Welcome to FOUND Global
Auberge Eaufeu, New Orleans real estate, Fall Restaurant Rush, Betsy in Altadena, Vineria Vitani in Como, Renee Erickson, MORE
ABOUT FOUND • Hello, World
Welcome to the debut issue of FOUND Global, now dropping every Saturday with recommendations and intel from the FOUND network of the world’s great cities — NY, LA, Miami, SF, London, and Paris — and beyond. Where do locals with great taste eat, live, get away, shop, and work?
Each edition of FOUND Global will include original items from our team of on-the-ground contributors around the world, plus highlights of recent dispatches from FOUND cities.
FOUND Global is built to be a premium product for people with good taste (like you), but there’s no paywall through the end of the year. Please enjoy.
GETAWAYS • Japan
Japanese obscura
The Skinny: Nishio Elementary School in Kanagaso-machi, Japan — just across the street from the dramatic Kanagaso stone quarry, next to Noguchi Naohiko Sake Institute — closed in 2018 because there were so few children in the area. In 2022, it was reborn as Auberge Eaufeu, a 12-room countryside hotel with an ambitious fine dining restaurant helmed by a young star chef.
The Stay: From Tokyo, it’s two and a half hours by high speed train to Komatsu train station, and then another 20 minute taxi ride to the inn. Inside, it’s quiet and laid back, a pastoral escape from Japan’s sprawling metropolises. Teachers’ offices were converted to the dining room and the schoolyard and playground are still intact outside.
There are 12 one-of-a-kind rooms, styled in a modern industrial aesthetic, including several with twin beds. Minibar refreshments are complimentary and plant-powered bath amenities are from Nemohamo. The boutique hotel also doubles as a gallery, featuring 120 pieces of contemporary abstract art, including poems scrawled on the bathroom wall and colorful painted “rugs” on the wooden floors.
The Key: Breakfast and dinner are included in room rates, and breakfast is served in a picnic basket to enjoy in your room, or take along on a short hike to dine al fresco. Dinner is the main event, a 14-course affair that can compete with Tokyo’s top tables. Chef Shota Itoi, 33, trained at Manresa and The French Laundry before returning to Japan. His menu here is Japanese with subtle French flourishes, and dishes highlight the pure, natural flavor of ingredients, as in raw squid and crunchy lotus root with a tangy yogurt emulsion flecked green via garlic chive oil.
Some courses — charred eggplant topped with a dollop of koji sauce, or slices of medium-rare venison served in clear broth with bitter melon — are distinctly Japanese in flavor and simplicity. Others, like a whole tomato baked in beautifully laminated puff pastry atop Thai-inspired coconut lemongrass curry, reveal the chef’s classical French training. A maki roll crepe wrap with bear meat, okra and herbs, smoked over bay leaves tableside is one of Itoi’s signature dishes.
Why It’s FOUND: An energetic young chef breathes fresh life into a lesser-explored region of Japan, resurrecting an abandoned building with true destination dining. –Amber Gibson
→ Auberge Eaufeu (Komatsu, Ishikawa, Japan) • Ro-48 Kanagasomachi • From $305 per person per night, double occupancy, incl. breakfast and dinner.
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale properties in New Orleans built in the 1800s that came to market in the last 60 days.
→ 1527 Sixth St (Garden District) • 5BR/5.3BA, 6818 SF house • Ask: $2.9M • The Henderson McCloskey Mansion, built in 1882; original hardwood and whole-house generator • Days on market: 12 • Annual tax: $26,446 • Agent: Kara Lashley.
→ 535 Lowerline St (Black Pearl) • 5BR/4.1BA, 5759 SF house • Ask: $2.995M • built in 1869, on oversized lot ‘shaded by century-old live oaks’ • Days on market: 40 • Annual tax: $24,286 • Agent: Joey Walker, Reve.
→ 1433 Philip St (Garden District, above) • 6BR/5.3BA, 6653 SF house • Ask: $5.995M • 1847 house restored by architect Morris Adjmi • Days on market: 29 • Annual tax: $35,489 • Agent: Frederick Lemann, BHHS.
RESTAURANTS • Los Angeles
Forged in flames
Walking through the hand-painted door at the recently reopened Betsy in Altadena, the first thing you notice is the warmth of owner Tyler Wells and the restaurant’s staff, who welcome guests with neighborhood familiarity. Once inside, another kind of heat hits you: the rush of flames from the open kitchen (an irony lost on no one in this fire-ravaged community) — which fills the room with light, smoke, and a beckoning rhythm. It feeds the space as much as the guests.
Betsy runs on community. The team is local, the sourcing personal, the diners often displaced (but originally from down the block). Wells knows his farmers, his fishermen, his vintners, his ranchers, and those ties show up on the ever-evolving menu. Coming back to eat in Altadena isn’t casual — it’s an intentional choice. The dining room hums with energy, neighbors pulling chairs close, conversations overlapping, friends spotting each other anew. The buzz doesn’t stop at the door, spilling onto the sidewalk where people drink natural wine and catch up as the sun dips over the San Gabriel Mountains. –Darin Bresnitz
RESTAURANTS • Como, Italy
Wine cave
For all its charm and beauty, Como isn’t an easy city in which to eat and drink well. There are plenty of tourist traps on the water, mountainside dining rooms with better views than kitchens, and piazza-seating locales with identical menus forgotten as soon as the receipt is printed. But there are, of course, exceptions. Like Vineria Vitani.
Nestled in the narrow Via Vitani in Como Centro and open since 2022, the unassuming enoteca seems at first glance to be just a wine shop — of which there is no shortage (it’s Italy, after all). Closer inspection reveals not only the most evident feature — floor-to-ceiling bottles of wine — but also a carefully curated tasting menu and flights of (mostly Italian) wines. Davide De Ascentis is the oenophilic proprietor who assembled nearly 20,000 bottles from over 5,000 labels (one of the largest selections in Italy). The offerings are mostly Italian, with about 25 percent French and a smattering of other Old-World producers. The food is high-quality salumeria fare — cinghiale carpaccio is a standout — with local and seasonal options. If you can do without a view of the lake and its goings-on, Vitani is the number one spot for wine and convivial conversation in Como. –Charlie Davidson
AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Recs
→ FALL RESTAURANT RUSH: We’re well into the new wave of fall restaurant openings, and with that comes FOUND Nines on the hottest new restaurants in NY, LA, and London.
→ SAN FRANCISCO: At SoMa newcomer Bosco, easy-to-like Italian fare coupled with just enough creativity to keep things interesting are on offer. The restaurant opened last month at the Airbnb building. The front bar area with its huge casement windows looking out onto Brannan Street is a scene unto itself, a good spot for a meal for one or two.
→ NEW YORK: The new restaurant Seahorse, at the just-reborn W Union Square, breathes life back into Union Square’s restaurant scene. Chef John Villa’s seafood-centric menu includes fiery Skull Island prawns and Dover sole, served tableside. It’s an instantly cool new New York City destination for a power dinner or just a quick drink.
ROUTINES • Getaways
Selected answers to the FOUND ROUTINE query, Any weekend getaways?
→ CHRIS SHAW, head chef, Toklas (LDN, above): My wife and I are going to San Sebastián for a weekend — bring on the cheesecake. La Viña is the place to go — you can sit at the bar and have pintxos, but most people are there for the Basque cheesecake. It’s the sort of place that normalizes eating cheesecake for breakfast, lunch and dinner, or even popping in to eat it twice a day. I’ll do my best to bring one back for my team.
→ EMI GUERRA, co-founder, Breakwater Hospitality Group (Miami): The St. Regis Kanai in Riviera Maya, Mexico, is one of our absolute favorites. It’s a quick two-hour flight from Miami, the service is world-class, the accommodations are stunning, and every time we go, we never want to leave. It’s elegant, peaceful, and great for couples, but also very kid-friendly. We’ve done it both ways, and each visit has been memorable.
→ ESTEE STANLEY, owner, Gone Bananas Bread (LA): Seattle is one of my favorite weekend getaways. I usually stay at my friend’s place which is tucked away in the woods and right on the water. On special occasions, I love to dine at Canlis. It’s a really beautiful place. I always visit Pike Place Market, too. It has some of the best spicy noodles I’ve ever eaten (there’s no specific place, they’re all good).
GETAWAYS LINKS: The best new hotels of summer 2025 • An extraordinary bikepacking trip across Catalina Island off the coast of California • On the market: a gorgeous Provençal farmhouse.
WORK • Weekend Routine
Nautical mile
RENEE ERICKSON • chef & co-owner, Sea Creatures Restaurants • cookbook author, Sunlight & Breadcrumbs et al
City you live in: Seattle
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
Restaurant schedules make this not super consistent. But if it’s an actual Friday where an actual weekend follows, then I usually meet my husband Dan for dinner somewhere. Often at one of our spots, or other local favorites like Delancey or Pancita.
Any restaurant plans?
I love having one of my restaurants finally within walking distance — Lioness, our sweet tiny Italian spot.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I tend to cook or bake over the weekend, walk our sweet pup Bowie, and garden.
Any weekend getaways?
Hama Hama on the Hood Canal here in Washington State, where we get to stay in a perfect spot called the Watchman’s Cabin (above). Dan lived there when we first started dating. And more recently we love driving north to the Skagit Valley.
What was your last great vacation?
We spent a month in Italy in May. It was Dan’s 50th birthday trip. We traveled from Venice to Rome and had a truly incredible time. Italy in the spring is magic. For my 50th we went to Greece. Fell in love with the island of Paxos, and of course, Athens.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I didn’t purchase it but Dan did as a surprise birthday present: 1982 Alfa Romeo Veloce. It’s a convertible, cream with brown leather interior. It has a tape deck and I have a collection of cassettes from the ‘80s. Perfect.
What product or service do you always recommend?
I always recommend more Chablis when ordering wine.
ASK FOUND
First, a quick primer on how this works: You send us the pressing questions of the day (on hotels, dining, travel). We all put our heads together (us, FOUND, + you, FOUND subscribers, who are also FOUND) in search of truth and beauty.
Three initial PROMPTS for which we seek your intelligence:
What’s your favorite restaurant in the world?
Which hotel are you booking for the holidays ’25?
Which city should FOUND launch in next?
Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com with more answers or questions.