43 Ways To Make Eating At Home Suck Less (While Supporting LA Restaurants)

As it stands now, you currently have two choices when it comes to takeout food. You can either eat it:

1. At home, or

2. In your car.

While you could technically go eat in a park or something, it was literally 95 degrees yesterday (also, birds), so none of these are exactly stellar options. And unless you’re literally Dakota Johnson, chances are, your dining experiences these last few months have been… lackluster? Kind of depressing? A pitiful sight to both your FBI agent and your dog?

But instead of sulking, we made this: A list of our favorite playlists, candles, plates, cups, napkins, hot sauces, and even essential oils from various LA restaurants that will hopefully make eating at home suck a little less. Because while you can’t transform your studio apartment into Kismet or Woon, you can at least feel like you’re having a meal there.

photo credit: Benji Dell

Ask any hygge expert: The key to a warm, comfortable environment (that sucks way less) is found through transforming your space.

Flowers

• Bloom & Plume — Hand Ties Arrangements ($20-$45)

• Cookbook Market — Build Your Own Bouquet

• Kismet — Peads & Barnetts’ Bouquet ($35)

Candles

• Found Oyster — Rukske “Hiroko” Candle ($60)

• Harun Coffee — No. 7 Candle ($52)

• Yang’s Kitchen — Handmade “Kahlua Milk” Candle ($25)

Playlists

• El Cochinito — “Havana in Silver Lake”

• The Infatuation — “Cocktail Party (Of One)”

• Woon — “Noon to Woonlight”

photo credit: Benji Dell

No offense to your current dinnerware, but you deserve beautiful, hand-made artisan goods. Even if you’re just eating Chef Boyardee.

Cups

• Kensho — Sake/tea/espresso cups ($20)

Napkins

• Woon — Linen Napkin Sets by Suay Sew Shop ($56)

Plates

• Yang’s Kitchen — 6.5″ Handmade Ceramic Plate ($20)

photo credit: Benji Dell

Sauces, spices, and seasonings straight from the kitchens of your favorite restaurants. It’s kind of like you’re the tall, skinny chef in “Ratatouille,” and they’re Remy.

Hot Sauce

• Bar Amá’ — Bus Driver Hot Sauce ($12) Pick-up only

• Hambone’s — Hambone’s Moonshine BBQ Sauce ($5-$10)

• Here’s Looking At You — 8oz Hot Togarashi Spice ($10)

• Janga By Derrick’s — “Famous” Jamaican Jerk Sauce ($7.75)

• Lee Esther’s — Hot Pepper Sauce and Seasoning ($15)

Spices

• Azla Vegan — Berbere Spice Blend ($18)

• Bludso’s — Original Dry Rubs ($8)

• Now Serving — Diaspora Co. Single-Origin Pragati Turmeric ($12)

photo credit: Noah Devereaux

We’ve actually got a few guides for this. Encyclopedic knowledge of words like “tannin” and “mouth-feel” not included.

• Where To Order Wine Delivery In Los Angeles

• The Infatuation’s Guide To Cocktails

• 5 To-Go Martinis To Order Tonight

• 8 To-Go Margaritas To Order Tonight

• 16 Beers To Battle Racial Injustice

• The LA Alcohol Delivery & Pick-Up Guide

• Where To Order Takeout & Delivery Cocktails In LA

If you’re, how do we put this - less culinarily inclined than most (or just have some time to kill), here are some step-by-step instructions on how to prepare restaurant food at home.

• Needle – Char Siu Kit

• Pasjoli — Welcome To Your Duck Press

• Sogo Roll Bar — How To Make Hand Rolls

photo credit: Benji Dell

Because we gotta have a cool merch section.

Face Masks

• Compton Vegan — $20

• Maury’s — Easy Tie-Back Face Mask ($19)

• Sqirl — $20

Essential Oils

• Harun Coffee — Grapefruit ($25)

• Lunch On Me — Healing Love Body Oils ($25)

Hand Sanitizer

• Needle — Jasmine Tea Infused Hand Sanitizer ($5)

• Steep — Amass Botanical Hand Sanitizer ($9-$30)

If candles, playlists, how-to videos, and house-made hand sanitizers weren’t enough to fill that restaurant-shaped hole in your heart, here’s some internet content to tide you over for the next two years. Just kidding. Maybe?

Restaurant Sounds

• Coffee-Shop Background Noise Generator

• One Hour of Restaurant Background Noise from Behind the Bar

• Sound Bank of Public Spaces

General Content (That Doesn't Suck)

• “A Tale Of Two Kitchens” — A Netflix documentary following the kitchens of Chef Gabriela Cámara in San Francisco and Mexico City.

• “This American Life” — Podcast episode chronicling a day in the life of Chicago’s Golden Apple diner.

• This Ana Fabrega Twitter Video — So funny. So true.

photo credit: Benji Dell

We’re not going to tell you what to wear. Not our lane, sorry.