Thanks for the info y’all.
see some familiar names on the donation list…they are almost 40% there!
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Interesting first person from the owner…
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Peony: Thank you all for sharing the news! I was thrilled to hear about the reopening of here’s looking at you!
We made a visit tonight and the restaurant was pretty busy. Happy to know that they are doing well! We were actually greeted by the owner at the front desk and she was super nice and sweet. The menu were quite a similar to our visit awhile ago and we ordered Hamachi, Burrata, Shishito peppers, Sprouted broccoli, Yellowtail collar, and Frozen pear soda espuma (the fluffy icy thingy with green bits in the picture). My favorites are the yellowtail collar and hamachi. I like how tender the yellowtail collar was and the beautiful flavor combination in the Hamachi. I also really liked how friendly the atmosphere was and the creativity of the dishes. So happy that they’ve reopened!
p.s. Warrior is suspended from commenting for a week due to his abrasive and rude comments to the cute taco truck earlier. Frozen pear soda espuma was his favorite.
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I was there tonight with some friends too - unfortunately they ran out of the yellowtail collar before we could put our order in 
That led us to getting the steak instead, which was fortunate because even then it ended up being barely enough food for the four of us.
We almost ran through the entire menu, but skipped the burrata and the broccoli.
Hamachi
Tomato
Chicken Liver
Steak Tartare
Pork Belly
Frog Legs
Ribeye
(forgot to take a picture of the shishito peppers 
)
Chocolate Mousse
Frozen Pear Soda Espuma
Roasted Chestnut Mochi
Kitchen was firing on all cylinders.
The hamachi and frog legs were the stars of the show - easily the best hamachi carpaccio-esque dish I’ve ever had, with the sweet, sour, and funky interplay of the dressing & daikon, and the flog legs were just as good as they were back in the day (what you imagine chicken wings ought to be in an ideal world, and while chicken wings never do quite seem to live up to that dream, the frog legs do).
The chicken liver and pork belly were strong runner-ups - the smoked maple was a nice twist on “some kind of fruit jelly” as a sweet counterpoint, and the basque peppers just took it over the top in a great way. The pork belly was just a crazy amalgam of excess, all of which was delicious, and somehow none of it clashed at all. I recall having a previous rendition of this dish here a few years ago which wasn’t nearly as successful as this version.
The tomatoes were about as good as you can get with the season being over. The tartare was decent, but ultimately hewed to a fairly classic interpretation (except for the spice level). The steak was well-cooked, the radish butter was interesting (and one of my friends was a huge fan), and the sarsaparilla jus was excellent, but ultimately this isn’t a steakhouse and it’s a bit difficult to justify at the price point given this restaurant’s other relative strengths. One thing I will say is that it came with the bone on the side, with a deceptive amount of meat still left on it, and that was truly outstanding, if you’re brave enough to gnaw on it (we passed it around and took turns, since we have no shame whatsoever).
The chocolate mousse was, surprisingly, a bit of a whiff. I’m not a huge fan of the chocolate + orange flavor combination, but that wasn’t really even the problem. The mousse was a bit too aerated and the coffee made it taste a bit unbalanced. It didn’t really come together as a dish for me and I’m a bit of a sucker for chocolate mousse, in general.
The mochi were supremely well done: soft, chewy, slippery, and with great textural contrast from the bits of crumbled halvah.
The frozen pear soda espuma was to shaved ice what the frog legs are to chicken wings - the idealized version in your imagination you never thought possible. Light and fluffy without getting soggy, and the sorrel was an amazing touch. Super inspired combo.
Next time I’m Ubering here to take a run through the cocktail menu - I recognized a couple classics but I haven’t tried most of it. Fingers crossed that they make it through 
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bump for this too! anyone been here?
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Love it.
No loss of excellence despite the closure and re-opening.
Outstanding bar program, food program and hospitality - Lien Ta and Jonathan Whitener are terrific.
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why are opinions mixed on the restaurant??
because of @thechez5’s bad influence 
I had to go back to hlay.
uni panna cotta, inure, hijiki, wild rice
highlight. the uni really came through in the flan like panna cotta and the the crunchiness of the wild rice was a really nice surprise.
gulf bay scallops, smoked soy, yuzu, passion fruit
sweet scallops paired with some acid from the passion fruit. reminds me a bit of the peruvian scallops at fwd.
chicken liver, smoked maple, basque peppers, b&g bread
really nice, make sure to get some of that sweet maple liquid on the side to complement the liver.
manila clams, tonkotsu, chili oil, scallions, sesame
delicious. nice play on pork and clams and reminded me of the clams and nduja dish at bestia. this also came with some bub and grandma’s bread on the side to sop up all the broth.
heritage pork belly, nam jim, key lime, pineapple, herbs, shallots
I had this at hlay 1.0 and liked the previous version better. the pork belly was a bit overcooked, the yellow sauce on the side (key lime?) was too tart and bitter and I didn’t taste any funk from the nam jim.
half duck confit, aji amarillo, tangerine, cilantro
crispy skin, soft tender meat in a nice citrusy sauce. generous portion too. no complaints.
roasted chestnut mochi, coconut, muscovado, halvah
and probably the real reason I came back, to try this dessert from pastry chef thessa diadem. this reminded me of a vietnamese dessert (che troi nuoc?), mochi balls filled with palm sugar floating in a sweet gingery sauce with some coconut milk. these mochis were hollow but nice and soft and sticky, surrounded by muscovado syrup and coconut cream. the halvah on top was a nice touch.
after dessert cookie
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Never listen to me! I like everything! 
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Warrior: We have kind of soured on this restaurant. It is about the basic conception of the dishes: the flavors seem out of whack. Peony says it is not as good post-Covid. I say we are just pickier. Peony post some pictures?
Peony: Here are the pictures
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Glad to see the owner is now able to enjoy a trip to Oaxaca.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChBPYfeJpZd/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I’m glad they were able to celebrate her birthday like actual human beings who aren’t slaves to work and want to live and enjoy life. Especially after the last 2+ years trying to run restaurants under incredibly difficult circumstances.
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IG was about a month ago when she went on a well-deserved vacation.
Her birthday was late last week.
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went here recently and the service and drinks were fantastic.
but the food? what? really really bad.
I read they met an Animal which has similar eclectic odd flavors and items, but the food their is much more cohesive and tasty. Nearly everything at HLAY was just too much “everything” and bad.
A shame bc the atmosphere, and as mentioned amazing service but it has to be politics how it got on that NY times list.
Probably worst restaurant I’ve been to this year.
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i would say some dishes are decent while others are bad.
this is a great example of an Infatuation-approved restaurant (8.5). i’m sure i would have thought it was awesome when i was 25. the flavors would have seemed so cutting edge and worldly.
personally, i don’t like the post-pandemic cocktail program. too much use of clear liquors (vodka, gin) as the base. too much sour / fruity. i like whiskey/brandy-forward and spicy/herbal cocktails like sazerac and vieux carre.
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To me it felt like a lot of dishes that would have been rejected from Animal. Trying to be (as you said) cutting edge and different, but the flavors were just not working for me at all. Too sour. Too spicy. Maybe whoever the chef was there was just not getting the right proportions of the original recipe? Not 1 dish I had left me feeling, “This is a must get if I come back”.
If I had to guess, I’d say when critics come or whoever they do a good job schmoozing and boozing them up and the experience leaves them feeling great after. I had a great experience except the food was the worst part of it haha.
If I was going out for a great social dinner it’d definitely be a nice place to go regardless, but you know… a restaurant with this much acclaim should have great food.
–
But do want to emphasize just how fantastic the service was there. Probably best I’ve had in LA in a while. Off that alone I might go back to the restaurant (if food menu items were changed).
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