From cutting-edge restaurants to innovative art exhibitions, Los Angeles offers diversions after the fashion shows.

K-Zo

"Our restaurant is very simple — good food with good service," said Yuki Ishiba, owner and general manager of the Culver City Japanese fusion restaurant K-Zo. Indeed, K-Zo, which opened in fall 2006, offers a pared-down, intimate atmosphere rendered in rich wooden accents and soothing earth tones. It is the kind of place to kick back after an afternoon of shopping. Yet the cuisine is anything but simplistic. Chef Keizo Ishiba, Yuki's husband, presents a mélange of Japanese classics like its fresh sushi menu (rolls range from $4 to $16) to more colorful fare like ankimo, "foie gras from the sea" comprising steamed monkfish liver steeped in ponzu sauce ($9); the oyster half-shell loaded with sea urchin and sprinkled with caviar is a customer favorite ($12). Cool off as the temperature escalates by quaffing K-Zo's cold sake of the month or one of its 30 other premium selections (corkage fee $15).

K-Zo, 310-202-8890. Open for lunch Monday-Friday,

11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., and for dinner Monday-Thursday, 5:30-10:30 p.m., and Friday-Saturday from 5:30-11 p.m.

Little Dom's

Little Dom's in Los Feliz is restaurateur Warner Ebbink and chef Brandon Boudet's petite companion to Dominick's in West Hollywood. The 50-person dining room emanates warmth from every candlelit corner with leather banquettes, retro wooden chairs, and vintage photographs lining the cream-colored walls. Customers can sip the lush house red at the antique wooden bar framed by leaded windows, and then sample Boudet's selection of appetizers such as fried artichokes layered with shrimp and sprinkled with mint, garlic and capers ($14), or the wood-baked ricotta and mushrooms served with crostini ($14). Entrées include homemade pappardelle tossed in cream with roasted mushrooms ($14), grilled hangar steak with wilted spinach and crispy mushrooms ($17) or sumptuous grilled filet mignon tips with barolo wine sauce and parmesan mashed potatoes ($22).

Little Dom's, 323-661-0055. Open Monday-Sunday,

6 p.m.-midnight.