Indoor dining in Los Angeles remained off-limits then within weeks of its opening, California would pass 1 million reported cases of COVID-19. But my initial impression of the space will always be tangled with the bleak moment during which it opened.Ī marquee project of Mexico City-based chef Enrique Olvera, Damian spent several years in development before finally seeing light in October 2020, the darkest of months.
It shouldn’t be the cooking has reached peak form at its two-year mark.
It’s not that I ever expect to find the restaurant, housed in a former Arts District warehouse, empty. Part of me still blinks in surprise whenever I walk into Damian and see its sleek dining room brimming with people.