{"id":228091,"date":"2026-03-20T05:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T05:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/228091\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T05:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T05:42:12","slug":"lapaba-brings-italian-korean-fusion-to-koreatown-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/228091\/","title":{"rendered":"Lapaba Brings Italian Korean Fusion to Koreatown LA"},"content":{"rendered":"

K-Town\u2019s Latest Pasta Bar is led by Osteria Mozza alumni McKenna Lelah and Matthew Kim<\/p>\n

Chef McKenna Lelah hopes that one day, you wake up in the morning and think, \u201cF***, I really need that chicken dish.\u00a0Let\u2019s\u00a0go to\u00a0Lapaba<\/a>\u00a0for dinner tonight.\u201d In Koreatown, Lapaba (a portmanteau of \u201cLa Pasta Bar\u201d)\u00a0showcases\u00a0the power of traditional Italian dishes invigorated by Korean ingredients \u2014 with flavor bombs like\u00a0bulgolgi\u00a0meatballs with milk bread and truffle tomato sauce or orecchiette and fennel pork sausage with Bloomsdale spinach and\u00a0gochugaru. All pastas are made in\u00a0house. There is also the\u00a0aforementioned chicken\u00a0\u2014 fried,\u00a0made with Calabrian chili and paired with yuzu ranch\u00a0and diced up kohlrabi.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, the\u00a0food, it\u00a0has to be craveable,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Lapaba\"LapabaLapaba fried chicken with yuzu ranch and kohlrabiCredit: Emily Ferretti<\/p>\n

Chefs Lelah and Matthew\u00a0\u201cMatt\u201d\u00a0Kim, who are married,\u00a0were enlisted\u00a0for\u00a0Lapaba\u00a0by investors\u00a0Tanya and Joe\u00a0Bastianich,\u00a0Nancy\u00a0Silverton<\/a>\u00a0and Robert Kim (who also operates Lapaba\u00a0neighbors\u00a0Norikaya, Mama Lion and\u00a0All\u2019\u2019Antico\u00a0Vinaio).\u00a0\u201cGrowing up in L.A. and being Korean American, I wanted to help the community,\u201d Kim says. \u201cI\u2019ve worked at The Beverly Hills Hotel and\u00a0Eurochow\u00a0in my past life and wanted to bring that experience and help elevate the dining scene in Koreatown.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Between\u00a0Matt and Lelah\u2019s combined\u00a0expertise\u00a0in Italian, French, California and Korean cuisines, Robert says they knew the\u00a0pair\u00a0was\u00a0the perfect fit. Matt, who is Korean American, helmed his craft\u00a0under chefs Grant Achatz and Dave Beran, while Lelah\u2019s background includes working with Beran and Tim Hollingsworth. Initially, the duo\u00a0met at Osteria Mozza\u00a0where Lelah could be found at the mozzarella bar and Matt as\u00a0sous\u00a0chef.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to keep it very under wraps,\u201d Lelah\u00a0remembers\u00a0when they first started dating. \u201cI was just always the only girl in every\u00a0kitchen I\u2019ve worked in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While developing the\u00a0Lapaba<\/a>\u00a0menu, Lelah and Matt were\u00a0intent\u00a0on developing \u201cvery regionally Italian focused\u201d pasta\u00a0dishes. The addition of Korean ingredients had to make sense and be intentional. \u201cWe\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0just like, \u2018Oh, let\u2019s just put\u00a0gochujang in this and then it\u2019ll be Korean,\u201d Lelah explains. \u201cKorean food has an inherent sweetness to it, and that does not play well with Italian pasta.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Lapaba\"LapabaAgnolotto & Cheesy CornCredit: Emily Ferretti<\/p>\n

Scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

Kim\u00a0recalls going through rounds of trial and error to land on the right recipe for the radiatore\u00a0and galbi\u00a0jjim.\u00a0The original ratios of soy sauce and\u00a0gochujang for\u00a0flavoring and red wine for the beef braise\u00a0proved\u00a0to be\u00a0too sweet. The next try had too\u00a0much tomato. \u201cIt was just constant refinement until we found a happy medium,\u201d he says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0menu is\u00a0rounded out by\u00a0beverage offerings that include\u00a0beer, wine,\u00a0sake\u00a0and restaurant creations like the Yuja Sour cocktail and Matcha\u00a0Yuju-Ade.\u00a0Diners also\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0want to\u00a0miss out on\u00a0ending their experience with a true sweet note. The BTS (black truffle soft serve with brown butter) is a delight.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lelah concludes, \u201cWe hope people\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0take it too, too seriously and just focus on like, \u2018Oh, that tasted\u00a0really good.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n