Their love story bloomed in the buzzy L.A. restaurant scene. So what was their wedding food? - BERITAJA

It wasn’t emotion astatine first thing for Anna Sonenshein erstwhile she met Niki Vahle while moving astatine Son of a Gun successful 2018. Rather, it started pinch a feud.

Sonenshein worked arsenic a host, Vahle arsenic a sous chef. She mostly ignored him.

“I was fed up pinch the room reasoning they were amended than front-of-house,” she told me, connected speakerphone, from the location they now share. “It’s specified a communal point successful restaurants, and I dislike it.”

But, for illustration each bully star-crossed stories, the brace fell successful love.

“And I hit each that retired of Niki,” Sonenshein said.

“She did,” he called from a distance, arsenic he wrangled 1 of their 2 dogs, Chicken. “We don’t tolerate immoderate of that now successful our restaurant.”

The edifice successful mobility is the Michelin Guide-inducted Little Fish, which the mates started arsenic a pop-up retired of their room model successful 2020 and has expanded to 2 locations: Echo Park and Melrose Hill.

With Little Fish, Sonenshein and Vahle unapologetically operation business, pleasure, family, relationship and food.

Friend of the couple, Hannah Ziskin of Quarter Sheets, made aggregate cakes, including a “chef-y” operation of rhubarb pinch pistachio chiffon and mascarpone custard infused pinch orangish peel, and her classical oliva lipid chiffon pinch caller passionfruit and bay leaf-infused custard. The canine figurine, right, is modeled aft the couple’s pets, Chicken and Hank.

(Madelyn Deutch)

It makes sense, then, that their biggest business to day — an April 18 wedding — would beryllium a food-first, ceremony-second affair. About 120 guests sardined into the humble backyard of Sonenshein’s Santa Monica puerility home, pinch a veritable who’s who of the L.A. edifice segment doing double work arsenic attendees and vendors.

As the teams down Mariscos Jaliscos and El Ruso group up trucks retired front, Aaron Lindell and Hannah Ziskin of Quarter Sheets conversation-hopped, and Kae Whalen, the L.A. darling vino Substacker (who besides runs Little Fish’s vino program), snaked done the crowd pinch her pint-sized pomeranian nether 1 arm.

In this acheronian era for L.A. restaurants, wherever economical fears, fires and ICE person led to countless closures, Sonenshein and Vahle person made a constituent of building organization among edifice workers and collaborators.

Niki Vahle and Anna Sonenshein, owners of Little Fish, clasp during their backyard wedding.

(Madelyn Deutch)

“When we were starting our businesses, nary of america had immoderate knowledge of the back-end stuff,” Ziskin told me. “We figured it retired together.”

She and Lindell turned their Quarter Sheets pop-up into a brick-and-mortar successful 2022. Little Fish followed the aforesaid trajectory a fewer months later.

“Niki and Anna will reply immoderate mobility I have,” Ziskin said. “We talk business, money. It’s truthful uncommon to person that: friends successful the aforesaid position who profoundly understand what you do.”

Vahle and Sonenshein mention to their friends who besides started nutrient businesses during the pandemic arsenic “our class.”

“We’re peers, not competition,” Vahle said. “We stock notes; we stock everything.”

In January 2025, erstwhile the Palisades and Eaton fires ripped done the city, these friends were the ones Sonenshein and Vahle called first arsenic they created a network of almost 200 restaurants to source, navigator and present meals to displaced families and first responders.

Wedding guests bask the grazing array and cake. (Madelyn Deutch)

Catalina Flores, of Panhead LA, curated the abundant grazing table.

(Madelyn Deutch)

As the statement waited for Sonenshein and Vahle to appear, guests sipped his and hers vino selections by Whalen: a Domaine Derain “Landre” 2023 for Vahle (“A Niki vino reminds america that beauty, precision and transcendence are possible”), and a Le Mazel “Couvée Paulou” 2024 for Sonenshein (“An Anna vino is often fruity, vibrant, easy to adore and adores easily”).

Meanwhile, for illustration immoderate bully begetter of the bride, Raphe Sonenshein held tribunal astatine the grazing table, encouraging anyone successful earshot to heap plates pinch charcuterie, taralli and gildas curated by Catalina Flores (Panhead LA) and Ryan Vesper (Gourmet Imports).

The mother of the bride, Phyllis Amaral, shepherded family members to a fistful of front-row folding chairs. Everyone other would walk the nighttime standing, balancing plates and, inevitably, spilling immoderate wine.

“Very imaginative wedding,” said 1 friend of the family.

The low-key backyard wedding took spot astatine the bride’s puerility home. Her sister, Julia Sonenshein, left, and mother, Phyllis Amaral, wore red.

(Madelyn Deutch)

The mates made their entranceway — limb successful limb — pinch Sonenshein successful a tea-length, corseted gown and Vahle successful a bespoke suit the shadiness of a Liguria olive.

During their vows, Sonenshein joked that matrimony isn’t truthful scary erstwhile you already stock six LLCs.

Then, they sealed their newest statement pinch a kiss.

The applause had hardly subsided earlier a corporate hunger took over.

Mariscos Jalisco served shrimp tacos, a motion to the couple’s ain restaurant, Little Fish.

(Madelyn Deutch)

Mariscos Jalisco sent retired trays of shrimp tacos — a motion to the couple’s seafood root communicative — but guests still beelined for the truck, forming a statement down the block.

Next doorway astatine El Ruso, proprietor Walter Soto chopped carne asada while his wife, Julia, took orders: 2 chile colorado; 3 birria; nary onions, please. Their preteen daughter, Suri, played successful the beforehand spot of the truck.

“For us, it was thing very typical to cognize that we were going to service nutrient connected specified a typical time to personification truthful typical to us,” Soto said. “I retrieve seeing Niki respective times eating astatine our nutrient motortruck during the difficult times of ICE raids. [Then] we had to adjacent our motortruck for 3 aliases 4 months. Anna and Niki came to my location pinch a cheque to thief america strengthen that really bad time. That’s really we met them.”

El Ruso tacos rounded retired the menu. Owner Walter Soto said he was honored to service nutrient astatine the wedding aft the bride and groom supported his business during the ICE raids that dampened his sales.

(Madelyn Deutch)

As for the cake, effort two. Both by Ziskin.

“I would person been offended if they hadn’t asked me,” she said.

The first was a Quarter Sheets paper classic: oliva lipid chiffon pinch caller passionfruit and bay leaf-infused custard. Ziskin besides created what she calls a “chef-y” combination: rhubarb pinch pistachio chiffon and mascarpone custard infused pinch orangish peel.

Bride Anna Sonenshein mingles pinch guests adjacent the El Ruso taco truck.

(Madelyn Deutch)

Before moving the afterparty to Santa Monica’s Not No Bar (co-owner Conner Mitchell is besides 1 of Little Fish’s fishermen), the euphony trim concisely for speeches.

Julia Sonenshein, the bride’s sister and a sometimes nutrient writer, admitted that she couldn’t abstracted their emotion communicative from a shared emotion of cooking.

“For these two, the thought that anyone would spell without food, whether it’s friends who’ve stopped by for a java array repast aliases families who mislaid their kitchens successful wildfires, is an unconscionable anticipation they won’t accept,” she said. “And truthful they find a measurement to make judge each of america are fed.”

And what about Sonenshein and Vahle — did personification punctual them to eat?

Vahle didn’t hesitate. “How could we forget?”