LAReview
Included In
Growing up in the middle-of-nowhere Midwest, my childhood consisted of cornfield hikes, seasonal poison ivy flare-ups, and birthday parties where the main attraction was a creek. It was pretty idyllic, and yet, in the years since moving away, I’ve forgotten the joys that come from rural Midwestern simplicity. After dinner at Agnes, it all came rushing back.
This meat-and-cheese-heavy spot in Pasadena is where Midwestern childhood nostalgia meets great food. Dinner here is as comforting as it is exciting - regardless of where you grew up.
As you walk through Agnes’s massive barn doors on Green St., don’t be alarmed if you’re hit with a wave of bucolic happiness. There’s a full market and cheesery up front, an open hearth loaded with sizzling meats, and giant wooden rafters soaring above the dining room and back patio. The building was once an actual horse stable, making the rustic interior seem closer to an upscale supper club in central Iowa than a lunch and dinner spot in downtown Pasadena. Once the food hits the table though, you’ll realize this is far from anything you’d ever find at a local fish fry.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Look, it’s no secret that the Midwest doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to exciting food. Most people openly mock it. Rich culinary pockets exist (Chicago, Minneapolis, Dearborn, to name a few), but I was fed too many cream of mushroom casseroles to argue against the played-out stereotype. If two people are capable of changing the perception - at least in LA - it might be co-owners, Iowa-born chef Thomas Kalb and LA-born cheesemonger Vanessa Tilaka.
Agnes isn’t the first new restaurant in LA to dip into Midwestern nostalgia, but it’s the only one that goes all-in. For native Midwesterners, seeing things like cheese curds with buttermilk ranch and puppy chow on the menu might inspire a text to a high school friend, “I’m at a restaurant in Pasadena that serves f*cking puppy chow.” Biting into dishes like cornbread eclairs topped with silky chicken liver mousse and loaded baked potato dumplings that taste exactly like a loaded baked potato could cause visceral flashbacks. If you didn’t grow up in the Midwest, or can’t even point to it confidently on a map, who cares? You’ll still be eating immensely delicious food - no matter your personal relationship with cornfields and roaring hearths.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Meat & Cheese Board
Cornbread Eclair
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Chicories & Stone fruit
Saffron Cavatelli
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Ribeye
photo credit: Jakob Layman