Vin Folk

This place is simply incredible! The service, the food, the presentation, the wine list, the desserts — everything was outstanding, and we experienced true aesthetic pleasure. The level of professionalism is remarkable, and it’s hard to believe that such a gem exists in Hermosa. We were especially impressed by the attentiveness and sensitivity of the staff. Every portion was perfectly sized, the flavors were unique, and the best part is that the menu changes with each season — such a great feature! We will definitely be coming back and recommending this place to our friends. P.S. I mixed up the reservation date, but the staff still found a table for us with a time limit. We managed to enjoy everything, had a lovely dinner, and discovered a new favorite spot. Huge thanks to the entire team!

Very pleasant experience with my friend. The reviews mentioned that the staff members are extremely kind, and we felt the same as well. Reasonable price for the food and the experience. Would 100% re-visit especially for special ocasions.

A fantastic dining and drinking experience. Definitely worth the trek down from West LA to the South Bay, and honestly from anywhere in the metro La region. Definitely one of my standout dinners of 2024. The pastry crust in the mussel tart was the flakiest I’ve ever encountered and would have made Paul and Prue proud. The popcorn chicken had zucchini in it so good I just wanted more of the zucchini, and the head cheese dish was absolutely delicious. The sommelier picked out a bottle of red and white for us that paired amazingly with the meal. Everything was really just too notch.

Excellent new restaurant in Hermosa Beach. My son knows the chefs and provides micro green weekly. It was my beautiful wife's birthday and we celebrated it at this new trendy restaurant. The staff was incredible! Service was top notch and attentive. Food was exceptional and innovative. We pretty much sampled 50% of the food menu, see pictures. Glad to support local and new restaurant.

An incredible dining experience! The restaurant boasts a beautifully designed interior, creating an inviting and sophisticated atmosphere. The service is warm, personal, and makes you feel truly welcome. The dishes are crafted with great attention to detail, combining exceptional technique with a focus on flavor rather than just aesthetics, setting it apart from some of the more superficial trends in the industry. This is a chef-driven establishment with a unique approach to service and overall experience. Highly recommended for any occasion—book your table while you still can!

I would say this is my favorite restaurant in Hermosa Beach. The cuisine leans more toward French with an Asian twist. The head chef has experience at Somni, Maude, and Vespertine, so he has a lot of Michelin, fine dining experience, which shows through all of the dishes. The location is great, it’s located very close to the beach and luckily there is a lot of paid street parking all around the restaurant, which we were able to find close by for our 7 PM Saturday dinner. There was an issue with our table however. I booked a corner table and I guess the person dining at my reserved table decided to read a book after his meal so we had to sit at another table and then move an hour into our meal. Not ideal, but the staff made it tolerable and everyone that we encountered was very polite and helpful. Pricing is a bit high, but that’s to be expected with any fine dining restaurant and I feel the price point is still worth it. The dishes here are more share sized and designed to split so it’s a great place to go if you like to mix and match your meal. Inside is very small, there are only a handful of tables where you can watch the kitchen prepping the food. There’s also a small outdoor dining area, which is covered and really nice because you get to smell the ocean breeze. Being our first time we want to try a lot of different items. We started off with the Pritto which is fried jidori chicken, zucchini & fennel pollen togarashi. I especially like the togarashi and how crispy the chicken was. It almost tasted like popcorn and away and was a great snack starter. Next came the Mussels Tart which is comprised of puff pastry, fennel cream, smoked clam & escabeche. At first bite I did not like it very much, but after my second, it really started to grow on me. Is it it is a bit strange but honestly, it’s very unique and really good. The flaky crust with the medium muscles was really a great combination. Next was the Bistro Salad which had butter lettuce, castelfranco, radish, fennel, shallot vinaigrette $ cured egg yolk. The cured egg yolk was my favorite and the salad is a perfect summer salad. It’s light but very flavorful and felt very refreshing. We ate it much quicker than we expected because it just had that bright, sunny flavor to it. Next came the Yellowtail with fried shallot oil, ikra, Aleppo & capers. I think this was my second favorite dish of the night because it almost had a spicy flavor to it, but you’d only recognize it after a few bites. It had some really deep, rich flavors and I almost wanted to drink the sauce after we had finished it. Finally to top it off I had my favorite dish of the night, which is their French take on the Singaporean chili crab which they call the Chili Crab which is Arborio rice, Santa Barbara Rock Crab, & egg. This was absolutely fantastic and something that I would go here specifically for. The Dungeness crab in the center was absolutely fantastic and I would say that I’m addicted to this dish. It’s probably one of the best entrées I’ve had this year. We really wanted to order dessert because they have many great options but by the end of the meal, we were just too full. I live close by in Marina Del Rey so I plan to come back very soon to try other dishes that I did not try and would highly suggest to anyone in LA or visiting to give this place a try.

I had an amazing experience at Vin Folk! The highlight of my visit was their chili crab, which was absolutely delicious-perfectly spiced and cooked to perfection. I also tried the beef tongue, and to my surprise, I absolutely loved it-even though it's usually not something I enjoy. Their chef truly knows how to elevate flavors and change minds! Their extensive wine selection is also worth mentioning, offering something for every palate. The staff were incredibly knowledgeable and helped me pair the perfect wine with my meal. The ambiance is warm and inviting, making it a great spot for both casual outings and special occasions. Plus, the location is unbeatable—it’s just a five-minute walk to the beach, making it perfect for a meal before or after enjoying the ocean views.

Kazushige Morimoto

Wonderful experience at Vin Folk! The chefs showed great attention to detail and made us feel truly welcome. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, perfect for enjoying a few drinks. Every dish was excellent, but the Half Jidori Chicken was absolutely outstanding. Highly recommend this place! Another amazing visit to Vin Folk in December 23rd! The team’s hospitality was just as wonderful as before, and it was such a nice surprise that they remembered us on our second visit. The atmosphere remains warm and inviting, and the staff is incredibly friendly. Highly recommend this place for anyone looking for outstanding food and genuine hospitality!

Guillermo

Wow, what a hidden gem. This place is outstanding. The dishes are delightful and super flavorful. We loved the scallop ceviche and the crab chilli risotto was perfect. The level of attention,the service and the food are at the highest level. This is michelin star level food and I am sure they'll get one soon enough. Better get in soon while you can

Alex Simons

This is basically a perfect restaurant. The food is uniformly excellent, beautifully presented, and incredibly thoughtful and innovative. The staff could not be warmer and more welcoming (we were there for a birthday dinner and it was one of the best bday dinner experiences we've ever had). Chefs Katya and Kevin have built a truly special and differentiated experience, and have hired a best-in-class team of knowledgeable, friendly, and fun server-chefs who clearly LOVE working there. I am so happy that LA has this restaurant, we REALLY needed it. Everything we had was excellent but the favorites were definitely the tongue, hamachi, and fish but honestly everything was exceptional.

Winston Powell

The best meal I’ve had in awhile. We sampled most of the menu and loved every bite. The fish was our favorite. The wine list was great too. They even gave us complimentary cava and ice cream since we were celebrating our anniversary. The patio setup was precious. We felt like we were in Paris. Definitely recommend!

Frank Bai

food overall is creative and delicious, with some can do slightly better (like easy salt on scallop and may be lower the sourness of the orange flavor ice cream dessert; service is amazing, warm and comfortable with active engagement and interactions, do expect some waiting time even with your reservation cause it is popular place with limited seats (so guests may stay longer than expected; location is not far from Manhattan beach and pretty interesting to walk around as well)

Frank Maiorano

Can’t say enough about what a great experience we had at Vin Folk. Amazing food, but even more the PEOPLE are amazing and went above and beyond. All the food was A+++ and the team that takes care of you makes dinner more of an immersed EXPERIENCE. Definitely THE spot in Hermosa by far! A must go!

Dana Kim

Very pleasant experience with my friend. The reviews mentioned that the staff members are extremely kind, and we felt the same as well. Reasonable price for the food and the experience. Would 100% re-visit especially for special ocasions.

Eric M

Would give 10 stars for craftsmanship and service if we could. Very unique restaurant where the servers are also chefs since they rotate duties as well as chanting the orders. There’s a high staff to customer ratio which made the service impeccable. Would visit again!

Katerina Lansky

What an incredible evening at Vin Folk! The food was absolutely delicious, with every dish bursting with flavor and beautifully presented. The atmosphere felt magical, like stepping into a culinary art exhibition. The service was top-notch: attentive, friendly, and professional. Highly recommend for a memorable dining experience!

Elena Mercuri

This place is simply incredible! The service, the food, the presentation, the wine list, the desserts — everything was outstanding, and we experienced true aesthetic pleasure. The level of professionalism is remarkable, and it’s hard to believe that such a gem exists in Hermosa. We were especially impressed by the attentiveness and sensitivity of the staff. Every portion was perfectly sized, the flavors were unique, and the best part is that the menu changes with each season — such a great feature! We will definitely be coming back and recommending this place to our friends. P.S. I mixed up the reservation date, but the staff still found a table for us with a time limit. We managed to enjoy everything, had a lovely dinner, and discovered a new favorite spot. Huge thanks to the entire team!

Jimmy Matiz

An incredible dining experience! The restaurant boasts a beautifully designed interior, creating an inviting and sophisticated atmosphere. The service is warm, personal, and makes you feel truly welcome. The dishes are crafted with great attention to detail, combining exceptional technique with a focus on flavor rather than just aesthetics, setting it apart from some of the more superficial trends in the industry. This is a chef-driven establishment with a unique approach to service and overall experience. Highly recommended for any occasion—book your table while you still can!

Zan Lee

I would say this is my favorite restaurant in Hermosa Beach. The cuisine leans more toward French with an Asian twist. The head chef has experience at Somni, Maude, and Vespertine, so he has a lot of Michelin, fine dining experience, which shows through all of the dishes. The location is great, it’s located very close to the beach and luckily there is a lot of paid street parking all around the restaurant, which we were able to find close by for our 7 PM Saturday dinner. There was an issue with our table however. I booked a corner table and I guess the person dining at my reserved table decided to read a book after his meal so we had to sit at another table and then move an hour into our meal. Not ideal, but the staff made it tolerable and everyone that we encountered was very polite and helpful. Pricing is a bit high, but that’s to be expected with any fine dining restaurant and I feel the price point is still worth it. The dishes here are more share sized and designed to split so it’s a great place to go if you like to mix and match your meal. Inside is very small, there are only a handful of tables where you can watch the kitchen prepping the food. There’s also a small outdoor dining area, which is covered and really nice because you get to smell the ocean breeze. Being our first time we want to try a lot of different items. We started off with the Pritto which is fried jidori chicken, zucchini & fennel pollen togarashi. I especially like the togarashi and how crispy the chicken was. It almost tasted like popcorn and away and was a great snack starter. Next came the Mussels Tart which is comprised of puff pastry, fennel cream, smoked clam & escabeche. At first bite I did not like it very much, but after my second, it really started to grow on me. Is it it is a bit strange but honestly, it’s very unique and really good. The flaky crust with the medium muscles was really a great combination. Next was the Bistro Salad which had butter lettuce, castelfranco, radish, fennel, shallot vinaigrette $ cured egg yolk. The cured egg yolk was my favorite and the salad is a perfect summer salad. It’s light but very flavorful and felt very refreshing. We ate it much quicker than we expected because it just had that bright, sunny flavor to it. Next came the Yellowtail with fried shallot oil, ikra, Aleppo & capers. I think this was my second favorite dish of the night because it almost had a spicy flavor to it, but you’d only recognize it after a few bites. It had some really deep, rich flavors and I almost wanted to drink the sauce after we had finished it. Finally to top it off I had my favorite dish of the night, which is their French take on the Singaporean chili crab which they call the Chili Crab which is Arborio rice, Santa Barbara Rock Crab, & egg. This was absolutely fantastic and something that I would go here specifically for. The Dungeness crab in the center was absolutely fantastic and I would say that I’m addicted to this dish. It’s probably one of the best entrées I’ve had this year. We really wanted to order dessert because they have many great options but by the end of the meal, we were just too full. I live close by in Marina Del Rey so I plan to come back very soon to try other dishes that I did not try and would highly suggest to anyone in LA or visiting to give this place a try.

Brad Valtman

A fantastic dining and drinking experience. Definitely worth the trek down from West LA to the South Bay, and honestly from anywhere in the metro La region. Definitely one of my standout dinners of 2024. The pastry crust in the mussel tart was the flakiest I’ve ever encountered and would have made Paul and Prue proud. The popcorn chicken had zucchini in it so good I just wanted more of the zucchini, and the head cheese dish was absolutely delicious. The sommelier picked out a bottle of red and white for us that paired amazingly with the meal. Everything was really just too notch.

Kati Tejada

I had an amazing experience at Vin Folk! The highlight of my visit was their chili crab, which was absolutely delicious-perfectly spiced and cooked to perfection. I also tried the beef tongue, and to my surprise, I absolutely loved it-even though it's usually not something I enjoy. Their chef truly knows how to elevate flavors and change minds! Their extensive wine selection is also worth mentioning, offering something for every palate. The staff were incredibly knowledgeable and helped me pair the perfect wine with my meal. The ambiance is warm and inviting, making it a great spot for both casual outings and special occasions. Plus, the location is unbeatable—it’s just a five-minute walk to the beach, making it perfect for a meal before or after enjoying the ocean views.

Ho Ho Ho

Excellent new restaurant in Hermosa Beach. My son knows the chefs and provides micro green weekly. It was my beautiful wife's birthday and we celebrated it at this new trendy restaurant. The staff was incredible! Service was top notch and attentive. Food was exceptional and innovative. We pretty much sampled 50% of the food menu, see pictures. Glad to support local and new restaurant.

Matthew Williams

Fantastic dining experience and delicious food with a French bistro vibe. We came on a Friday and it was packed. There is indoor and outdoor seating. For two people, we shared a snack, a salad, and two entrees and it was plenty of food. The Pritto was a great play on Taiwanese fried chicken and very flavorful. The Angeles Crest had a great balance of sweet and bitter. The Cabbage was charred and served with a pistachio and dukkah sauce that was so good I wanted to lick the plate. The short rib was a special menu item which had a nice crust and then melted in your mouth. The servers are actually chefs, so each one knew all about the food and wine pairings. My only complaint is that I wish I had some bread to soak up all the sauces that were left on the plate.

What a pleasant discovery. We live a few neighborhoods over and found Vin Folk on the Michelin guide. The food was incredible - Michelin quality in an unpretentious setting, it felt like if your neighborhood bistro is chef-driven with really sophisticated food. Aside from the incredible food, the staff was wonderful. We had long conversations with many of them, all the servers are also chefs in the kitchen and can speak to everything on the menu, there is also an in-house sommelier. We took our newborn and sat at an outdoor table and they were extremely accommodating. We’ve already booked our next reservation.

Very lovely restaurant. We ordered the headcheese toast which was a fun dish, mussels tart was very pretty, beef tongue was flavorful and tender, chili crab had a nice spice that was not overwhelming, and the gingerbread souffle was really good. The reason why this wasn't 5 stars was the porchetta. Flavor was there, but the execution was very off. The outside skin was so hard, like hurt your teeth hard, and the inside was dry. The most expensive dish on the menu shouldn't be the biggest disappointment of the meal. Overall, presentation and experience was good. Really appreciate Vin Folk for having more creative dishes than other places in Hermosa Beach.

Darlo

Very lovely restaurant. We ordered the headcheese toast which was a fun dish, mussels tart was very pretty, beef tongue was flavorful and tender, chili crab had a nice spice that was not overwhelming, and the gingerbread souffle was really good. The reason why this wasn't 5 stars was the porchetta. Flavor was there, but the execution was very off. The outside skin was so hard, like hurt your teeth hard, and the inside was dry. The most expensive dish on the menu shouldn't be the biggest disappointment of the meal. Overall, presentation and experience was good. Really appreciate Vin Folk for having more creative dishes than other places in Hermosa Beach.

David K

They’re still working out some kinks but a wonderful dinner service, reasonably priced, with some of the highest quality wines around. You won’t regret it.

We saw this place was relatively new from our earlier stay in HB this year. Looked at the reviews, got super excited, made a reservation. The place is in a perfect spot just off HB Pier, has an amazing vibe with a neighborhood feel. Chefs are all coming from high end fine dining but going for something less 1 star and more "near 1 star" if that makes sense. Reservations must be flying off the internet as people were eating on the patio in November until 9:00PM. Customer came out while we were waiting and said "get the fish!" All that to say, we were really excited and expectations were high! I'll start with service. All the chefs apparently rotate as servers. Hostess was super nice and seemed to know everyone. Server came by fairly quickly to take a drink order and tell us a little about the place, said he'd walk through the menu next. My wife asked for a taste of a white wine which they brought out but never came back to ask if she wanted a glass (luckily she didn't). But that was after refilling waters twice and the taste glass sitting in view. Server came back over, quite a bit later (pushing 15 mins since we sat down. Place was busy, but it was already 8:45 so felt a little long. Got great adivce on ordering. We're used to eating long dinners in Europe but this just felt like the timing was off by about 10 mins per dish. Pacing could have been just a one off, but for us and the neighbor table, everything felt like it took too long relative to how many customers were there. Food. This is where things were *****this***** close to being next level. Bread ($12) was amazing, they said it took months to perfect and it showed. Great start, but pricy for 6 pieces of bread. We ordered Mussel Tart, Mushrooms, Cabbage, and the Fish; each dish had just one fatal flaw that made it disappointing. Mussel tart pastry was perfection, but the mussels had way too much vinegar. The server said it was supposed to be a BBQ type taste, but it was just pure vinegar. Mushrooms were next -- this dish is amazing between presentation and ingredients, but was absoutely over the top too spicy. We were told it had heat and were excited by that. But it was blow out your palate spicy and we saw the results at 3 tables. Server said the hazelnut cream would cut the heat, it doesn't. If they hit that heat balance right, this would be a signature dish for the place. Cabbage was next, cooked to perfection. But the sauce (peanut based?) had no salt, no acid, it was just there. Didn't add to the dish like it should. Finally the fish. Presentation A+, veg inside (especially corn) well seasoned and cooked perfectly, but the fish was one bite great, one bite way too salty. Sauce was incredibly tasty but too thin. We would have gotten the beef dish but at nearly $100 didn't feel worth the extra cost. We decided to skip dessert. I can see why people would love it, especially where it's located as nothing else is even close to this type of dining in HB. Like I said, very very close to being amazing. But as it stands right now, unless the menu fully rotated we probably won't come back which is a real bummer.

Brian Young

We saw this place was relatively new from our earlier stay in HB this year. Looked at the reviews, got super excited, made a reservation. The place is in a perfect spot just off HB Pier, has an amazing vibe with a neighborhood feel. Chefs are all coming from high end fine dining but going for something less 1 star and more "near 1 star" if that makes sense. Reservations must be flying off the internet as people were eating on the patio in November until 9:00PM. Customer came out while we were waiting and said "get the fish!" All that to say, we were really excited and expectations were high! I'll start with service. All the chefs apparently rotate as servers. Hostess was super nice and seemed to know everyone. Server came by fairly quickly to take a drink order and tell us a little about the place, said he'd walk through the menu next. My wife asked for a taste of a white wine which they brought out but never came back to ask if she wanted a glass (luckily she didn't). But that was after refilling waters twice and the taste glass sitting in view. Server came back over, quite a bit later (pushing 15 mins since we sat down. Place was busy, but it was already 8:45 so felt a little long. Got great adivce on ordering. We're used to eating long dinners in Europe but this just felt like the timing was off by about 10 mins per dish. Pacing could have been just a one off, but for us and the neighbor table, everything felt like it took too long relative to how many customers were there. Food. This is where things were *****this***** close to being next level. Bread ($12) was amazing, they said it took months to perfect and it showed. Great start, but pricy for 6 pieces of bread. We ordered Mussel Tart, Mushrooms, Cabbage, and the Fish; each dish had just one fatal flaw that made it disappointing. Mussel tart pastry was perfection, but the mussels had way too much vinegar. The server said it was supposed to be a BBQ type taste, but it was just pure vinegar. Mushrooms were next -- this dish is amazing between presentation and ingredients, but was absoutely over the top too spicy. We were told it had heat and were excited by that. But it was blow out your palate spicy and we saw the results at 3 tables. Server said the hazelnut cream would cut the heat, it doesn't. If they hit that heat balance right, this would be a signature dish for the place. Cabbage was next, cooked to perfection. But the sauce (peanut based?) had no salt, no acid, it was just there. Didn't add to the dish like it should. Finally the fish. Presentation A+, veg inside (especially corn) well seasoned and cooked perfectly, but the fish was one bite great, one bite way too salty. Sauce was incredibly tasty but too thin. We would have gotten the beef dish but at nearly $100 didn't feel worth the extra cost. We decided to skip dessert. I can see why people would love it, especially where it's located as nothing else is even close to this type of dining in HB. Like I said, very very close to being amazing. But as it stands right now, unless the menu fully rotated we probably won't come back which is a real bummer.

Julie Fields

Let me begin by saying I rarely leave reviews, but I feel very strongly about my experience at Vin Folk so I must. My husband and I had an early reservation, 5:45 pm. We didn’t leave until 8:45 pm. All the waiters and chefs were really nice, but the service was incredibly slow and the chairs inside were very uncomfortable. The dishes were not what I’d expect from a Michelin starred restaurant. The head cheese toast was honestly the best thing we had there. Everything else we tried was moderately ok, some of it was kind of weird - like the mussel tart that was more sweet than savory and actually had quite a bit of grit in it. One of the hosts told us a patron the day before had cried over how incredible the cabbage was…. What a ridiculous thing to say. The cabbage was really not that special. I appreciate the interesting concept of chefs acting as waiters, but if it means that I’m going to spend 3 hours eating okay food with large breaks in between, I’m not interested.