With Laurel Supply, Los Angeles Enters Its Luxury Grocer Renaissance

The team behind Los Angeles hot spots Laurel Hardware and Laurel Grill just opened Los Angeles’s latest luxury grocer on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Olive Drive in West Hollywood. After more than a year of construction, Laurel Supply quietly opened on May 8 without so much as a formal announcement or even a website. But among the Erewhon devotees (who may soon have a test of loyalty) and the Alo-clad West Hollywood crowd, word has spread quickly.

From the outside, Laurel Supply resembles something between Nobu and an alien spaceship, all sharp edges with wood fins jutting out of the slanted roof as if ready to take off. Inside the light-filled, blonde-wood interior, manicured shelves of kombucha, Siete sauces, specialty mustard, and small-batch granola stretch in all directions. In one corner, stacks of carefully arranged produce glow under fluorescent lights; in another, beer, sake, and wine line pristine shelves. The freezer section covers a lot of ground with protein-crust pizza, veggie burgers, and boxes of Amy’s macaroni and cheese, as well as pints of ice cream and other frozen treats.

On the other side of the store, white jacket-clad workers flit around a supplement section; around the corner, a butcher presides over a glass case of meats, waiting to wrap up rib-eyes. A handful of refrigerated cases floating in the room hold containers of ruby-red strawberries, sparkling water, freshly squeezed orange juice, and prepared jars of soups such as red lentil and minestrone.

Gelato. Rebecca Roland

The center of Laurel Supply’s high-ceilinged space houses a coffee, smoothie, and juice bar with seating along the far side. Smoothies cost between $14 and $16 and include options such as the Heavenly So, a blend of almond milk, strawberries, banana, raspberries, collagen, and hyaluronic acid, and the Post Workout, which uses almond milk, banana, cacao powder, lion’s mane, maca, and whey protein. Juices — which range from $12 to $14 — include the Foundation with apple, kale, celery, cucumber, lime, and parsley, and the Morning Light with strawberry, apple, orange, and lime.

A series of prepared-food counters take up an entire side of the store, starting with rows of sushi stacked on wooden cutting boards lined with parchment paper, the entire spread shielded by a glass display. Available to purchase by the piece, the sushi spans spicy tuna and avocado cut rolls, alongside nigiri topped with yellowfin, shrimp, and salmon. The next counter houses cold salads: Greek salad for $21 per pound alongside smashed cucumbers for $18 per pound and tuna salad for $24 per pound. One stop down, a line forms in front of the hot bar section, which offers dishes like Korean short ribs, sticky tofu paired with mushroom and pea sauce, grilled chicken breast freckled with parsley, vegetarian fried rice, roasted Japanese sweet potatoes, and chow mein served a la carte or as part of combination plates priced by protein and by the pound. Plates start at $19 per pound for vegan and vegetarian selections and can go past $30 if building around meat. Behind the prepared foods counter, whole chickens turn on a rotisserie over a live fire.

At the corner of the prepared foods bar, flames lick upward in a neutral-toned, domed pizza oven that looks like it borrowed its color from a Skims catalog. Blistered crust pizzas — topped with vodka sauce and meatballs, potatoes and mushrooms, or tomato sauce and cheese for a simple margherita — are available by the slice for $8 or whole for between $19 (12-inch) and $28 (18-inch); gluten-free options are also available. Just beyond the pizza counter, a small gelato counter offers flavors like lemon sorbet, vegan strawberry, pistachio, and coffee. Finally, a tight bakery section gets tucked in the back corner with a lineup of focaccia, sourdough loaves, and flaky-crusted pies.

Interior of Laurel Supply. Rebecca Roland

Just days after opening, Laurel Supply buzzes with a crowd that feels both enraptured and overwhelmed. Groups hover around oversized slices of pizza at the indoor and outdoor tables, while a handful of others claim the far side of the cafe with their laptops propped open, answering emails (or pretending to). A quick-moving line for the juice and coffee bar stretches halfway through the store as customers sip on sea moss–laden smoothies. Suited staff behind the hot bar field answer customer questions, while another team member dons an Issey Miyake Pleats Please top to man a checkout counter.

Laurel Supply sits less than a half a mile from the nearest Erewhon (Google Maps estimates a six-minute walk), but if early crowds are any indication, there will be no imminent Old Western showdown between the two — somehow, there’s room on this strip for both. While Erewhon takes a distinctly sleek-meets-granola approach, recruiting celebrities to lend their names to smoothies and selling single strawberries for $19, Laurel Supply leans into quiet luxury with an aesthetic that looks more like a sauna-driven retreat than a grocery store. Prices at Laurel Supply are still comically high for the most part, but those who shop at upscale grocers are likely used to the range: Expect $22 cedar deodorant, egg salad for $23 per pound, and $13 Golden Goji Granola.

Whether Los Angeles needs another luxury grocer is a philosophical question for the times, but for now, Laurel Supply has been designed for escapist grocery fantasies, celebrity assistant shopping sprees, and shameless dinner party ingredient-gathering that requires a wide selection of artisanal olives.

Laurel Supply is currently open from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week and is located at 8445 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069.