Farm-to-table and fabulous: only in LA

Comfort food with a SoCal twist at a west Los Angeles eatery

Fresh, innovative food: nobody does it better than Californians. Full stop. Whenever I visit Santa Monica, one of my first stops is always Rustic Canyon, Huckleberry or Sweet Rose Creamery, three wholesomely delicious local favourites, all within about a three-mile radius and all run by the same team, Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan. I’d heard a lot about their latest venture, called Milo + Olive, down on Wilshire – so this visit, I made a beeline.

Image: Emily Hart

At lunch or dinner, you’ll likely find all 24 seats packed. The stars are the eight to ten daily pizzas, which include everything from a butternut squash pie ($18) – complete with fresh mozzarella, caramelised onion, sage and brown butter – to the meat lover’s pork belly sausage-topped variety ($17).

But, for me, breakfast is the thing. There are fresh baked goods of every imaginable kind – M+O bagels, for example, feature sophisticated toppings such as housemade dill creme fraiche, sliced cucumbers, red onion and sea salt ($5). I’ll go for heartier options, too – Cheesy Eggs on Super Cheesy Toast (soft scrambled eggs laden with Parmigiano Reggiano and, if I’m feeling particularly ravenous, a few slices of La Quercia prosciutto on top; $8), as well as the requisite SoCal repast of muesli ($6.50) with fresh market berries on the side. The joy here is in the mix-up: they do daily doughnuts and vegan gluten-free muffins, sourdough skillet flatbread and cinnamon sugar brioche.

I wash it all down with a Verve Roasters coffee ($2.75) or a freshly squeezed grapefruit juice ($5.50), and my day’s off to a guaranteed sunny start – even when Santa Monica’s famous morning fog is lingering outside.

This one’s all LA, all the way...