The Verdict
OTOTO is the Echo Park natural wine bar and Japanese small plates kitchen whose specific combination - the sake programme alongside a natural wine list assembled from direct producer relationships, the Japanese small plates alongside seasonal California preparations - communicates a bar whose cultural identity is built on the conviction that sake and natural wine communicate the same philosophy about what fermentation culture can achieve when it is practised with genuine knowledge.
The wine and sake programme at Ototo reflects the team's specific engagement with both traditions: the natural wines from direct producer relationships in France and across Europe; the sake from specific Japanese regional producers whose work communicates the tradition's specific terroir expression; and the specific combination of both that creates a bar programme unavailable at any other Echo Park address.
The Echo Park Allison Avenue location provides the neighbourhood context: the creative residential community whose cultural curiosity creates the audience for a bar whose dual programme communicates genuine knowledge of two fermentation cultures simultaneously.
Why It Works for a First Date
Ototo's natural wine and sake combination - the Echo Park neighbourhood, the Japanese small plates, the dual fermentation culture programme - creates the first date whose beverage programme communicates the most culturally convergent available Los Angeles wine bar identity.
Also in Los Angeles
Explore the full Los Angeles restaurant guide. See our Impress Clients, First Date, and Close a Deal occasion guides for curated picks across Asia.