The Drama Club: March 2026

This month in The Drama Club: ten LA dishes that will convince you Los Angeles is the best food city in the country, Sofia Coppola makes a love letter disguised as a documentary, Ryan Murphy's return to form, and the WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA. Let's go →

Each month, I recommend two movies: one you can watch at home and one you should head out to the theater for. At the end of this section, you’ll find a list of some releases coming this month.

There are certain pairings in pop culture that simply work. There’s no question about them and anyone can look at it and just say, “yes, those two should always be within earshot of each other.” This is the case with filmmaker Sofia Coppola and fashion icon Marc Jacobs. On the cover of Juergen Teller’s photobook Marc Jacobs Advertising 1998-2009 is Sofia Coppola front and center smiling at the camera. Coppola wore Marc Jacobs when she won the Golden Lion in 2010 for Somewhere at the Venice Film Festival. The two have been friends since Jacobs was the creative director of Louis Vuitton in the late 90s. So to know that Sofia Coppola has made a documentary about the 12 weeks leading up to Marc Jacobs’ spring 2024 collection debut is quite intriguing. Marc by Sofia is Coppola's first nonfiction feature film and her first since 2023’s Priscilla. It is also the first feature documentary solely focused on Marc Jacobs. This is, frankly, the kind of film you can’t help but think should have probably already existed, if for nothing else other than the duo’s mutual adoration. And that adoration is on full display here, as Coppola’s approach assumes we already know Marc Jacobs is a titan of fashion whose legacy is indisputable. Expect no talking heads in this one. Instead, expect to hear Coppola asking the questions and Jacobs answering while he picks his favorite fabrics. This is not a documentary with revelations of character, but rather a love letter from one artist to another. The film comes to theaters on March 20.

Over the weekend, war broke out in the Middle East. At the center of the war is Iran, a country plagued over the last half century by Islamic extremism and a myriad of defectors with nothing good to say. Since the turn of the century, however, Iran has also been housing some of the greatest filmmakers of our time. At the apex of that list is Jafar Panahi. Last year, Panahi released It Was Just An Accident, a film illegally made in Iran about what happens when formerly imprisoned Iranians come face to face with their state-backed torturer. The film received unanimous acclaim, won the Palm d’Or at Cannes and is nominated for multiple Academy Awards this year. Watching the film, I was struck by how honestly it portrayed the difficulty of meeting your abuser, the impossibility of exacting revenge properly, and the ongoing turmoil of those who have experienced political oppression. The film does not offer answers to the questions of how we should behave when the opportunity to exact revenge presents itself but rather showcases the multitude of responses one may have to knowing revenge is even possible. As an Iranian-American, I was humbled by the film’s approach to its subject matter and the humor that managed to find its way throughout Panahi’s script. The ending of the film was my favorite ending in 2025 and I think about it often. Right now, as Iran enters into a new era and the Islamic Regime cracks, It Was Just An Accident is necessary viewing.

Speaking of Iran, I highly suggest you raise awareness at this time by amplifying Iranian voices who are in Iran. Be weary of organizations aiming to raising money for those in Iran, as the transfer of funds in and out of the country is practically impossible at this time. Please note, Persian New Year is on March 20.

More March Movies To Be Ready For:

The Bride (March 6)

Tow (March 20)

Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come (March 20)

Project Hail Mary (March 20)

Each month, I recommend two pieces of music: something new and something I have recently returned to. At the end of this section, you’ll find a list of some releases coming this month.

On March 27, electroclash musician Slayyyter is releasing her third album, WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA. Inspired by Slayyyter's upbringing in St. Louis, WGIA has been preceded by five unique bangers that kick the album off with an absolute explosion. Album opener “DANCE…” answers the question of what would it sound like if French electronic legends Justice produced for Britney Spears with one of the best songs of the year so far. As an introduction to the world of WGIA, “DANCE…” operates as a manifesto for Slayyyter’s brash and in-your-face take on what pop music can be in America right now. Like all the pre-release tracks, the song is loud, explosive and insanely catchy. The next track and the album’s first single “BEAT UP CHANEL$” made my list of 2025’s best songs and is a behemoth of a pop song that collapses into Tumblr-era synthesizers with ease in its final stretch. The three remaining pre-release singles each offer hooks and beat drops worthy of any music lover’s attention, specifically “CANNABLISM!,” which stunningly manipulates new-wave gothic rock elements into a club-ready fever dream of desire. It’s the perfect encapsulation of Slayyyter’s goal to take the favorite songs that lived on her iPod and fuse them with the best elements of industrial rock and club beats to reintroduce electroclash into the zeitgeist without any apologies. 

Last month, while watching an episode of Ryan Murphy’s Love Story, a friend and I were discussing the show’s music supervision. The series has been featuring some of the 90s greatest sonic moments and multiple needle drops have garnered gay gasps from me. At the end of episode 4, the show utilized seminal alt-rock hit “Linger” by The Cranberries. It worked just fine but my friend and I were disappointed. It was then that he suggested the show should have used “Pearl” by Chapterhouse. Talk about a missed opportunity for a gay gasp! Since that conversation, Chapterhouse’s iconic 1991 debut album Whirlpool has been on repeat in my home. Chapterhouse has somehow fallen out of the main conversation when discussing 1990s shoegaze while bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive have dominated the conversation and I am here to tell you that is a mistake! Shoegaze, a genre that has experienced quite a revival in a post-COVID world, is defined as a style of rock music characterized by a sound in which the distinctions between separate instruments and vocals are blurred. That definition works just fine but what it misses is just how beautiful shoegaze music actually is. If you need convincing, Whirlpool is a perfect place to start. It is a record you can throw on at nearly any time and immediately be transported into a sun-drenched memory. It’s as emotional as it is fuzzy, with Pitchfork aptly describing it as “music for dreaming” when they released their 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time list in 2016 (Whirlpool is #17 on their list). Songs like “Treasure” and album closer “Something More,” stand the test of time in ways no songs from a record released in 1991 should. The bonus tracks included on the 2006 reissue offer more radio friendly rock fare that round out the record and introduce a bit more energy for those who may find themselves bored in the wash of the band’s signature shoegaze soundscape but that original nine-track album is all you’ll need to be convinced. Whirlpool is a perfect album – truly, no notes. Put it on today.

More March Albums To Be Ready For:

Harry Styles - Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally (March 6)

Avalon Emerson - Written Into Changes (March 20)

José González - Against The Dying Of The Light (March 27)

RAYE - THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE (March 27)

Robyn - Sexistential (March 27)

Each month, I recommend two pieces of television, which means less and less these days but for our purposes, television means anything you can stream that isn’t structured as a film. At the end of this section, you’ll find a list of some releases coming this month.

So, let’s talk about Love Story on FX. As I mentioned, the music supervision is fantastic but, really, the show is the kind of return to form for Ryan Murphy I never thought possible. The show is perfectly imperfect with leads Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly starring as Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. Pidgeon is acting circles around Kelly but that only makes the show better, as Carolyn is portrayed as tremendously three dimensional while Kelly’s JFK Jr. operates as simply a lost puppy looking for a home. Calvin Klein (both brand and person) play an enormous role in the show, allowing for Carolyn’s costumes to consistently own the screen through the timeless style of the fashion house. There are a few missteps, specifically Naomi Watts’ Jackie O accent and an overall strange representation of Daryl Hannah, but the show manages to survive them to create a narrative worth living inside of. It’s surprisingly refreshing to witness a Ryan Murphy project not bogged down by superfluous plot twists and Kardashian cameos. Love Story is the best work to come from his production company since 2016’s American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson, and operates as a reminder of why he is one of the most important American television makers of our time.

This month, a new reality TV cooking competition is coming to CBS with America's Culinary Cup, and frankly, the lineup alone should be enough to make every food television obsessive cancel their plans. The show premieres this week, hosted by Padma Lakshmi (who, let's be honest, was criminally underutilized when she left Top Chef) and features James Beard Award winner Wylie Dufresne as one of the judges. The contestant roster reads like a fever dream someone cooked up specifically for the millennial foodie: six Michelin-starred chefs, two Bocuse d'Or medalists, two James Beard Award winners, and 14 James Beard Award nominees. On CBS! In primetime! The $1 million prize dwarfs anything else in the culinary competition space, which means the stakes feel genuinely real in a way that most cooking shows stopped bothering with years ago. Top Chef winner Buddha Lo is the obvious favorite but the show’s format, each episode built around a specific theme, is designed to make favorites sweat. I don't know who wins. I don’t know if there will be anti-hero chefs to love to hate. I don't know if the show is going to be better than the new season of Top Chef which also premieres this month. What I do know is that this is the most interesting thing to happen to food television in a minute.

More March TV To Be Ready For:

Outlander - Starz (March 6)

Rooster - HBO (March 8)

Top Chef - Bravo (March 9)

Scarpetta - Amazon Prime (March 11)

Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat - Amazon Prime (March 20)

The Comeback - HBO (March 22)

Each month, I dig into one cultural topic that feels unavoidable. Sometimes it’s a moment, sometimes it’s a movement, and sometimes it’s just a question I can’t stop thinking about.

Last month, The New York Times released a list of 25 Essential Dishes to Eat in Los Angeles. I actually felt the list was fairly comprehensive, but there were a few dishes I was saddened to see not get their dues. After reviewing the list for a few days, I created my own top 10 list, with dishes ranging from vegan breakfast sandwiches to crispy tacos to the most unique pasta dish Los Angeles offers. I am not saying these are the best dishes in Los Angeles (taste is literally subjective), but they are the most essential to my lived experience of Los Angeles. They're the dishes that have built legacies, established neighborhoods and will always remind me why I love the city.

Surprisingly, the dishes at the top of my list are from Italian restaurants. To know me is to know I am not the type of person who fawns over pasta or bread, but these two dishes are my Italian kryptonite. First and foremost is the Foglie D’ulivo at Antico Nuovo, a pasta course that has been my favorite plate of food in Los Angeles since I tried it for the first time four years ago. It defies all expectations by pairing squab and olives alongside the restaurant's handmade pasta to create something you've simply never tasted before. It is crunchy, perfectly portioned and incredibly interesting to just look at. Antico Nuovo is one of LA's most respected establishments, yet it rarely enters the hot restaurant conversation. This is wild because this pasta is easily the most craveable dish in the city. Run, don't walk. While you're running, try to find a way to pair the pasta with the Sfincione from Felix, LA's best focaccia. If you've been to Felix, you know this bread and you probably love it. If you haven't, know that it is salty, flaky, and most of the time, so good you want to order a second one before your main course arrives. Yes, it's just bread, but, really, that's all it needs to be in order to leave an undeniable impression. And, let me tell you, take an order to go and enjoy it the next day with some scrambled eggs.

The bulk of my list are arguably “the most LA," by which I mean they are vegetarian. The Mushroom Toast at Gjelina has been on the Venice restaurant's menu for forever and for good reason. It is simply delectable, with its stroganoff style mushrooms sitting atop thick pieces of sourdough bread made in house. It's the kind of IYKYK item on the intimidating Gjelina menu that I always order to impress both out of towners and Venice locals who have never tasted it. If you'd rather stay on the eastside, the Yes Chef! at Just What I Kneaded, a vegan bakery in Frog Town, is the kind of breakfast sandwich that'll have you forgetting breakfast burritos even exist. This vegan breakfast sandwich is the best utilization of Impossible's breakfast sausage I have ever tasted and it's perfectly elevated by the bakery's perfect herb biscuit and a very healthy dose of some of the best chipotle aioli you can find in LA. I usually opt for real eggs when ordering this sandwich but the vegan version proves just as craveable. Just up the street in Echo Park is the Quesadilla from Guisados. Look, I know this may be controversial since Guisados is a chain restaurant (Echo Park remains the best location) and some argue the quality has dipped since the pandemic, but I stand by the quesadilla's use of grilled queso panela as one of the city's very best cheap bites at $4.25. It is simply perfect and I won't stand for any Guisados slander! Another thing I won't stand for? Shade directed at the Spicy Curried Couscous from Mendocino Farms. Over the last decade this couscous has gotten me through endless client lunches in ways no other dish in Los Angeles could ever comprehend. It's a damn classic and boldly embodies the sandwich chain's obsession with good vibes and healthy eats. You want just one bite? Impossible. Be honest, you're eating as much of it as you can. If you're too jaded to get down with it, go argue with the wall.

Of course, talking about food in Los Angeles requires a section dedicated to two of our greatest ethnic neighborhoods. First is Los Angeles' KTown, a culinary epicenter with truly dozens of fantastic options that rivals every ethnic neighborhood across the country. You simply cannot go wrong. But if you're looking for the best single dish that doesn't require bounties of banchan and an open grill two feet from your face, there is only one option: the Bibimguksu at mdk noodles. This is the kind of cold noodle that you should be utilizing to convert everyone in your life into a Korean food obsesser. It is spicy, filled to the brim with umami and, most importantly, simple. When I visited Seoul last year, I went to the original mdk and let me tell you, the one served in LA is superior. The other neighborhood worthy of any foodie’s time is Tehrangeles, the Iranian-American epicenter in Westwood which is unlike any other neighborhood in the country. Here, the street is lined with Iranian-American bookstores, supermarkets and, of course, the best Persian food you can get out on the town. Most of the restaurants you can find in Tehrangeles will serve you fabulous Persian food in heaping portions but if I can point you in one direction, it’s towards the Tahdig and Ghormeh Sabzi at Shaherzad. Shaherzad has been my family’s go-to Persian restaurant for my entire life and their tahdig (scorched rice) remains the best you can get when someone’s grandmother isn’t making it for you. Atop the tahdig is a stew of more or less every herb native to Iran. There’s a reason many consider ghormeh sabzi the national dish of Iran and outside of your Persian friend’s family home, Shaherzad is your best bet.

Finally, there are two dishes that easily found a home on my list that also were featured in the NYT list: the Crispy Rice Salad at Night + Market and the Crispy Shrimp Tacos at Mariscos Jalisco. Anyone who's ventured into any of the Night Market locations has probably tried the iconic salad and, barring any spice level restrictions, fallen in love. It is acidic, crunchy and totally unique. And if we're discussing crunch, the shrimp tacos at Mariscos Jalisco are the very best tacos in town. No, better, these are the best tacos I have ever had outside of Mexico. They're 11 out of 10 every single time. Don't believe me or The New York Times? Get out to Boyle Heights, try them for yourself and thank me later.

There will always be a great deal of conversation about whether Los Angeles is the best food city in America. And that's for good reason. What other city has more ethnic neighborhoods filled to the brim with authentic and excellent culinary options? What other city has so much incredible sushi that trying to quantify the best is a fool's errand? What other city has award studded restaurants like Vespertine, Osteria Mozza and Providence within a few miles of each other? I am biased, of course, but amazing food is central to the city's identity. More than any tourist trap or locals only dive bar, these ten dishes are the best way to find the soul of Los Angeles.