Last summer, on our way out to Joshua Tree for our camping episode, the Good Food crew stopped at La Copine, a bustling little restaurant in Yucca Valley, for a last meal before leaving civilization behind. We had a salad, a shrimp roll, grits, and fried potatoes, among other dishes. We've been recommending the restaurant ever since.
Don't trust us? Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Bill Addison also digs this spot, especially the Salad Copine with its smoked salmon, haricots verts, radishes, fried capers, poached egg, and bibb lettuce, all of it tossed in a mustard-herb dressing.
Open Thursday through Sunday only in the daytime, La Copine (which means "girlfriend" en Francais) is the perfect lunchtime detour after getting a sound bath at the Integratron or before heading to Coachella to see Doja Cat and Lana Del Rey.
If you go to La COpine — nah, make that when — get the Crispy Papas. You'll thank us later.
The Salad Copine has "one foot in Lyon and the other in Santa Monica," Bill Addison writes. Photo by Elina Shatkin/KCRW.
Partners in life and in business, Nikki Hill and Claire Wadsworth stand in the dining room of La Copine, which they opened so they could spend more time together. Photo by Bill Addison/Los Angeles Times.