Manuela Restaurant

On our list of the best special-occasion restaurants in Los Angeles.

Manuela shares its courtyard with Hauser & Wirth gallery, about 100 feet from the gallery entrance, in a garden that keeps chickens for fresh eggs alongside herb beds and fruit trees. The dining room opens onto that courtyard, which feels closer to a small European square than the former mill building around it. The kitchen runs a wood-fired grill through a Southern-leaning, seasonal American menu, with cream biscuits and aged country ham among the small plates. It works as well for negronis and a shared dip at the bar in late afternoon as for a full dinner.