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 recently enjoyed brunch at Topanga Table, an airy restaurant with a split-level deck that overlooks the Topanga Canyon wilds. William Edwards and business partner Amir Rofougaran flipped from Pat’s Topanga Grill in fall 2015. Their restaurant, which focuses on breakfast and lunch services, shares a wooden structure with a real estate office and Pilates studio. Topanga Table draws steady crowds on weekends, when cyclists, motorcyclists, and hikers descend on the surrounding Santa Monica Mountains.

Topanga Table bakes bread in-house and relies on local, organic ingredients. The restaurant even extends their 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 mineral-rich mountain spring water, but restaurants that produce sodas in-house use seasonal, more natural ingredients that taste relatively nourishing. 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.