Vin Folk, the enchanting Hermosa Beach neo-French bistro that captured Southern California’s attention (and some awards) in 2025, will switch up its menu this month. It’s a bold leap for chef-owners Katya Shastova and Kevin De Los Santos, who will shift
to a $175 10-course tasting menu format on August 12, 2026.
The year 2026 feels like the season for change among Los Angeles chefs. Alta chef Keith Corbin reimagined his soulful menu to represent his new outlook and international travels, while chef Jonathan Harris expanded Linden’s Caribbean diasporic menu. Kali in Hollywood transformed into a steakhouse (since everything is steakhouse now, as Eater senior reporter Bettina Makalintal noted at the end of 2025); Koreatown drinking den Jilli reshaped its snacks and small plates under the guidance of the former chef of Hanchic.
Since opening Vin Folk in November 2024, the duo (and real-life couple) has felt challenged by the length and breadth of the menu; they also saw that their team felt significant pressure to deliver Vin Folk’s interpretation of classic bistro dishes that spoke to the lead chefs’ international backgrounds. One year and nine months in, with notable reviews and attention from the Los Angeles Times and the Michelin Guide keeping Vin Folk in the spotlight, Shastova and De Los Santos decided that mid-2026 seemed like a good time to reorganize. Even by lightening the strain on the kitchen with a consistent menu, the Vin Folk team hopes to preserve the restaurant’s charm and inventive spirit.
“Having 26 dishes on an intricate menu doesn’t fit the parameters of what Vin Folk can handle,” says De Los Santos. “The tasting menu was our way to become more precise and reenergized again.”
Shastova says that Vin Folk will feature “ancestral peasant cooking,” something the Russian and Chinese-Filipino chefs will always embrace. They are not pulling from lumpia and borscht, says Shastova. “We’re going further than our mothers or grandmothers. We’re looking at my great-great-grandmother from Ossetia [Russia] and exploring how a Russian from Siberia interacts with a Filipino Chinese lens.”
De Los Santos and Shastova investigated how their great-grandmothers would use eggplant in a Filipino dish like kulawo; they tested the reinterpretation during a Vin Folk–Firstborn collaboration in July. It adds smoky coconut husk into a milk with ginger, chiles, and eggplant. Another forthcoming dish is clam toast inspired by shashlik, one of Shastova’s childhood favorites. The chef spent summers eating skewered, marinated, and grilled meat near a lake.
Though Vin Folk’s menu will adjust according to their farmers market haul, the team will also reconfigure an a la carte menu for the patio, or, as they’re calling it, the veranda. They will streamline the service with eight dishes for regulars who adore Vin Folk’s fish en papillote; snacks; 30-day dry-aged steak; as well as crudo with fried shallot oil, Ukrainian eggplant caviar, and capers. Along with the al fresco dining changes, Vin Folk’s dining room will reduce its table presence from 12 to eight. Instead of four people in the 300-square-foot kitchen, seven chefs will work behind the counter.
I live very far from Vin Folk. The trek from Northeast Los Angeles to Hermosa can be a brutal drive and even more stressful during peak traffic windows. Since it opened, I have dined at Vin Folk multiple times and had endless conversations with the owners and their team about the progressive service, recipes, and music (De Los Santos’s lo-fi playlist is a groove-filled treat). It always feels worth the time investment to come. If you sit on the patio, adjust your chairs toward the Pacific Ocean, which sits just within the realm of sight, while the chefs or sommelier drops off a plate or a glass of pet nat.
The owners have no concerns about alienating customers who became regulars. De Los Santos found inspiration from his father. “My father told me, ‘Fear and being nervous in artistry gets in the way. Why are you afraid? Don’t be scared if you’re going to be at the helm. Take care of your team.’ If you’re pushing forward, they’ll push with you,” he says.
More for the table
- I went twice to B.J. Novak’s Chain in its early days. Deputy editor Rebecca Roland wrote about the former pop-up turned lifestyle brand built around reinterpreting nostalgic fast food and chain restaurants, which will open its first long-term residency at Topanga Social at Westfield Topanga on September 2.
- When Matthew Kang talks about pizza, I listen. He’s got plenty of thoughts on the new Folks Pizzeria in Culver City.
- When Highland Park’s Santa Canela bakery opened in 2025, I easily went five times in its opening month. Chef Ellen Ramos will now reach a wider audience, as her pastries are being served at vibey all-day Cafe Tondo in Chinatown.
