Many of LA’s best restaurants are located in nondescript strip malls on drive by sections of long boulevards. Lulu is not one of them. No, Lulu has a pretty idyllic setting. The open air restaurant occupies the ground level and courtyard of the Hammer Museum in Westwood. Surrounded by art galleries and shaded by trees filled with lanterns, the restaurant fits into the elegant context with ease. It almost feels too good to be in the midst of, well, the college town. It gives an IYKYK kind of exclusivity, even though the (underrated) museum is free for all to explore. Lulu is a gem of a restaurant, the kind of place you wish you were cool enough to hang in, among the art appreciators and sustainably-minded food lovers.

The restaurant is a contemporary take on Californian cuisine, as imagined by the legend herself Alice Waters. True to her farm-to-table philosophy, the restaurant’s market menu evolves daily, featuring locally, sustainably sourced ingredients in beautifully composed dishes. The patio atmosphere almost makes it feel deceivingly casual during the day, but perhaps that’s the point: good food doesn’t need to wait for a special occasion, every day, every humble ingredient is worth cherishing.