Al Fresco in the City: A Culinary Garden Grows on the Sunset Strip

Article by Linda Laban | Photography Linda Laban & Haute Locals | Published July 16, 2025

Photo: Linda Laban

From the casual roadside Pinches Taco on the eastern edge of The Sunset Strip; through the kitsch, vintage Saddle Ranch, storied retro Mel’s Drive-In, and can’t miss Carney’s yellow train carriage diner along the middle; and onto the swanky celeb loving Boa at its western point, outdoor dining on the Sunset Strip is as eclectic as Los Angeles itself. But, mostly, dining al fresco here is a ringside seat to The Strip, a giant billboard flanked raceway. Those of us who live here love this stretch of Sunset Boulevard as it winds through West Hollywood, but peace, quiet, and shade from heated summer sunshine are in short supply. 

A Hidden Haven

When 1 Hotel opened on the Sunset Strip in 2019 (some 1 Hotel guest rooms have air cleaning moss walls and plastic bottle cutting filtered water faucets! So, at least an effort going on within this brand) opened a Sunset Strip outpost on the corner of the preposterously steep La Cienega Boulevard and Sunset in 2019, it quietly planted the seeds of a secret garden. Literally.

Lined by drought resistant local natives like wax myrtle, yarrow, white sage, and feathery foothill sedge, and with views over the Los Angeles Basin, 1 Hotel’s flowing tree-shaded terrace links its Juniper Lounge and Garden to the veteran Madeo restaurant, which took up on 1 Hotel’s western corner after 40 years in Beverly Hills. Up above them, Edward palms waft in Harriet’s, a rooftop nighttime destination bar and restaurant with forever views to downtown’s and Century City’s skyscrapers, all the way to the hazy ocean.

Photo: Haute Locals

While both Harriett’s and Madeo are independently run, Chef Ginger Pierce is 1 Hotel West Hollywood’s culinary director and oversees Juniper and 1 Kitchen. The Alaska native also tends an organic garden tucked away by the loading dock. A closed-loop ecosystem fueled by a rigorous routine of soil building, water conservation, and companion planting, the pretty plot is draped with passion flower vines and pops with strawberry and tomato plants. A Meyer lemon and a finger lime tree throw some shade over herbs such as thyme, mint, and vibrant-smelling lemon verbena and lemon balm. “We make teas with those,” Pierce said of the lemony green leaves. Near a pretty purple flowered thyme stands some flowering cilantro. Delfino: “My favorite,” Pierce said. “I like its flavor better than the usual cilantro.” 

A low hedge of lavender grows at the garden’s edge, giving bees in the two bee hives (managed by the local beekeeper team, Bill’s Bees) plenty to buzz about. “We grow a lot of edible flowers, but some flowers are just for the bees,” said Pierce. The spring harvest yielded 200 pounds of honey. Pierce has added honeycomb from the hives to dress a prosciutto and apricot plate served in Juniper. 

Food and fun, dawn till…

People don’t come here just for forest bathing (much), they come for food and drinks, which begins each day in 1 Kitchen overlooking Juniper’s terrace greenery. Plant-forward nutrition and flavor-driven breakfast and lunch menus include coconut yoghurt topped nutty granola and crisped chickpea rissoles atop a salad of bitter leaves with marinated beets and toasted farro in a green tahini dressing. Immune shots are popped alongside probiotic-laced creamy oat milk smoothies. Mid-afternoon through evening, the indoor-outdoor Juniper opens for drinks — among the usual tipples are biodynamic and organic wines — and small plates, such as a meze platter with carrot hummus, green tahini, and a signature densely flavored “pumpernickel” flatbread made with central California coast milled rye flour. 

Photo: Haute Locals

In the summer evening’s heat, the cool of Madeo’s terrace draws a well-heeled dinner crowd. This Italian restaurant is known as a celeb-mover-shaker spot, and for its classic Northern Italian dining, heavy on heavy meat dishes, but it is Madeo’s perfect pasta that’s the real star. Up above on the ninth floor, one Saturday night, Harriett’s clubby vibe grew stronger as the endless sky spread out through the floor-to-ceiling windows turned inky. In the early evening, views are soaked in over a mix of Asian dishes — maki rolls, spicy veggie stuffed gyoza, and roasted soy mushroom bao buns. Up here, after this year’s cool spring, the concrete jungle is surprisingly still resplendent with brilliant green trees breathing oxygen into a city badly lacking good air. 

One scorching afternoon, down on Juniper’s shady terrace, Pierce looked over the foliage admiringly: “Right now, it’s looking a little different because we’re heading into summer,” she said. “Plants get a little scrappy-looking in the SoCal dry heat. But they all bounce back in winter.”

She’s amazed at how far the space has come. “It’s incredible to see what it’s become. People just find it so relaxing here,” she says. “It’s incredible to see what it’s become. People just find it so relaxing here,” she added. That’s what nature does: Grow and take care of us if we let it.