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Vivian Ku’s first two restaurants, Pine & Crane in Silver Lake and Joy in Highland Park, became neighborhood fixtures through their fast-casual airiness and the evident lightness of the Taiwanese dishes they serve. The subtlety of flavors and emphasis on vegetables have never been a play at oversimplifying the cuisine; those traits specifically channel the cooking style of Ku’s maternal grandmother, Fang Chiu Chen, a constant muse in her approach to food.
Chen’s spirit guides Today Starts Here, Ku’s 4-month-old breakfast pop-up in Chinatown. The menu is concise: crisp, griddled flatbreads and dough pockets filled with softly scrambled eggs; rice in various, gently seasoned forms; a few sweeter dishes; and fragrant teas and brown sugar boba. But it is long in family memories.