Image: Bethy Squires
The restaurants in the greater Vanderpump Procedures ecosystem run on two metrics: superior food stuff and tourist curiosity for the Bravopilled. Normally the latter enormously outweighs the previous. But would One thing About Her — the only cafe without having direct LVP involvement — crack that mould?
The line outside the house Katie Maloney and Ariana Madix’s sandwich shop was previously 50 percent a block deep when the relaxation of my occasion arrived: a person Pump head (Lovett or Depart It writer Jocey Coffman) and a single comprehensive neophyte (Letterboxd West Coast editor Mia Vicino). I imply, zero contextual facts for what was going on. When Jocey said, “Oh, wow, Katie is listed here,” Mia was like, “Who?” That’s how untainted her meals thoughts have been likely to be.
The line was only for people wishing to dine in if you preferred a sammy to go, Katie’s mom Teri Maloney would usher you to the cashier with effectiveness. By the time we arrived at the door, we could peruse the menu and pay attention to the rom-com-adjacent Spotify playlist. (A sample of tracks we read: “Zou Bisou Bisou,” “I Enjoy You Always Endlessly,” “There She Goes,” by the La’s, a.k.a. the music from the Gilmore Ladies pilot and a couple joints of The Father or mother Lure OST.) We received to the entrance pretty speedily, taking into consideration how very little seating is out there — RIP to the patio. Teri apprehensive that the only desk set up for extra than a two-leading would by no means go away. “They’ve completed their food and they are just sitting,” she whispered accusingly. Then, by some means, Teri made a 3-human being table seem out of the ether, and we positioned our orders. Whilst we waited (once more, not for really extensive — this is an efficient shop), Katie Maloney took pictures with any individual who requested, sometimes busing tables and checking in on us at the very least 2 times. She fell back again into SURver mode so very easily I could not assist but be amazed. Pretty, extremely profesh.
The group was all VPR stans. Very well, apart from for Mia. I deduced this from two factors: (1) Who else would wait on line for a sandwich in a community total of line-considerably less places to eat? And (2) quite significantly everybody who came inside of acquired a photograph with Katie. A birthday girl, probably 11 yrs outdated, wore a plastic tiara as she waited in line to eat a $16 sando. Just one person brought their infant. Imagine your very first restaurant experience becoming a VPR-adjacent fast-support place. Wild. And a pair of women instructed Katie SAH was their 1st stop soon after having into L.A. the evening in advance of. They sat next to us and cracked open some Loverboy Spritzes as they waited for foods. I guess we know which aspect of Spritzgate the SAH ladies are on.
On to the foods. I got the Diane (olive-oil-dressed tuna salad on a baguette), Jocey bought the Viola (turkey panini), and Mia acquired the Drew (goat cheese and prosciutto on a baguette). Jocey reported she picked the Viola for the reason that “I was drawn to variety of a sloppy sandy, and this just one has wetter substances.” Mia picked the Drew “because I really like the film Music and Lyrics, starring Drew Barrymore.” Each sandwich came with a significant spear of dill pickle, considerably appreciated.
We just about every attempted bites of just about every other’s sandwiches, so here’s our collective position, worst to greatest. None ended up outright negative, for which I am deeply grateful provided the sus food I have had at SUR ahead of (filet mignon sliders that had been in some way simultaneously burnt and ice cold). Just about every sandwich at Some thing About Her was, at the extremely least, knowledgeable and not exorbitantly priced. Well, not exorbitantly priced for West Hollywood, at minimum.
3. The Diane: I hope when Diane Keaton went to SAH, she liked her namesake sando better than I did. The lightness of the tuna in the Diane labored for me, but the bread did not. It was a minimal rough, and my lousy jaw could not make it do the job. I took 50 % my sandwich house, and my husband experienced the identical difficulties doing the job as a result of the bread. In the finish, we scooped the salad into a deli container and built garlic toast with the bread. The preserved lemon in the tuna salad was a awesome contact.
2. The Viola: “It’s a completely good panini. I experienced a good working experience with the bread I appreciated the push, I preferred the crunch,” Jocey mentioned. “Totally good sandwich, but I would choose for something more experimental if you are just likely to get one sandwich.”
1. The Drew: We all rated Drew Barrymore’s sandwich at the best. It experienced the most complexity, with herbs and mango-jalapeño jam and all kinds of extras. “This a single has an included bonus — pink-lady apples. So it’s fresh and brisk,” Mia claimed. “It’s a good summer sandwich.”
It’s unbelievable that Mia, the a person with no skin in the sandwich sport, was most satisfied with her meal. But does that suggest A thing About Her has what it usually takes to thrive outside of the Bravo Disneyland that Lisa Vanderpump has manufactured at Santa Monica and Robertson? Perhaps. There are so several sandwich places to eat in Los Angeles. The put is likely as a result of anything of a carb renaissance, really. Anything About Her feels in line with most of these places. The food? Standard. The cost? L.A. satisfactory. The assistance? Insanely attentive. In opposition to all odds, Some thing About Her is a Useful Restaurant, which is much more than I can say for some other VPR-associated institutions.
