes serving surfers in flip-flops can now hold its own against some of the more popular Los Angeles dining neighborhoods.
Hermosa Beach’s demographics make it an ideal place for restaurateurs: The median income is well above the national average, at around $150,000; the median home sale price for the beachy city is a cool $2.1 million. That said, it wasn’t exactly known for fine dining, with popular destinations like the Strand and Pier Avenue attracting more casual options for years.
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“The South Bay was a dead zone for some time,” says Tyler Gugliotta, chef and partner at the acclaimed Baran’s 2239, which has been serving upscale New American cuisine in Hermosa since 2016 (and has since become known for its incredibly popular pandemic-launched weekend breakfast burritos).
He adds, “I think things started to shift when David [LeFevre] opened M.B. Post and Brooke [Williamson] opened Hudson House. The vibe is different here, than, say Hollywood. It’s much more casual.”
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Having already conquered nearby Manhattan Beach with five successful restaurants (M.B. Post, Fishing With Dynamite, Simmzy’s, Tin Roof Bistro and The Arthur J), the Simms Restaurants group, led by star chef LeFevere, had been plotting a move down the coast for some time. In 2022, the group partnered with chefs and husband-and-wife team Ray Hayashi and Cynthia Hetlinger to open modern Japanese Californian restaurant and cocktail bar Ryla in Hermosa Beach.
“We opened our first restaurant in Manhattan Beach nearly 15 years ago. It’s still a wonderful neighborhood, but it’s harder to find a space now, and rents are higher,” James Beard semifinalist LeFevre tells SFGATE of the decision to explore Hermosa.
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He adds, “We said, ‘Is there an opportunity down there to create what we did in Manhattan Beach, even though they’re very different cities?’ There’s a little bit of risk there in some sense.”
Given Ryla’s warm reception, this past December, LeFevre and chef Alice Mai partnered to open AttaGirl, a Mediterranean restaurant serving mezze and skewers that come off a custom-made Argentinian-style wood-fired grill, right next door.
“Mediterranean food is the kind of food that David and I like to eat, and it’s very beach-friendly,” Mai says. “We wanted to focus on vibrant, bright dishes.”
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The intimate, 22-table Vin Folk, meanwhile, opened in November 2024 and has become known for chef-partners Kevin De Los Santos and Katya Shastova’s highly personal dishes with fine dining touches, like mussels pot pie and chile crab risotto.
“When we say ‘fine dining,’ people expect something uptight, but we’re the opposite of that,” Shastova says. “We made the restaurant to show people that there’s a bridge between front and back of house, and we’re also bridging a fine dining and bistro experience.”
The duo point to Michelin’s nod as a real turning point for the fledgling restaurant.
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“We saw a 200 to 300 percent jump in reservations,” De Los Santos says. “The Los Angeles Times review helped, too. It brought people from outside of LA to Hermosa Beach.”
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In early May, a cozy, beautifully appointed restaurant, Stecca Taverna, opened near the boutiques and coffee shops on Hermosa’s bustling Pier Avenue. A partnership between Italian chef Giorgio Vizia and first-time restaurateurs Wimberly and James Meyer (who come from the marketing and architecture worlds, respectively), Stecca serves food inspired by Vizia’s upbringing in a beachside town on the cusp of Liguria and Piedmont, where his family operated restaurants that he started working in as a kid. Think: his take on classic dishes like linguine alle vongole and gnocchi with truffles.
“When you come to Stecca, you really feel like it’s family. It starts with Giorgio’s family and his recipes. James and I are bringing our family experience, as well,” Wimberly Meyer says. “All of the artwork on the walls from both of the families, for instance. Everything has a story and is intentional.”
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Vizio adds, “I moved here when I was 27 years old. I come from a small town. Our kids have been raised here, and we want to establish a connection with this tiny Hermosa Beach community.”
Meanwhile, Ryan Stock, the owner of Sushi | Bar and a South Bay resident for nine years, had been eyeing potential Hermosa Beach locations for his premium omakase experience for some time. He launched what was supposed to be a summer pop-up at daytime restaurant Martha’s in mid-May, but the demand for the 12-seat experience has been so high that he’s extended it through the end of the year. Sushi | Bar is already fully booked through December.
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“We’ve been sold out every single night. By the second month, we had thousands of people on the wait list,” Stock says. “We expected it would be well-received, but we’re just overwhelmingly encouraged by the overall demand.”
All of the operators see a lot of opportunity in Hermosa and take a “rising tide lifts all ships” attitude towards Hermosa’s recent restaurant boom. With upcoming openings like an outpost of legendary LA Mexican restaurant Coni’Seafood, the growth doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
“Bringing people to the area is always a good thing,” Jonathan Baran, co-owner of longstanding Baran’s 2239, says. “Each new restaurant is different enough from each other, and they all serve a purpose here.”
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Stock adds, “Everybody calls the South Bay ‘the bubble,’ but there’s the ability to bring more intriguing concepts and experiential dining into this small little pocket. Now we don’t have to drive to Beverly Hills or West Hollywood for unique restaurants.”
De Los Santos and Shastova of Vin Folk live in nearby South Torrance and point to Hermosa’s changing demographics as one of the reasons new restaurants are flocking to the area.
“Hermosa used to be known for getting drunk on the Strand, but those kids have all grown up and are having families of their own,” De Los Santos says. “They don’t want to get on the 405 to have a good meal, and all these new places like AttaGirl and Stecca are really starting to elevate our dining scene.”
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