LAReview
Included In
You’re either a potluck person or you’re not. Maybe mixing foods is so frightening that you freak out if a pea touches your mashed potatoes. But if you love the idea of having ceviche, mac and cheese, and beef bulgogi on one plate, there’s a good chance you’ll like Baran’s 2239. It’s a neighborhood restaurant in Hermosa Beach that feels like a big hangout with friends, involving a slightly random assortment of food.
In a strip mall on PCH removed from the Hermosa Pier, Baran’s looks kind of like a homey, laid-back apartment, with crooked shelves, wine bottle holders on the wall that were last seen in the ’90s, and sports playing on the TV. It’s also full of extremely friendly people, like the person sitting next to you at the bar who will chat about work and then share her brussels sprouts, or the server who will talk sports or politics with you. And then there’s the chef hanging out in the back, cooking some of his favorite things. Which, it turns out, could be almost anything.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
At first glance, the menu reads like the email chain for a potluck where everyone announces what they’re bringing and nothing quite goes together. It changes pretty regularly, but you’ll find everything from squid ink gnocchi with crab to a shrimp tostada and jerk chicken wings. Those jerk wings are legitimately spicy, and the shrimp tostada is fantastic, but there are also some misses. The Italian-ish gnocchi is overpowered by the crab that comes with it, and the crispy octopus sounds interesting, but instead is pretty bland. And at some point, you might feel like you could have gone through dinner without having both fried chicken and spaghetti aglio e olio in the same meal.
But at the end of dinner at Baran’s, you probably won’t remember that tostadas and gnocchi don’t really go together. You’ll accept that you ate a bunch of different stuff, most of it good, and probably made friends with the people at the table next to you. Sounds like a pretty successful potluck to us.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Jakob Layman
House Focaccia
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Red Curry Brussels Sprouts
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Shrimp Stuffed Tostada
Extra Spicy Jerk Wings
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Gnocchi Nero
Smoked & Fried Chicken
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Bistro Filet
photo credit: Jakob Layman