LAReview
photo credit: Jayme Burrows
Woodspoon
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Included In
Solidifying your contingency plan for when things go awry is important. Maybe you got a flat tire or let go from work or just saw your ex’s engagement photos on Facebook. This is when you take matters into your own hands and go on a long hike, scream-meditate in the shower, or speed-dial your friend with explicit instructions to bring over Chardonnay and Doritos. It’s time for emotional repair.
When sh*t hits the fan on our end, you’ll most likely find us at Wood Spoon, a Downtown Brazilian spot that’s been open for over a decade. From the second you walk in and smell the pot pies baking, to the moment when you leave hugging a relative stranger, life seems just fine.
Even if Wood Spoon didn’t serve incredible food, we’d probably still go simply because we like hanging out here. The vaulted ceilings, mismatched chairs, and old framed photos on the walls make the space feel like the Parisian flat you dream about during work meetings. The laid-back crowd, usually consisting of a few friends catching up in the corner and married couples on their weekly date, immediately seem like family even though you’ve never met before. The chef comes out from the kitchen to greet every guest with a kiss on the cheek, as if they’re her adult children returning home after a lengthy voyage at sea.
photo credit: Jayme Burrows
Wood Spoon’s menu is mostly traditional street food and simple entrees that make you feel like you’re eating in someone’s home, not someone’s restaurant. We’ve gone to Wood Spoon with friends to share big plates of pastel Portuguese (deep-fried shrimp dumplings), and split moqueca, a spicy seafood stew in coconut sauce, during dates. We’ve even showed up alone simply to eat the best chicken pot pie in the entire world. These are the kind of flavor-packed, reach-down-and-touch-your-soul plates of food you forget sometimes exist in restaurants.
And by the time your meal concludes, your soul fully healed, you’ll realize this is the only place you want to be - no matter what kind of day you’re having.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Jayme Burrows
Mixed Plate
photo credit: Jayme Burrows
Brazilian Chicken Pot Pie
photo credit: Jayme Burrows
Fish Sandwich
Almondegas
photo credit: Jayme Burrows
Moqueca
photo credit: Jayme Burrows