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Named after a suburb of Sydney, Eveleigh (say it like "everlee") has been one of the hottest WeHo debuts in recent years. The restaurant was opened by the Down Under trio of Nick Hatsatouris, Nick Mathers, and Lincoln Pilcher (Kingswood, Dudley's, Ruby's, Rugby Club in New York), along with fellow Aussie Jordan Toft (I keep wanting to say ), who serves as Executive Chef. As is all the rage these days in Los Angeles, Eveleigh offers up rustic, market-driven, farm-to-table, French-Italian-inflected modern American fare-not exactly groundbreaking food, but I figured, two years in, it was worth trying out.

About the Chef: Chef Toft grew up in the suburb of Guildford in Sydney, and started cooking at the ripe age of 16. In 1997, he moved to Sydney proper, and spent six years under noted Australian chef Peter Doyle, first at the now-shuttered Celcius, and later at Est, where he became Sous Chef. Following, Toft worked at a chalet in the French Alps, then transitioned to a personal chef role for a Saudi businessman in 2006, which allowed him to travel throughout Italy and Spain. He left in 2010 to start work on Eveleigh, which bowed on November 1st that year.

Eveleigh occupies a historic 1923 residence once occupied by a Kenneth Cole store. The structure isn't much to look at from the front, but it's a different story inside. The decor by Nick Mathers is, unsurprisingly, filled with reclaimed, repurposed, raw, and rustic elements, making for an urban-farmhouse-chic sort of aesthetic. In the front, there's a large, shiny bar surrounded by tables, allowing for a peek into the open kitchen and glass-encased wine cellar. However, everybody knows that the best seats are in the back patio, with its retractable ceiling and sweeping views of the City.