A Santa Barbara Restaurant Vet Introduces Spanish-California Cooking to West Adams

One of Santa Barbara’s most prolific hospitality groups makes its Los Angeles debut this week with Picala, a new restaurant in West Adams. Acme Hospitality — the group behind Central Coast restaurants including the Lark, Loquita, and Helena Avenue Bakery, led by founder and managing partner Sherry Villanueva — recruited former chef de cuisine at Lulu, Luis Sierra, to develop a menu that embodies California cooking through a Spanish lens. Picala opens Tuesday, April 28, on the bottom floor of Vox Residences on La Cienega and Jefferson Boulevards.

Sierra’s menu leads with the familiar, including olives, pan con tomate, and a tortilla Española for starters. A seasonal shaved asparagus salad is herby and light with Idiazabal cheese and a Spanish vinaigrette, while Picala’s aged prime rib-eye gets presented with a dollop of egg yolk, anchovy for added brine, and a pleasant bitter add of grilled chicory. Each dish is designed for sharing, including the paella served on a traditional pan bursting with Mary’s chicken, chorizo, peppers, and aioli.

Sierra and Villanueva cultivated relationships with Santa Barbara fishermen to source local catches for the menu, like the impeccable dayboat rockfish. Other seafood options include Pacific calamari squid with gigante (white runner) beans and salsa verde, and fideo noodles packed with Caledonian shrimp, venus clams, bay scallops, and topped with aioli. Sierra’s goal is to source ingredients within 200 miles.

Assistant general manager Joey Mar developed the cocktail menu, inspired by his travels through Spain. The menu spans sangria by the glass and a section featuring five gin and tonics, plus a dazzling La Mancha tequila cocktail with passionfruit, Manchego-washed tequila, lime, Orgeat, and pimenton.

Studio UNLTD transformed Picala’s high ceilings into an inviting space with curved custom banquettes, flowing textiles, and floor-to-ceiling windows designed to take advantage of the impressive sunset light on the 45-seat patio or in the 135-capacity dining room.

Though Villanueva resides in Santa Barbara, Picala has local roots. Villanueva is a Los Angeles native whose husband’s family has a deep connection to the now-defunct KMEX, which eventually became Univision. The owners of the Cumulus District are longtime friends of the Villanuevas, who invited Acme Hospitality to their West Adams space. Those visiting Picala will find Whole Foods in the same complex, the La Cienega/Jefferson Metro station within walking distance, and HBO and Amazon Studios just one mile away.

Villanueva says her longevity in the business is based on a personal philosophy that she returns to with each new opening. “We make the connections with people, and encourage them to do the same,” she says.

Picala is open at 3321 S. La Cienega Boulevard, Suite G, West Adams, CA, 90016. For now, hours are 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Secure reservations on OpenTable.