Did Echo Park really need another cute neighborhood bistro? Maybe not, but like the persistent romantic lead in an unrealistic Hallmark movie, Henrietta won our hearts. And it did it by being a useful, all-day spot where you can grab a panini or roast chicken, sip some wine, flirt with your date, and get home at a reasonable hour. At lunchtime, this cozy cafe from a Chi Spacca alum does superb sandwiches on ciabatta they bake daily, including a mushroom dip that had us questioning if we’d ever eat a beef dip again. There’s a crispy chicken milanese with caesar aioli that’s worth procuring even if you’re miles away from Echo Park. You order everything at the deli counter (it'll have a few daily salads to pick from as well), with the crowd that’s mostly locals streaming in nonchalantly with laptops or yoga mats under their arm (there’s a studio next door). At dinner, Henrietta pivots to table service and takes on the aura of a dinner party in an Eagle Rock ADU. It’s intimate and familiar—like seeing a friend’s house with a rock out front that you know has a house key under it. The menu leans into the kind of dressed-up but not-too-precious dishes that make any type of date night a breeze: beef tartare with flecks of pickled pumpkin on sourdough toast, short rib rigatoni with a shaggy coat of pecorino curls, and a fantastic roast chicken panzanella that nods to the famous one at SF's Zuni Cafe. The thoughtful wine list is equally effortless to navigate, even if you’re someone whose usual line is, “I’ll take whatever red you have.”