In a city defined by reinvention, darling marks a new chapter for chef Sean Brock—his West Coast debut and a deeply personal reflection on how food, craft, and sound converge. Opened in August 2025 in the heart of West Hollywood, the restaurant and all-vinyl listening lounge extend Brock’s decades-long pursuit of honoring place through elemental cooking.
Best known for celebrating the American South at Husk, McCrady’s, and Audrey, the James Beard Award–winning chef turns his focus westward, channeling Southern California’s micro-seasons through smoke and restraint. The result reveals an exciting new side of Brock: local seafood kissed by wood fire, vegetables bright with natural sweetness, and a daily allotment of 24 dry-aged steak burgers offered until sold out.
At the center of the kitchen stands a custom wood-burning grill, hand-forged by longtime collaborator Chris Demant, whose partnership with Brock began with the original Husk in 2010. Day-to-day execution is led by Chef de Cuisine Ben Norton, formerly of Husk Nashville and McCrady’s Charleston, who brings a Southern-born sensibility to California produce. Together, they translate the region’s agricultural rhythm into a 12-dish menu that shifts monthly, guided by what’s freshest at the market.
The bar follows the same hyper-seasonal ethos under Bar Director Jason Lee, a Los Angeles native whose résumé includes Pijja Palace, Kali, n/soto, and Baroo. His eight cocktails and two zero-proof offerings echo the kitchen’s rhythm with seasonal riffs on classics such as the martini, negroni, margarita, milk punch, and piña colada, all evolving in tandem with the food.
The dining room, designed with a philosophy of quality, simplicity, and longevity, mirrors Brock’s cooking in its sophistication without pretension. Raw walnut paneling, birch plywood, hand-cut tile, and pebble-flecked concrete floors create a tactile, elemental palette. Works by Mose Tolliver, Peter Tomka, and Santiago Quesnel weave storytelling into the space, anchored by Legal Tender, a 23-foot work by artist Narsiso Martinez, fresh from Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center. Rendered on flattened produce boxes in gouache, ink, and gold leaf, the piece reimagines a banknote to honor the undocumented farmworkers who feed us—grounding darling in a quiet narrative of labor and beauty.
