Recent social media posts
08/20/2026
Friends,
Our family suffered a tremendous loss yesterday; my mother Loretta (Mama Retta to everyone that loved her) and matriarch of our clan passed at the age of 95.
I’ll share more details on my personal page Mark Houck soon, but please know that she had a long life and was surrounded by family at the end. I just returned from seeing her less than 48 hours ago, and got a chance to tell her everything I had in my heart to say (through tears I promised I wouldn’t show… didn’t do a very good job, though). It was a gift to know that she heard me, but still the hardest thing I’ve ever imagined I would do. Many of you know exactly what I mean; loss is something we all share sooner or later.
Those of you that have heard me say that I always try to behave “as if my mother were standing behind me”, it really is true. When you see me smile or laugh you will be seeing her as well, as long as I draw breath. It was her gift to me that is my joy to share with all of you, as often as I get the chance.
Lene loved her deeply as well, and their conversations about food and culture were sprinkled with as much laughter and history as they were of family and caring for one another. Some things truly do transcend time and distance, and their connection through the art of the plate was a marvel to behold.
Lene has always known that the best parts of me were a product of my mother‘s caring hand, and my mother‘s admiration for Lene‘s incredible skill and passion were a testament to everything she loved about the world.
We have a lot of details to get through, followed by a heavy catering workload, but we know we are in your thoughts, and we look forward to seeing all of you as soon as we can.
Mark snd Lene
PS, please support all of the independent restaurants you can during Dine LA- it matters.
M&L
08/11/2026
Friends,
We will be unexpectedly closed the week of 08.12- 08.16 in order to attend to family matters on the East Coast. We will resume as soon as things are settled and we appreciate your understanding.
Supper service the last 2 weeks was a BIG success and that’s all because of you; thank you to everyone for coming by! It’s been fun to find the absolute best of the markets and explore it all the way to the plate in a new way; tomatoes, summer squash, melons… everything is gorgeous right now. Lucky us.
We also just had a great Italian wine tasting with Oliver McCrum Wines so expect some delicious new additions to the lis soon. Mark’s family is Italian (on his Mom’s side) and it will be wonderful to have a little bit of that history represented on the menu as well. The new chilled red- Schioppetino- is sure to make everyone happy, especially on these warm summer nights.
In the meantime, Lene will be here making the last of regierfamilyfarms O’Henry peaches into jam for you all and if my Goronong chilis will hurry up and ripen, we might even be able to do the Spicy Peach like last year! So, so good and it was a huge hit at the store. We sold out right away :)
Thanks again to everyone for bearing with us. With luck we will see everyone next week and please know how much we appreciate you all.
You’re the best.
-Mark and Lene
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08/07/2026
Tonight’s menu!
Service from 4pm- 7:30pm
Get here early for the half roasted chicken, we sold out last night. Just sayin…
Also, if you’ve never tried our signature Smøorrebrod as an appetizer, you’re missing out and you won’t find them anywhere else.
Come visit, this is the best time of year to be hungry! Heirloom tomatoes, summer squash, sweet peppers, corn… Hooray for summer!
Mark, Lene and the Open Face Team
PS- we had an AMAZING wine tasting of boutique Italian Beauties from Oliver McCrum Wines, so look for that soon. Our current line up of woman made/ woman led and local wines is still here, ready for dinner. See you soon!
M&L
08/06/2026
We’ve been getting a lot of questions about take out- and online ordering so I wanted to let you know why we’ve paused for now.
If you’ve ever seen the kitchen in our converted 1959 “Hot Dog Stand”, it’s… well, tiny. We can do great food, but we can only do so much. Until we’re fully staffed again, we need to make the neighbors that join us here at the table our priority (if you’ve only ever had take out, come sit in the garden and you’ll understand. We like to spoil people :)
Equally important, many of our dishes are meant to be eaten right away fresh out of the pan or oven, and taking them home simply isn’t the experience we want everyone to have. It’s just better to eat it here and it takes the same amount of time, so why not sit and enjoy the garden? Just sayin’… it’s really nice.
Over time as we get back to lunches and are fully up and running, we’ll get back to take out for you again.
For right now, why not come and relax, have a beer or a glass of wine, maybe meet a neighbor or make a new friend? Restaurants are about more than just eating, after all. Come in, sit and let us take care of you. You deserve it.
Tonights menu is posted here, so we’ll see you soon!
-Mark and Lene
08/06/2026
Amazing day at the market today! Peaches, tomatoes, and berries… Oh my!
We have a great set of menus for you this week, hope to see you for dinner service!
4-7:30 this week 🤗
Mark and Lene
Pop
07/31/2026
Hi, everybody!
Summer supper continues! It’s such an amazing time at the markets, we thought we should focus on all of the beautiful produce at this time of year… We’re so lucky!
We’ll be open for brunch Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM until 3 PM as well, so if we can’t see you tonight, we’ll see you over the weekend :-)
What a great time of year to be hungry!
Mark and Lene
07/24/2026
Good morning!
Good news, last night’s dinner test went really well (although we need to fix the lighting somewhat… it gets dark when the sun goes down! Who knew… :)
Bad news, we need to postpone tonights service; Lene and I looked at our catering workload for the weekend and we’ll never get through it if we open tonight. Sorry for the late notice but there’s just too much to do.
We learned a whole lot from last night and we appreciate everyone’s support in helping us get dinner up on its feet finally. It’s a complicated task with our existing workload but one we’re looking forward to.
Last night was just step 1.
Stay tuned for more and as always, please know how much we appreciate you… without a doubt the most wonderful bunch of people we have ever served.
Seriously.
-Mark and Lene
PS- On another note, the phones are still acting up and it says the mailbox is full (it’s not)so for now contacing us here or through the website is slower but better. We’re hoping to get that figured out soon.
M&L
07/23/2026
Hi, everyone!
We’re sold out for Thursday’s summer supper trial, but we still have a few tables for tomorrow Friday 07.24.
As a reminder, we are working with a new menu and new staff, so we’re not opening to a general audience yet; we want to make sure that with the limited staff we have, we can take good care of you. There are only 3 of us here so we want to give our new team member a smooth glide into things and make sure we can adhere to our normal standards.
As we get further along, we will extend our hours and days but for the next few days we’ve chosen to go a little more slowly.
Let me know if you would like us to hold something for you tomorrow by contacting us here and I’ll confirm if we can accommodate more tables.
Again this is just until we get things fully up and running so if we can’t take care of you this time, we expect to be back at it again soon.
Thanks!!
Warm regards,
Mark and Lene
06/24/2026
Continuing closure this week.
Hi, everyone. A long overdue update.
Our last official day of service was early April (!!) and since then we have been catering quite a bit while we search for new staff to help with the restaurant side of things. Our closure has been extended, but we’re working on it.
We’re not alone, in truth. Since 2023, 75% of independent restaurants have struggled to find kitchen staff. We do have some solid talent in the pipeline though, so once we’re done with this next heavy catering rotation we will get back to serving you all at the table.
Please know we haven’t forgotten about you and haven’t closed the restaurant permanently; it’s just been a challenging transitional period we really feel we’re working our way out of.
In the meantime, we’ve been busy! Our permanent LA Al Fresco dining permit is days from completion (after 3 years of work!), our permanent wine and beer license is in its final stages despite being protested (also 3 years), we’ve made lovely upgrades to the landscaping, shades and tables and are working on new seasonal menu items for when things settle down.
Lene turned 100 pounds of spectacular Robadas apricots into one of the best preserves I’ve ever tasted, another 100 pounds of Monterey strawberries into ANOTHER of the best jams I’ve ever tasted and a third batch of strawberry rhubarb that is so silky you want to cry. Oh, and strawberry balsamic with black pepper. Yep, just as good as it sounds. Tenerelli Orchards and Frecker Farms out did themselves this year, huge thanks to them.
-She also pickled green strawberries, ‘cuz that’s a thing where she comes from. They are amazing as you might expect :)
The markets are bursting with glorious produce, and tomato season is hitting early because of the heat we had in early spring.
Peaches! Melons! Corn! So exciting :)
And Shrimp Rolls! Yay!!
Full disclosure, we do expect a pretty busy catering season ahead with the midterm election fundraisers coming up and one of our long term corporate clients coming back regularly, so we’ll still have occasional closures but we have high hopes of getting open for dinner this summer as well. It’s something we’ve wanted to bring to you
06/21/2026
Today is a special day for Lene and I.
We were married January 1st, 1996, so as of this morning we have been married … 11,111 days.
Food and the pursuit of great dining has been central to our lives (as you can imagine), and of course french fries. :)
It’s been a tremendous journey so far; we have achieved some amazing things and have overcome obstacles together that we would never have been able to alone. We are friends, business partners, lovers, and have walked together through both time and space- from our first meeting in a NY Restaurant to our own restaurant here on the opposite coast more than 30 years later.
For my part, I have not regretted a MINUTE of it and would do it all over again.
I hope Lene feels the same, but you’ll have to ask her yourself :)
The last nearly 8 years at Open Face Food Shop, the thing you know best about us, has been the most… interesting by far. It’s tested not only our resolve (remember the pandemic?) but our vision for ourselves and our life together as well. Even today, the staffing and affordability crisis effecting the entire hospitality industry colors our days with challenges we rarely see coming.
Lene and I are durable people though, and our commitment to each other has been unshakeable. Whatever has come our way no matter how unpredictable, we have shouldered it together.
There is famous Scandinavian proverb you may have heard that says, “Shared joy is double joy. Shared sorrow is half sorrow”.
So has it been for 11,111 days and if the “Granter of Wishes” can hear me, there are just as many more to come.
I am one lucky man.
“Delt glæde er dobbelt glæde. Delt sorg er halv sorg.”
Address
5577 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
90016
To get to the location on West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles, you can take the Metro Expo Line and get off at the Western Avenue Station. From there, walk east along West Adams Boulevard for about half a mile until you reach the destination.
If driving, take the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) and exit at Western Avenue. Head north on Western Avenue and turn right onto West Adams Boulevard. Parking can be found on the street or at nearby parking lots.
Opening Hours
| Wednesday |
11am - 3pm |
| Thursday |
11am - 3pm |
| Friday |
11am - 3pm |
| Saturday |
10am - 3pm |
Alerts
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What people say
Open Face Food Shop is a must-visit sandwich shop and restaurant located on West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles. The homemade, handmade, and honest food served here is inspired by Danish cuisine, making it a unique and delightful experience for foodies. The team at Open Face Food Shop is dedicated to providing the best quality food to their customers, which is evident from their use of fresh and locally sourced ingredients.
The catering service offered by Open Face Food Shop, Food by Lene, has become increasingly popular among long-term clients due to the exceptional service provided by the team. They take on fun and interesting events like the Peabody awards with enthusiasm and dedication.
Open Face Food Shop also offers a range of refreshing drinks like the Gaviota strawberry shrub that has become a favorite among customers. The team takes pride in making everything from scratch and using only the best ingredients.
Overall, Open Face Food Shop is a fantastic place to visit for anyone looking for delicious food made with love and care. With its welcoming atmosphere and friendly staff, it's no wonder why this restaurant has become a go-to spot for locals and tourists alike.
