“I fell madly in love with Mexico City,” says the Los Angeles-based chef and stylist Gina Correll Aglietti of the 2010 trip on which she met one of her business partners, Yola Jimenez. “We had one of those really long Contramar lunches, like four hours,” says Jimenez, referring to a meal they shared at the acclaimed seafood restaurant after connecting through a mutual friend. It’s a summerlike evening in February at Aglietti’s home in Silver Lake, and Aglietti is sautéing fresh blue prawns in mezcal and chili oil while Jimenez leans against the kitchen counter, keeping her company. Later, at golden hour, just before sunset, guests will filter into the house — an R.M. Schindler-designed residence, built in 1934, with a floating, gabled roof and custom-built furniture — to celebrate the musician Danielle Haim’s 31st birthday. “Danielle loves seafood,” explains Aglietti, who is also planning to prepare red rock cod à la plancha.
During that 2010 trip to Mexico, Jimenez told Aglietti about her late grandfather’s agave farm in Oaxaca and her interest in reviving his small-batch mezcal distillery to produce a variety of the spirit with the same proportion of espadín and madrecuixe agave he had used — but with women at the helm. That year, Aglietti was also becoming fast friends with the Los Angeles-based musician Lykke Li. “We split up with our boyfriends at the same time and moved in together to a house in Laurel Canyon that we called the ‘heartbreak hotel,’” Li recalls. “We wrote and cried and did dinners and Gina cooked.” When Li then met Jimenez in Mexico City the following year, she felt like “the stars had aligned,” she says: “I really fell in love with her vibe — and also the mezcal.” In 2016, the three friends reimagined Jimenez’s family brand as Yola Mezcal, a Oaxaca-based company that bottles mezcal with an earthy, citrus taste made from the plants on Jimenez’s grandfather’s farm. Jimenez is working with the Mexican architect Frida Escobedo to design a new building in Oaxaca for the distillery, which will be configured to allow its mostly female employees to bring their children to work. The three founders treat Aglietti’s home as their office in L.A.
The close-to-nature feel of the clean-lined house — which looks out on the Silver Lake Reservoir and the San Gabriel Mountains beyond — is reflected in the way Aglietti cooks: intuitively and with bright, seasonal ingredients that come directly from her backyard. Later in the evening, Este Haim (Danielle’s sister and bandmate in Haim), the musician Rostam Batmanglij (formerly of Vampire Weekend), the producer Emile Haynie and the D.J. Mia Moretti mingle in the living room as Aglietti prepares the starter: thinly sliced watermelon radish with dollops of crème fraîche and pops of salmon roe. After a birthday toast of white wine and negroni spritzes made with the hosts’ own mezcal, the guests make their way outside to a casual, candlelit meal under an abundant Rangpur lime tree. Here, Aglietti shares her tips for hosting a similarly relaxed backyard dinner.
Choose Snacks That Double as Table Decor
During the drinks hour, Aglietti laid out delicately patterned loafs of olive bread from Tartine bakery and a platter of white tuna belly in olive oil, smoked mackerel, anchovies and boquerones for guests to snack on. “I’d rarely do a dinner party where you wouldn’t see an anchovy in something,” Aglietti says.
Embrace Joyful Colors
On the outdoor dining table, which she dressed with a simple ocher linen cloth, Aglietti served shrimp from a bright-orange Dutch oven. In the glowing early-evening light, the richly colored table felt especially warm and welcoming, and a laid-back seating arrangement — there were no set places — gave the night an impromptu feel.
Brighten Your Dishes With Fresh Garnishes
For one starter, Aglietti served scallop crudo topped with sliced gooseberries, red chili and basil leaves plucked from her home garden. Later, she ladled out fabada bean salad sprinkled with homegrown rosemary and chili oil. Earlier in the day, she had strolled around the garden cutting herbs and ripe fruit — so that she would have fresh ingredients to play with while cooking.
Don’t Be Afraid to Mix Cuisines
“My parents are Italian and Armenian,” says Aglietti, “and I grew up in Ojai, Calif., around Mexican culture — with a lot of avocado, citrus, cilantro and chiles.” Because of her background, she’s drawn to Mediterranean-style food but with spicy ingredients that are popular in Mexican cuisine. For instance, for the main course she prepared bucatini alle vongole with little neck clams, cockles and a less traditional ingredient — chili guajillo. She also made chimichurri sauce, but with wild arugula instead of the traditional herbs.
Balance Spicy Dishes With Light, Refreshing Desserts
For dessert, the group enjoyed a lemon curd and cream tart, a refreshing foil to the complex flavors and spices used in Aglietti’s main courses. “Keep it simple, in terms of the amount of ingredients” she says. “I used lemons from my neighbor’s yard and limes from my tree. I like things that aren’t too sweet.” Afterward, guests took to the upper deck to enjoy their post-meal wine and look out on the twinkling lights across the Silver Lake Reservoir — a restful pause before the gathering transformed into a full-on dance party.
