It’s always fun to learn about out-of-the-way neighborhood favorites that are key to their respective community, but virtually unknown beyond their locale. I enjoyed brunch at Topanga Table, an airy restaurant that William Edwards and business partner Amir Rofougaran flipped from Pat’s Topanga Grill in fall 2015. The patio-centric space shares a wooden structure with a real estate office and Pilates studio and draws steady crowds on weekends, when cyclists, motorcyclists, and hikers descend on the surrounding Santa Monica Mountains.

Topanga Table bakes bread in-house, relies on local, organic ingredients, and even extends the philosophy to soda. I know, sodas have become vilified for pumping people full of high-fructose corn syrup, a sugary, fat-forming substance that has no nutritional value. House-made sodas don’t exactly have the health benefits of mountain spring water, but restaurants that produce sodas in-house use seasonal, more natural ingredients. Topanga Table’s house-made sodas ($5) include hibiscus ginger and wild sage honey. That sage no doubt came from the surrounding hills, the honey from a nearby hive, both foraged to great effect.