Los Angeles is, without a doubt, one of the world’s great culinary destinations. Southern California’s sprawling metropolis is home to many large immigrant communities, some of them having claimed their own neighborhoods: Koreatown, Thai Town, Historic Filipinotown, Little Ethiopia. Tamale carts and taco stands populate the city’s intersections, and chefs’ access to pristine produce—by way of top-tier farmers’ markets—is unparalleled.

And, because L.A. is so far west and relatively young (as far as history books account for), tradition doesn’t count for much which makes the food scene uniquely unbound. A Taiwanese American tasting menu offering a brilliant nonalcoholic beverage pairing, an Indian sports bar serving dosa-battered onion rings and achaari buffalo wings, and a Venezuelan Californian café pairing strawberry matcha lattes with jamón serrano-stuffed arepas all fit right in.

Surrounded by ocean and mountains, L.A. is also ripe for nature-oriented expeditions, from foraging fruit trees to hiking, filling the time between meals. A word to the wise: visiting requires a bit of geographical strategy. Crossing the city several times a day means hours in traffic, so depending on how long you’re staying, it’s best to pick a pocket—Eastside, Westside, or Central—and keep your exploration contained. Venture further only for particularly special destinations, some of which we highlight below.

Here’s how to best enjoy your time in Los Angeles.

Celine Linarte

Start with the best croissants at the farmer’s market, or a robust Japanese breakfast in Alhambra

The croissants at Clémence de Lutz’s Petitgrain Boulangerie in Santa Monica—made with a blend of local, wholegrain flours and ample grass-fed cultured French butter—rival (honestly exceed) those of the finest Parisian boulangerie. Almost every ingredient used on-site is sourced from farms around Los Angeles, making it a natural rite of passage before or after a visit to the bountiful Santa Monica Farmers’ Market (best on Wednesdays, when it becomes a see-and-be-seen chef scene). Other can’t-miss pastries at this French-American gem include a spelt oatmeal raisin cookie studded with rum-soaked K&K Ranch raisins and a giant, extra-plush blueberry scone

When you’re ready for breakfast proper, it’s time for Yang’s Kitchen, in the San Gabriel Valley town of Alhambra. There, you’ll find miso soup; tie-dyed purple multigrain rice; steamed seasonal vegetables; house pickles; half a soy egg; and your choice of protein, from braised Meiji tofu to pastured chicken thigh (we recommend the dry-aged steelhead trout, marinated in yuzu miso). Add a fresh-squeezed citrus juice and the requisite cornmeal mochi pancake for the table, and you have a breakfast of the Gods. Chris Yang’s California-Chinese comfort food restaurant is open for dinner, too, serving smoked pork jowl cha siu and “Hainan” fish rice, but mornings here are hard to beat.

Caffeinate before you take in some vistas

Hooked operates as a permanent a.m. coffee pop-up inside Dudley Market, the delightful elevated fish shack situated a half-block from Venice Beach. It’s helmed by Nicely Abel, an award-winning barista whose silky cappuccinos will blow any coffee head’s mind.