CAMÉLIA

COURTNEY KAPLAN and Charles Namba — the couple who built Tsubaki, their tiny Echo Park izakaya, and next-door sake bar Ototo into community sanctuaries — have created a superb Japanese-French bistro in downtown's Arts District as their most ambitious project to date.

- COURTNEY KAPLAN and Charles Namba

Frosted pendant globe fixtures, lots of knotty wood paneling, red leather booths and pale green banquettes stamp the lofty space with an overt Mid-century Modern vibe. Menu-wise, precise grafting of cultures is the sum of its owners’ lives, professional and personal. It’s no exaggeration to say Kaplan rewired L.A’s understanding of sake,