Doesn’t have to be new, doesn’t have to be chef-driven. A friend is coming to town and my idea of hip is Dan Tana’s or Craig’s, or even Dear John’s. Or Birdie G’s or Rustic Canyon. But I don’t think that’s what they are thinking. They want a scene, an energy.
I looked at The Infatuation and also LA Eater and it’s mostly hip and happening because of the chef. Beethoven Market is not what my friend seeks. Oh, and is staying near The Grove…
Stir Crazy still feels hip and happening when I’m there.
Baby Bistro had a great vibe and crowd to me.
Bar Etoile (despite me not loving the food) felt VERY hip/happening.
Firstborn (indoors) felt vibey to me as well, young cool crowd.
Beethoven Market too
alba
rvr
chateau marmont
gjelina
Meteora
Saffy’s
Melisse, surprisingly
Novikov…not sure it gets any hipper - or non-chef driven, though the food is pretty good - right now in LA
Not throwing any shade, but these all seem pretty chef/food-driven to me.
I see the same issue with everything else mentioned above (except Chateau Marmont) - FTC’ers cant help themselves, we wouldn’t really be here if we were intrested in what @yogachik seems to be getting at for friend.
And fucking love baby bistro after one visit.
Yeah it’s probably like…
Elephante
Bacari
Nobu
Catch
Idk is Dama still cool?
But I could also see arguments for sceney but still good places like
Si! Mon
Budonoki
Lucia
The Benjamin
Maybe Cento / Cento Raw Bar?
Stella would fit the bill. It was poppin’ on Saturday evening.
Felix, Funke, Mother Wolf would also suffice. Extra points to Funke & Mother Wolf for potential celebrity sightings.
Honorable mentions: Giorgio Baldi, Il Pastaio, SUR, Toca Madera
no shade at all. I think they all have a young/hip crowd that is maybe an LA microcosm of a specific scene but definitely isn’t Chateau.
Sam’s Place in Highland Park
Mother Wolf was the sceney-est place I’ve been to, though I went there for the food.
I have no idea what hip means these days.
Was Stella popping? That’s good to hear. It was empty the last time we were there, around 8. Maybe on a weekday. I’m nervous about Stella because some of the food doesn’t seem like crowd pleaser food; it’s not all burrata, prosciutto, and fettunta. Stella gets relatively low OpenTable and Yelp reviews.
maybe still Sushi Park and/or Erewhon for a certain kind of scene. When I’m trying to impress a visitor under the age of 35 I look at their social media, or the social media of, say, five musicians/actors they really like.
Evan Funke and Uncle Paulie’s certainly pay their PR teams well.
Not the hottest new places but Jones, Formosa Cafe, El Coyote. Musso, Rosevelt Hotel, The Dresden. All eh food wise but def. scene of of sorts. Ardor, The Ivy,TAO or Katsuya also Irie is unique if they like weed. Any erewhon 
. Bacari Silverlake. Celebrity sightings can happen everywhere I was at Pattaya Thai sitting next to Ayo Edebiri.
YES, CHEF!
In the weho miracle mile area:
I think any of the funke restaurants in bev hills or hwood fit the bill for sceney but where I would be willing to pay for the food also saffys
In betweens with still solid or regarded food:
Horses
Jon and Vinny’s
Bacari
Gwen
Then you have the pure scenes like
Chateau marmont
Nice guy
Catch
Nobu
Matsuhida
Katsuya
Barton g
Tao
Maybe ask your friend what they are expecting exactly to experience in LA
Light when I walked in a little after 7PM, but when I left at 8:30PM, most tables were occupied on the lower level. Took the exit stairs so no idea what the ground level looked like.
I’ve been told that the BH dinner crowd usually shows up late. Reservations after 8:30 are hot commodities.
Funke
88 Club
Muse
Erewhon
Options with decent food:
Funke or Mother Wolf
Novikov, Stella
Scene crawl from Figaro Bistrot in Los Feliz to the Silver Lake Erewhon to Santo/Seco. Gotta see these beautiful people in their outdoor environment