In the Vespertine parking lot I recognize Megan Sokol, the restaurant’s front-of-house manager. Instead of delivering dishes in stone bowls with mysterious one-word descriptions, she wields a ...

Diners are not neutral about Vespertine. Those who've eaten there ... Luckily there were no security guards. The front doors were two pieces of plywood on hinges. I’d pop them open and walk ...

No restaurant in the history of Los Angeles has been dissected, derided and defended like Vespertine ... Previously the front-of-house tenor felt cold, almost hostile, in its opaque ceremony.