This downtown pizzeria from Issa Rae and partners comes with spritzes and classic funk

Los Angeles Times

02-05-2025

A new pizzeria from entertainment multihyphenate Issa Rae and her business partners is set to debut this weekend, bringing funk-inspired pizza to their popular cafe. By day, the downtown space will continue as Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen. At night, starting May 3, it flips to Downtown Dough, a pizza joint that specializes in a kind of California-meets-Neapolitan style, the crust leopard-spotted from a wood-fired brick oven.
'The daytime is really for the drip, and the nighttime is for the dough,' said co-owner Ajay Relan.
Relan and business partner Yonnie Hagos launched Hilltop via their hospitality group, GVO, and quickly partnered with the 'Insecure' actor and producer, whose mission of creating inclusive spaces aligned with theirs. In the years since, the trio launched another four Hilltop locations, downtown rooftop bar Lost and a sleek restaurant, bar and jazz club called Somerville.
'We could not think of a better partner and ambassador for our mission,' said Relan, who added that Rae is 'very involved' in the restaurants' operations and menu planning.
At Downtown Dough, the menu calls for almond wood sourced from Northern California, which is used at the wood-fired grill — for dishes such as chicken, branzino and steak — as well as in the pizza oven. Chef Geter Atienza (previously of Broken Spanish, Bouchon Bistro, the Fig) brushes his crust with garlic oil and sprinkles it with Parmesan and tops the pizzas with pepperoni, local honey and Fresno chiles; truffled fondue and farmers market cauliflower; bacon, Manila clams and caramelized onions; and more. There are pastas, Black Angus meatballs, salads and crispy calamari.
Funk can be found in the restaurant's flavor — and in the air and on the walls.
'All of GVO's venues have a very music-first vibe curation, but funk is a genre that we had always enjoyed the most,' Relan said. 'It was just always the most fun, and [we're] marrying our love for pizza with the free and forward era of the '70s and the music that came along with it.'
Artwork, color schemes and, of course, the playlist will all take their inspiration from funk. Expect to hear James Brown, Bootsy Collins, the Womacks, Sly and the Family Stone and other classics, plus newer acts inspired by those bands. Steen Bojsen Moller (also of Lost and Somerville) oversees the full bar, which focuses on spritzes — some of which are named for funk musicians, their albums and the movements they started.
This particular Hilltop, which debuted in 2023, was intended to serve as a pop-up, but due to its popularity it became permanent. The 6,000-square-foot location accommodates nearly 200, including a 22-seat private dining room. In the evenings the trio previously used the open kitchen and ample space for catering and events but knew they wanted to open a full restaurant eventually.
Rae, Hagos and Relan hope to serve the downtown community with a series of experiences: coffee by day at Hilltop, pizza and spritzes by evening at Downtown Dough, a nightcap and a taco at Lost's nearby rooftop — and more projects for Rae and GVO are already in the works. Downtown Dough launches May 3, and will open Wednesday to Sunday from 6 to 11 p.m.
718 S. Hill St., Los Angeles, instagram.com/downtowndoughco
One of the best wine shops in Long Beach recently expanded next door with a restaurant and wine bar. Last year, Alicia Kemper closed her cafe, Mangette, which she co-owned and sat next to her popular natural-wine shop, Buvons. Now, she's reimagining the Mangette space as an evening-only restaurant and wine bar that works in tandem with the bottle shop.
Buvons Wine Bar + Restaurant offers a more extensive food menu than what was found at Mangette and in Buvons (which offers by-the-glass pours and snacks). It draws on weekly farmers market bounty and plays off the bottle shop's lengthy wine offerings. Both the food and wine menus rotate each month. Guests might find smoked-eel carbonara with dashi and a confit egg; duck confit with leek chutney; or house-made terrine. Sometimes the kitchen will be helmed by a guest chef; May features a menu by Côme Richard, who is visiting from Paris.
Plates such as charcuterie and cheese boards can still be found in the bottle shop alongside wines by the glass, but more prepared dishes can only be found in the new wine bar and restaurant. The new wine bar and restaurant also features more seating areas than were available in Mangette, and hosts classes and events such as a monthly pasta workshop. Buvons Wine Bar is open Wednesday to Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m., while the adjacent bottle shop's hours are now Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.
1145 and 1147 Loma Ave., Long Beach, [phone], buvonswine.com
A 'Top Chef' contestant with a range of Italian restaurants is branching out with his first taqueria. Via his hospitality group Memento Mori, chef Jackson Kalb operates Ospi in Venice and Brentwood, Jemma in Hollywood, Jame Enoteca and John Thomas Bar in El Segundo and the temporarily closed Jemma Pizzeria in the Palisades. He launched Jaime Taqueria, his newest restaurant and first foray into tacos, to bring some new flavor close to home.
'This isn't supposed to be inspired by any one regionality,' Kalb said, telling The Times that he lives in the area and wanted to open a cantina for the neighborhood. He tapped executive chef Marco Arreguin (Puesto, MXO) to lead the kitchen, and together they're serving large-format plates such as al pastor-inspired pork shank under pineapple glaze; starters such as guacamole topped with scallion and black garlic chile crunch; sides like brown-butter esquites; and tacos piled with beef cheek quesabirria, filet mignon, citrus-achiote chicken and mojo shrimp gobernador. Wash it down with margaritas, mezcal old-fashioneds, tequila flights, mocktails and more. Jaime Taqueria is open Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with brunch slated for the future.
450 Main St., El Segundo, [phone], jaimetaqueria.com
One of the country's most famous doughnut chains just launched a bright-pink outpost at the corner of Melrose and La Brea. Voodoo Doughnuts — which also operates a smaller location in Studio City's Universal CityWalk — can now be found slinging its signature bacon-topped maple bars along with classics, an array of vegan options, and seasonal specials such as cherry cola. The new Fairfax-neighborhood Voodoo Doughnut is open nearly 24 hours a day and features a larger menu than the shop in CityWalk. It also offers merch such as shirts, crewnecks, pink mugs and bags of coffee. A beachy location just under the famous Venice sign is also in the works. Melrose Avenue's Voodoo Doughnut is open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m.
7101 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, [phone], voodoodoughnut.com