I love a local, neighborhood spot. Even better if it serves vibrant, deli and flavorful food! Endless Color Topanga is just that and more, serving up wood-fired pizzas and organic market plates, along with a nice selection of biodynamic wines and beer & hard kombucha on tap! They have a lovely outdoor patio where you can enjoy your eats, and hang with friends over a drink. What’s even more fun is the ambiance inside the joint- they have a stellar selection of records for sale. So feel free to peruse the albums while you wait for you pie.

The fresh, organic, market-driven plates vary by the season, and are on display when you order, so pick a few that look good to nosh on while your pizza is cooking. The brussels sprous with citrus and the roasted rainbow carrots are always a good move. When it comes to pizza, I’m a fan of the Super Greens, which comes loaded with spinach, leeks, mozzarella, goat & cheep cheese, or the Zucchini, which is a tasty combo of zucchini, confit tomatoes, goat cheese, fennel fronds, mint & arugula. Yum! They also serve classics like pepperoni and margherita for the purists out there. At Endless Color, all the pizza dough is made in-house using 100% Dark Northern Spring Wheat (grown in the deep volcanic soil of the Pacific Northwest), and is fermented for 72 hours to give it that perfectly crisp, yet chewy texture. And if you’re gluten-free, fret not- they also offer a gluten free dough using heirloom rice and millet flours, which is fermented for 24 hours! Don’t skip the homemade (gluten free!) cookies either! I’m partial to the double chocolate with cashew, or oatmeal with golden raisins & walnuts :)

For the longest time, Endless Color was only open in the late afternoon/evenings, which I thought was somewhat of a missed opportunity given the lack of decent food options in Topanga (but also understandable given the state of the world…). I’m happy to report that they’re now open all day, and plan to launch a full on breakfast and lunch menu soon! For now, I love stopping in for a coffee and pastry on my morning commute. Yay for delicious local spots!

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endless color topanga

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shawarma burger, mezes (carrot, beet, cauliflower), pita bread

One restaurant opening I was pretty bummed to miss while in LA was Dez, a fast-casual Middle Eastern spot in Nolita. Specializing in vegetable mezes, chef-crafted salads, bowls, and pita sandwiches, plus a a seasonal soft serve as well as housemade baked goods, this place is basically my ideal restaurant. Not to mention it was opened by one of my fave people to follow on Instagram, and fellow Brooklynite, @EdenEats (go follow her if you don't already- trust). No surprise then, that I put Dez at the top of my priority list on a recent trip to New York. I brought along my favorite eating partner, my husband Derek, and we had the perfect Middle Eastern lunch feast in the dez. I'm a huge fan of their bright and colorful mezes, vegetable-focused small plates best enjoyed with their freshly baked pita. The heavenly mix of flavors and textures did not disappoint- from the fire roasted cauliflower with crispy capers and currant chimichurri, to the honey and harissa roasted carrots with dukkah, I don't think I could pick a favorite if I tried! Derek throughly enjoyed his shawarma burger, complete with its giant shard of crispy eggplant sticking out the top! We were somehow too full for dessert (who even am I?), but I def need to get back to try their soft serve and baked goods soon. And brunch too? Sign me up!