In Los Angeles, they say you’re only as good as your last picture (Coppola didn’t work for two years after Godfather 3) and the same goes for the city’s restaurants. Fortunately, the valleys surrounding L.A. yield one of the longest and most bountiful harvests in the world – and the wine is pretty good, too.

In Los Angeles, they say you’re only as good as your last picture (Coppola didn’t work for two years after Godfather 3), and the same goes for the city’s restaurants. Fortunately, the valleys surrounding L.A. yield one of the longest and most bountiful harvests in the world. And with California’s entire coastline producing wines so good they’ve forced the French into subsidies, a core handful of exceptional eateries manage to wow the fickle night in and year out.

Here, then, are two proven winners and a new classic guaranteed still to be hot when you and your clients arrive. Because in L.A., there’s nothing worse than was hot.

Breakfast: If you don’t pay attention to your Google map, you’ll miss the little stucco building behind Shutters on the Beach, where Cora’s Coffee Shop has been serving L.A.’s finest morning meal since Sam Goldwyn was crushing souls. Grab a stool at the busy kitchen bar or sit at one of the tables resting under an arched canopy of bougainvillea. Everything, even the steel-cut oatmeal, is crafted from scratch: Organic pancakes come with a touch of hand-squeezed O.J., and poached eggs — from chickens that probably live better than the entry-level analysts at your firm — nestle on thick-cut seven-grain bread.

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