Bottomless mimosas on Fairfax are back, courtesy of Short Stories Restaurant, a brand-new brunch spot occupying what was once Tart Restaurant inside the old Farmer’s Daughter hotel. Located inside the also-new hotel by the same name, the beautifully redesigned eatery first opened for dinner service in early March with a menu of flavorful, market-driven cuisine by Ricardo Zarate.
Now, as of April 10, Short Stories has launched the Rosaliné chef’s similarly Peruvian-inspired Sunday brunch, available from 10am to 4pm. In true Sunday Funday fashion, the menu includes $30 bottomless mimosas with your choice of fruit purée and a brief but satisfying selection of all-day staples perfect for enjoying en plein air on the restaurant’s dreamy, plant-filled patio.
Longtime patrons of Tart will hardly recognize the same indoor-outdoor courtyard, which now features marble chess board flooring, evergreen trees strung with lanterns and plenty of bright white accents. A stone fountain by the restaurant entrance and plenty of foliage at Short Stories add to the secret garden-like feel worlds away from the roar of L.A. traffic just outside its walls.
In terms of brunch fare, Short Stories offers 10 familiar items with a few Peruvian twists, including a kale caesar salad made with huacatay, or black mint; steak and eggs with a Peruvian soy glaze; and the Nikkei Cobb salad, which winks at Zarate’s soon-to-open Peruvian-Japanese spot Causita with a sesame yuzu dressing and dense, oversized kernels of Peruvian corn. Six new daytime cocktails are also available; among them is the Farmer’s Father, a tequila-based tropical homage to Short Stories’ most recent predecessor.
Named for the literary history of the surrounding Fairfax District, Short Stories Restaurant has already begun to draw a dressed up evening crowd, so expect a similarly chic, somewhat upscale atmosphere at Sunday brunch. It’s not the first time the space has served as a seen-and-be-seen hotspot: Back in the ‘90s, the same venue existed as the Olive Club, one of L.A.’s first nightlife-oriented restaurants in the style of the Nice Guy, Delilah and Catch L.A. To a similar end today, Short Stories plans to schedule live DJs in the courtyard on select Saturday nights, as well as Sunday afternoons.
Short Stories Hotel & Restaurant
115 S Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036.
$15 valet parking for the first three hours and limited street parking.
Brunch hours: Sundays 10am–4pm; dinner hours: Sun–Thu 5–10pm; Fri, Sat 5–11pm.