WHY For the farm-fresh ingredients that shine with just the right amount of chef behind them. The beloved family-style Sunday Supper brings gorgeous home-style cooking for $45 per person.

WHAT Relaxed and beautiful, homey yet elegant, with just-attentive-enough service that’s never pretentious, Lucques is the reigning Chez Panisse of Los Angeles. It’s one of the best patio dining spots in town, but being inside by the fireplace is pretty nice, too. Suzanne Goin’s dishes—ricotta dumplings with garbanzos and summer squash; grilled whole fish with Asian greens and yellow-tomato confit; grilled club steak for two with the amazing potatoes parisienne—end up being copied around town later, so come here first. Indulge in Caroline Styne’s wine list, and don’t pass up the pastry chef’s remarkable desserts, perhaps profiteroles with seasonal fruit or warm chocolate cake with dulce de leche.

WHO Attractive but not plastic people who really care about what goes into their mouths.