OPEN FACE FOOD SHOP
From traditional Danish flavors to elevated American fare, you will find something for everyone at Open Face Food Shop. Simply put, chef Lene Houck creates amazing menus using farm fresh, seasonal ingredients in modern, inventive pairings. Lene and her husband Mark hope that their neighbors and friends will enjoy both the food she’s lovingly created and the welcoming atmosphere surrounding it.
Homemade. Handmade. Honest.
Open Face Food Shop
5577 West Adams Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Summer Hours:
Wednesday- Friday 11am- 4pm
Weekend Brunch 10am- 3pm
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Periodic Closures for Private Events are noted at the top of the page.
A beautiful evening high on a hill…
Thanks to all of you for your patience with our last minute closure yesterday. The event was a huge success and our team was on point for the new Minority Leader @hakeemjeffries and 12 other sitting congressmen (as well stars from the “LA Sky” too many to count). Leader Jeffries is the first person of color to lead a congressional caucus in American history; his words last night were insightful, inspiring and important. It was a great evening.
We all try to stay in touch the political environment around us; the decisions our elected officials make on our behalf effect us every day. We had the chance to speak at length with our new representative @sydneykamlager (she was VERY well informed) and her commitment to our district was front and center. We even got to spend a few minutes with @repkatieporter, one of our heroes and a newly announced candidate for US Senate. Lots of work and lots of fun.
Thanks to the incredibly generous hosts for allowing us to support this watershed evening and thanks to all of you for your own support. We appreciate it.
See you for brunch!
⁃Mark, Lene and the Open Face Team
Happy New Year, everybody! We hope 2023 is off to a great start.
After carving out a little time to rest and recover we're back in the kitchen and looking forward to seeing everyone soon.
We will be reopening the restaurant Wednesday 01.18.23 after all the rain and our (already) first busy week of catering.
Starting out with a bang this year, with lots of new and wonderful things ahead of us that we can’t wait to show you.
Happy New Year again to all of you, and may 2023 be filled with great food, friends and lots of laughter.
See you soon!
Mark, Lene and the OFFS Team
Looking forward… and back
It’s the New Year again. If I recall we’re supposed to say something prescient; about the days that are ahead for us and what the next year is sure to bring for us all. Instead though, we just want to say this;
Thank you.
Your support over these last couple years has kept us going, often when we felt we couldn’t do it anymore.
Your smiles and kind words between bites, your willingness to share stories of your day, bringing new guests, family and friends… theses moments sustain us as much as the food we prepare hopefully does the same.
Thank you for your patience with our frequently crazy schedule of restaurant, catering, retail store and all the other balls we are trying to juggle right now. Your faith in us is inspiriting and we appreciate it. Mightily.
The rest of this is kind of personal so you don’t HAVE to keep reading, but…
Like a lot of you we have our own goals for the year; better health, better life balance, more time to rest and recover more often… the kind of things that always seem to fall to the side when the needs of service present themselves. We’ll do our best to honor those commitments to ourselves because it really is important and we’ll support you in your quest for perfection this year as well. Seems like a fair trade 🙂
Most of you know that January 1st is our wedding anniversary and this year is our 27th. Just… wow. So lucky in so many ways.
Every year Lene and I sit down and try to put into words everything we hope will come into our lives in the coming year (we don’t included winning lottery ticket because that’s always a given) and we choose colors that feel right to us at the time. This year the colors mirror our store HYA which just had it’s first birthday. If you’re more food inclined they are also the colors of Carlsberg beer and chili aioli so that’s a 2-fer. Foreshadowing? Maybe.
We look forward to another year filled with smiles, laughter and happy bellies with you. Probably some bad jokes to balance things out too, but you take the good with the bad.
Happy New Year to you all. Let’s make it great together.
Lene, Mark and the Open Face/ HYA team
Extended Holiday Hours!
Holiday Heroes Happen Here
As we head into the final weeks of the holiday season, we are extending our hours beginning Monday through Christmas Eve.
We know this time of the year can be really stressful, and we’re here to help. We have something for everyone on your list, including HYA gift cards in any amount (if you still can’t decide). Our friendly and knowledgable staff will guide you toward finding the perfect gifts for the people you love. Yes, you can “Shop Small” and still find it all!
•Home Made Jams @openfacefoodshop
•Toys for kids (and pets, too)
•Hostess Gifts
•Greeting Cards
•Ornaments and Decor
•Handmade Quilts (it’s getting cold!)
•Danish Design Houseware
•Party Starters
•Last Minute Finds
•Amazing Coffees and Teas, Tinned Fish, Handmade Pasta
… and so much more!
We’ve stocked our shelves with hand made and hard to find goods from other small, women owned, minority owned and local businesses that you won’t find online and support your own neighborhood.
Holiday Heroes Happen at HYA!
Come by and visit us, we’re here to help 🙂
Happy Holidays however you celebrate!
Lene, Mark, Amy and the entire HYA team
#westadams #westadamsla #losangeles #hiddengem #losangelessale #hya #shoplocalla #supportlocalla #localla #adamsblvd #smallbusiness #hyageneralstore #smallbusinesssale #westadamssmallbusiness #shoplocalsalela #cumulusdistrict #midcityla #shopsmall #bestgifts #regardingher #womenowned #laistgifts
So much to be thankful for
This Thanksgiving has me reminiscing a little.
When we first started our business almost 20 years ago, it was just the two of us. Just Lene and I and a whole lot of hustle. I would shop at the markets, help prep and clean, and Lene would make… magic.
The path we’ve walked has been side by side, every step of the way.
This thanksgiving feels like the early days. No big staff, just Lene and I in a quiet kitchen cooking delicious food for a family we have come to love and appreciate. They will share it with their loved ones (taking second helpings of everything), invite us to toast this wonderful life with them and make a memory they can keep forever. A part of their story.
Without a doubt these are the moments all our lives are built upon, like beautiful photos on a gallery wall, or stacked together like a deck of cards; each containing a special memory and each deck unique and amazing.
These last few years have been hard on us all, and harder on the restaurant industry than most who aren’t in it will ever know. Even so, we’re thankful.
Thankful for our beautiful little restaurant.
Thankful for our customers, catering clients, and hard working staff.
Thankful to our farmers, vendors and all the supporting pieces that allow us to do our work.
Thankful we’re still here despite pretty lousy odds sometimes.
For me though, I’m most thankful for my partner in this life; one of the most gifted and tenacious people I will ever know, and someone that agreed to walk this road at my side wherever it led us. I am so, so lucky.
Today, it led us back to the beginning, and I would do it all again as long as she agreed to be there.
Wherever the road takes us.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all and thank you for your support. It truly means the world.
- Mark & Lene
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm #hyawestadams #shopsmall
The change of seasons is always bittersweet. Yes, tomatoes are taking their final bow (farewell, amazing summer friends), but squash, persimmon and the southern bounty of citrus is waiting in the wings. Very exciting 🙂
Came into the kitchen today, the last week for our “Inside Out BLT”, to find these gorgeous cone head cabbage being prepped for our Danish Remoulade…the cabbage Lene grew up with and the only proper ingredient for the purist 😀
Thanks to the geniuses @the_garden_of_ for always making things so beautiful and thank you, summer’s bounty, for another great season.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Lene, Mark and the Open Face Team
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm
Stage two
after two days of maceration, the fruit (Gorgeous Pluerry from Tenerelli Orchards) is ready to be cooked down. Once the temperature hits 218° to 220° and it will be ready to go in the jars for final canning
Already delicate and delicious… Can’t wait!
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm
Beneath this gorgeous naturally hazy exterior hides one of our all-time favorite harvests of the year.
Pluerry (a cross between a plum and a cherry!!) have a short growing season and we managed to secure the last hundred pounds for our upcoming holiday jam sampler boxes @hyawestadams
Both tart and sweet with a surprising flavor of cherries on the finish (yes, this fruit actually has a finish), it’s bright, firm, delicate and incredibly elegant.
HUGE kudos to John Tenerelli and family @peaches.la_ for putting their heart and soul into this spectacular beauty.
Stay tuned… We are so excited!
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm
What an amazing event! It’s not every day we have the honor of serving the President, the Speaker of the House, half a dozen sitting congressmen, judges, movie and tv icons.. all under one roof. Wow…
With the immensely important midterms right around the corner we’re truly honored to be able to do our part. Even more, we truly appreciate everyone’s patience and support during our recent closure.
We spent today getting ready for the weekend , and we’ll be open tomorrow for regular service… and our first big sale at @hyawestadams, rain or shine!
See you this weekend and thanks again!!
-Lene, Mark and the Open Face team
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm #whitehouse #presidentbiden #midterms #vote #bekind #speakerpelosi #shopsmall
What a beautiful event last night!
It ended up being a bit longer than we had expected (more than one person missed their flight home) but I guess when you’re having a really great time. there will be other flights! 🙂
One more REALLY big event tonight, then we can get ready to open the restaurant again for the weekend, and for our first big sale @hyawestadams!
thanks for your patience and your support while we get through these two challenging but meaningful evenings and we will see you over the weekend!
-Lene, Mark and the Open Face Team
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm #visionarywomen
Hi, everyone! We will be unexpectedly closed tomorrow due to staffing issues (nothing dramatic). In addition, we have a couple VERY high profile events next week that will be controlling much of our schedule next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so please accept our apologies in advance. We'll tell you more as we can. It’s actually quite exciting 🙂
As always we REALLY apologize for our crazy schedule; we are still in the tail end of our 2+ year journey through COVID and it's associated fallout, but we have every hope that things will be settling down sooner rather than later. We truly appreciate your p[atience while we wait for the world to start spinning on it's axis as it always has 🙂
Big hugs to everyone and we'll see you on Thursday!
Lene, Mark and the Open Face Team
PS: The photo doesn’t have anything to do with the closure, I just took that at my sisters house and thought it was beautiful 🙂
See you soon!
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm
Closed Thursday, September 29th offsite events.
Sorry for the late notice, but one of our catering staff is under the weather and we still don’t have quite enough well trained staff to accommodate both businesses. (it’s just a normal garden variety chest cold… I hear they are making a comeback 🙂
As always, we appreciate your patience and your support while we slog through the final stages of Covid and it’s pervasive labor issues. Sooner or later things will work themselves out and we will all get back to business the way we had planned.
Until then, thank you, thank you, thank you and we will reopen again on Friday!
Lene, Mark, and the open face team
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal
So exciting!
These gorgeous Buena Mulata heirloom peppers are starting to get ripe! First they are a gorgeous purple then yellow, orange, and finally deep red… ready for harvest! They have been maturing in a nice sunny spot behind our store @hyawestadams.
We were introduced to these and other heirloom varieties by our good friends at @logansgardens and they have become one of our absolute favorites. Jimmy said he loves them and who are we to argue? 🙂
These beauties are in the Cayenne family so solid heat (50,000-70,000 on the Scoville scale) but more important,amazing flavor!
Woohoo!!!
Spicy is Nicey!
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm
Busy morning! Came back from the farmers market to the smell of fresh baked carrot buns, roasted honey nut squash and tons of fresh mushrooms for brunch today!
Seems like the heat has broken and it’s going to be a great day 🙂
See you all soon! We are open today 10 AM to 3 PM.
– Lene, Mark, and the OFFS team
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm
Final prep for tonight‘s event!
We are helping to celebrate the largest mass naturalization ceremony since before the pandemic… 2100 new citizens from 90 different countries! @dodgerstadium is going to be awesome tomorrow!
Our team members tonight hail from Denmark, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea, the UK and the US. It’s a truly meaningful event for us as well.
Many thanks to all our amazing farmers, our generous hosts and to our equally amazing guests for their support while we do our best to celebrate something truly worth celebrating… Diversity, inclusion, and the amazing tapestry of cultures that make up this great nation.
Congratulations to all our new citizens and welcome!
E Pluribus Unum!
-Lene, Mark and the Open Face team
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm @gomezmunak @the_garden_of_ @the_freshfoodies_kitchen @jimenezfamilyfarm
“Celebrity Roast”, Open Face style!
Gorgeous roasted Celebrity tomatoes from Munak Ranch for our Open Face Danish sandwiches today! Seriously, we wait all year for Hugo and Victor’s tomatoes, and we are in peak season. If you were a tomato lover come see what we’ve got for you! what a great time of year to be hungry! Support our amazing farmers like Munak Ranch!
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthyeating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal @gomezmunak
Not gonna find THIS at the supermarket!
Just another reason to support your local farmers. These gorgeous, thumb sized blackberries come to us from J. G. Farms and are as delicious as they are impressive.
Just… wow 🤩
We’re soooooo lucky….
Come visit soon!
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm @j.g.berries
New brunch dish today!
We sold out of Yesterdays special so fast we decided we should create something new for you!
Jimenez Farms has amazing yellow zucchini, so we focused on those for today’s special.
Zucchini fritters with dill and fresh mint, danish feta and Munak Ranch celebrity tomatoes. Add an organic sunny egg and viola! A light fresh seasonal brunch with all of our favorites 🙂
Hope we get to see you soon, and thank you as always for your amazing support!
- Lene and Mark
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm
Meet Smorgastarta! A Swedish tradition, think of a savory layered seafood torta with wild Oregon Bay shrimp, our signature egg salad and smoked Irish salmon layered with our three day sourdough! Amazing…
available this weekend (while supplies last). Come try something new and wonderful!
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm
Support for Ukraine- Join us!
July 28th, Open Face Food Shop and HYA West Adams is honored to host our second live performance in support of the Ukrainian people.
The evening will highlight 5 short works by Ukrainian playwrights from the first days of the invasion performed live by our good friends @ghostroadcompany. 100% of proceeds will go to three wonderful charities benefitting the people of Ukraine in a time of great need.
The first fundraiser was a huge success; an eye opening and first hand glimpse into the day to day struggles of the Ukrainian people told with both heart and humor, and filled with stories beyond the headlines. This performance will feature 3 new works in addition to a musical performance by Ghost Road collaborator Jakob Berger. It will be a wonderful evening.
Reserve your place at the link below, seating is limited.
https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=grc
Thank you as always for your incredible support, and we look forward to seeing you on July 28th at the community space behind HYA West Adams, 5601 West Adams Blvd.
Lene and Mark
#openfacefoodshop #westadams #healthy eating #farmersmarket #freshfood #putapickleonit #bestsandwiches #sandwich #danish #smorgasbord
#regardingherfood #saverestaurants #eatlocal #replenishrrf #cumulusdistrict #smfm #thehfm #supportukraine
