Our ongoing series, TOAST Guides, explores the neighbourhoods that surround our shops, places where thoughtful craft and community shape daily life. For this edition, we visit West Hollywood and the surrounding area, a part of Los Angeles known for its independent galleries, bookshops and restaurants that place care at the centre of what they do - and is home to our latest TOAST shop.
Tortoise General Store
Half an hour from West Hollywood is Tortoise General Store, which was founded in 2003 by Keiko and Taku Shinomoto in in Venice, Los Angeles and since moved location to Mar Vista. It focuses on Japanese homeware and design, working directly with makers. Shelves display ceramics, glassware, cast-iron cookware and stationery selected for longevity and repairability.
12701 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90066 (about 30 minutes from West Hollywood)
Toiro
Toiro Kitchen & Lifestyle, founded by Naoko Takei Moore, is based 25 minutes from West Hollywood in Westwood. The shop specialises in donabe (traditional clay cooking pots made in Iga, Japan) produced by Nagatani-en, a leading producer of authentic Iga-yaki pottery since 1832. Alongside the donabe sit handmade kitchen tools and linen cloths sourced from Japanese makers.
1257 Westwood Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90024 (about 25 minutes from West Hollywood)
Botanica Restaurant
Opened in 2017 in Silver Lake by Heather Sperling and Emily Fiffer, Botanica Restaurant and Market draws its ingredients from local producers and biodynamic vineyards across Southern California. 25 minutes from West Hollywood, it features a menu that shifts with the harvest, as well as a small market selling oils, grains and preserves used in the kitchen for you to take home with you.
1620 Silver Lake Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90026 (about 25 minutes from West Hollywood)
Book Soup
Founded in 1975 by Glenn Goldman and David Mackler, Book Soup sits on the Sunset Strip. It remains one of Los Angeles’s best independent bookshops, long known for its tall shelves of photography, art and small-press literature. The shop hosts readings and signings throughout the year, sustaining a close link to the city’s writing community.
8818 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood CA 90069
Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood
Hauser & Wirth opened its West Hollywood location in 2023 within a restored 1930s Spanish Colonial building on Santa Monica Boulevard. Designed by Selldorf Architects, the gallery shows international contemporary artists and hosts education programmes and events linked to the wider Hauser & Wirth network.
8980 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood CA 90069
TOAST West Hollywood
Our West Hollywood shop sits on North Robertson Boulevard, in the heart of the city’s design district. Built circa 1930, the building retains the proportions and character of its early commercial architecture and has long been part of the area’s creative fabric. It will house our Womenswear, Menswear and Homeware collections.
352 N Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048
Freehand Gallery
Freehand Gallery opened in 1980 on West 3rd Street by Carol Sauvion, who has since launched the non-profit Craft in America Center organisation. The space presents handmade work by American craftspeople including ceramics, turned wood, fibre works and glass, and continues to promote traditional making through exhibitions and mentorship.
8413 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles CA 90048 (about 10 minutes from West Hollywood)
Visit TOAST West Hollywood at 352 N Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048.
Image 1: Courtesy of TOIRO.
Image 2: Courtesy of Tortoise General Store.
Images 3 and 4: Photography by Pauline Chatelan, courtesy of Botanica.
Image 5: Photography by Elon Schoenholz, courtesy of Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood.
Image 6: Courtesy of Freehand.
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