Poltergeist (1391 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles)

A deeply misunderstood gem of a restaurant found within Echo Park's now closed arcade, Button Mash. This place was full of surprises and felt like an antidote to the increasingly algorithm driven, consistent but never awe inspiring places popping up left and right. Poltergeist knew how to have fun, the way you'd expect a finer dining restaurant within an indie arcade to be able to.

Everything was turned up to 11. Fluorescent green curry bucatini. Thai caesar hidden under two giant sheets of puffed rice. Mapo Tofu stuffed purple cabbage. Octopus with burrata and squid ink fry bread. Beef broccoli ravioli. These were paintings as dishes. Some worked better than others flavor wise but all were inspiring.

The ever rotating banana split ice cream flavors capped the meal in a perfectly fitting way. Blueberry bubblegum? Celeriac root beer? No one asked for these but I miss this roulette wheel of a restaurant so very much.