Meet Seco, Silver Lake’s New ‘It’ Wine Bar
With its prime Sunset Junction location and subtly sexy vibes, Seco Silverlake has swiftly taken the lead as the Eastside’s hang du jour. The café by day and wine bar by night, which opened in late August, is operated by the Mexico City-based Santō Group, the same team behind the eponymous (and equally buzzy) sushi restaurant next door. Jos Gozain (the only Los Angeles-based partner at Santō) runs point, with an assist from a handful of key players who have altogether shaped Seco Silverlake into one of the buzziest destinations of the season.
Those additional players: Travel influencer turned creative director Olivia Lopez oversaw everything from the styling of the space to the curation of dishware and decor. The chef is Dave Potes, formerly of Brooklyn’s Okonomi. And Kae Whalen, an alum of Kismet and Bar Chelou, is behind the wine list.
Although Seco Silverlake and Santō are neighbors, Gozain says they’re like “night and day,” at least conceptually. Reserve a night out at Seco Silverlake as its own activity, or pop in for a drink pre- or post-Santō. Here’s everything else you need to know before you roll through.
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1. Lingering is encouraged.
The vibe at Seco Silverlake is best described as a blend of European café culture and Mexican hospitality. “We tried to create an ‘everyday bar’ — like when you’re walking in Europe and you find this cute little corner and you just sit there all day, drinking wine, having tapas, and just enjoying yourself,” says Gozain. That languid attitude carries over to Silver Lake as well.
Gozain’s grandmother owned a Lebanese restaurant in Mexico, so he was raised in a hospitality family. There’s a loose, easygoing nature to Seco Silverlake that those who’ve spent time in certain parts of Paris and Mexico City will find familiar. “There’s a saying in Mexico that doesn’t exist here: sobremasa,” says Gozain. “It means that you go to a restaurant for dinner, but you stay there for hours. You’re having the time of your life, drinking, ordering more, [just hanging], and that’s not common in the U.S. Here, you go to a restaurant, you have an hour and a half, and then the check is brought and you’re out,” he says. “That’s completely the opposite of what we’re trying to do.”
2. It’s been buzzy from the get-go.
Seco Silverlake is located in the heart of Silver Lake, on a bustling stretch of Sunset Boulevard. Drive by on a Friday night, and you’ll see crowds of young, fashionable Eastsiders pouring out onto the sidewalk. “It’s become a thing,” says Gozain. “We were not expecting what’s happening, but it seems like people were craving this so much.” Although the space is small, with only 35 seats inside and on the patio combined, the restaurant is welcoming in hundreds of guests on weekend nights.
3. The crowdpleasing menu fuses Latin American, Asian, and Mediterranean cuisines.
Potes’ menu was formed from constraints. The kitchen has no hood, and no live fire. Wine bar staples like oysters, olives, and jamon and cheese plates set the tone, followed by crudos, tostadas, and a wild card spicy vodka strozzapreti. “It’s a funky menu, and it’s also really easy [to execute],” says Gozain. “We love to free-style different cuisines, and our favorites are Japanese and Mexican.” The top sellers so far are the pasta, a hamachi crudo with yuzu ponzu and brown butter, the endive Caesar salad (accented with toasted panko and nori powder), and burrata with ikura and truffle oil.
4. Bocadillos and bowls dominate by day.
Compared to nighttime at Seco Silverlake, Gozain describes the energy as “super mellow” during the day. The only carryover from the dinner menu is the aforementioned Caesar; otherwise, there’s a matcha yogurt bowl and a grain bowl with roasted oyster mushrooms, black beans, avocado, a soft boiled egg, and soba furikake. There are also bocadillos (sandwiches) in flavors like miso-mushroom, spicy tuna salad, and jamón ibérico-and-manchego. Guests are encouraged to linger with a notepad or book; choose this option if you seek a less-packed way to check out the space.
5. Lopez tapped local artisans to bring Seco Silverlake to life.
Lena Kohl, the architect responsible for La Cha Cha Chá and Loreto, is behind the warm interior, from the wood bar to the wood banquette, to the built-in wood cabinets. Seco Silverlake’s metal bread plates were custom made by the Mexico City/L.A.-based food art studio Ananas Ananas, while the café tables were crafted by local designer Michael Felix. For the dessert glassware, Lopez tapped Valerie Quant of the Highland Park-based brand LOQ, who also brought some Mexican artisans into the mix, specifically Oaxacan plateware from 1050 Grados.
6. A sister bar is on the horizon.
The Santō Group isn’t done drumming up foot traffic on Sunset Boulevard just yet. Gozain says that they’ve acquired the lease to build a cocktail bar on top of Wasteland, with views of the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory, which should open at some point in the next year — at which point, just maybe, the crowds at Seco will have thinned a bit.
