Kuya Lord
Lord Maynard Llera took the 2024 James Beard for Best Chef: California off a takeout counter on Melrose. Order the lechon kwali.
Why go
Llera lost his job in the pandemic and turned the garage of his La Cañada Flintridge house into a kitchen and grill. He and his wife Gigi cooked for friends and neighbors, people started picking up food weekly, and the pop-up became a brand.2 The permanent room is a 28-seater on Melrose with a few seats and a lot of takeout. Kuya
is Tagalog for older brother.
The cooking is regional. Llera grew up in Lucena City in Quezon Province and runs Southern Tagalog dishes through classical technique.2 The one to order is lechon kwali, pork belly cooked twice, crackling on the outside and soft underneath.1
In June 2024 he won Best Chef: California at the James Beard Awards, the only Los Angeles chef nominated in the category that year.1 His line afterwards: I came here 20 years ago from the Philippines with a dream of opening a restaurant.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the lechon kwali.1
- Avoid: planning a sit-down dinner around it. A few seats exist, and the kitchen mostly does takeout and advance-order catering.2
What locals & experts say
- Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 2022, as quoted by LAist:
a gripping new expressionist of Filipino cooking
.1 - Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, as quoted on the restaurant's own site:
Kuya Lord's Filipino feast is food of power, finesse and delight
.2 - Awards: James Beard Award, Best Chef: California, 2024, to Lord Maynard Llera.1
Good to know
- Timing: as LAist had it in June 2024, Tuesday to Thursday 11am to 3pm and 5pm to 9pm, Friday to Sunday 11am to 3:30pm and 5pm to 9pm, closed Monday. Two years old, so check before you drive.1
- Booking: none taken. It is a counter.
- Getting there: Melrose Avenue at the Melrose Hill end, west of Western.
Verdict
should-visit — Lord Maynard Llera cooked out of his own garage in La Cañada Flintridge through the pandemic, opened a 28-seat counter on Melrose, and took the James Beard for Best Chef: California in June 2024 as the only Los Angeles chef nominated that year. The food is Southern Tagalog, from Lucena City where he grew up, and the dish to come for is lechon kwali: pork belly cooked twice so the skin cracks over fat that has gone soft. Bill Addison called him a gripping new expressionist of Filipino cooking two years before the award. It sits here rather than at the top because the room is a takeout counter, and that is a real limit on the visit rather than on the cooking.