Plugs is The Angel’s recs column. On most Saturdays, you’ll get six picks—a restaurant, a bar, a shop, an ingredient, a person, and a treat—from someone in New York or Los Angeles who knows what they’re talking about, plus a selection of Angel-curated links. Plugs are for paid subscribers of The Angel only; upgrade your subscription to receive all six!
#99 is Karen Spector, an artist, designer, and co-founder of the effortlessly cool architecture and design firm Lovers Unite, which is responsible for the look and feel of some of your favorite L.A. restaurants, including Dunsmoor, Lielle, Bar Etoile, and Konbi (RIP); in addition to some truly beautiful homes (like this one, which was just featured in the New York Times). She is also, as I can personally attest, a talented home cook and generous friend, with a wicked sense of humor (especially after a Colombo’s martini or two). And although she appreciates the finer things in life, she’s still a Jersey girl at heart (see below). Here are Karen’s Plugs:
Restaurant: Langer’s
Against all instructions to wait until we called from the hospital, my dad and brother showed up anyway after I delivered my son. I woke from anesthesia not to my baby, or even my partner Alan, but to the two of them standing over my bed with a bag from Langer’s. All I really remember are their smiles, reaching for the wrapped sandwich, and someone, maybe Alan, maybe a nurse, basically launching across the room to take it out of my hands. I still had six hours before I was allowed to eat.
I could have wept. Proust had his madeleine. I have a pastrami on rye, a Cel-Ray, and a short glass of ice. It’s a meal for joy, for heartbreak, for every season. Only the malawach and schug at Kismet come close to stirring something as deep.
