By 
After five and a half years of doing pop-ups, co-founders Raquel and Nikko finally opened the doors of Seedy at the end of April. I first met them in 2024 at one of their pop-ups in Echo Park – and I’ve been following them ever since.
On Instagram, Raquel and Nikko invite you into their world with witchy-inspired menus and close-up pictures of comforting meals overlaid with dreamy filters. Their Spotify playlist is also spot-on — dreamy and psychedelic — perfectly matching the Seedy aesthetic.
“So many people wait until they’re in the middle of their career. They have all these hangups of what success should be. But, why not make the food you want to make now? The aesthetic comes from many things I was drawn to growing up. My parents would take us to museums and my mom did ceramics too, so there’s a lot of respect for the arts and fantasy. We can’t be so stuffy all the time. There needs to be room for imagination, magic and whimsy. That’s what makes life fun,” said Raquel.
Raquel, who was born and raised in Lincoln Heights, comes from a family of educators. When she moved to Boston ten years ago for grad school in microbiology studies, it wasn’t as fulfilling as she hoped to be – so she took a leave of absence and started working at restaurants.
“Seeing something transform from beginning to end, using my hands and conversing with people was very enjoyable. Every day is also different. Back then, I was also cooking with a lot of seeds, and that’s where I conceptualized the idea. You think of a seed and it’s so small. Every plant we see originally came from a seed. I’ve always been drawn to food, even growing up,” Raquel said.
“My earliest relatives moved to Lincoln Heights in 1917. Most of my grandparents grew up in LA too. Hearing food stories from my parents felt very personal. I’ve always had so much respect for health, and for how food connects us through different timelines.”
On the East Coast, Raquel couldn’t find anything that came close to the Mexican culinary breadth of Los Angeles. She found herself craving green pozole, which has been a staple in all the Seedy pop-ups. “I’d make it at least once a month,” said Raquel.
Nikko was born and raised in Murrieta (Riverside), and moved to LA 15 years ago. After a small stint in NY, he returned to LA. Before Seedy, Nikko worked at Proof, Marlow & Sons, Sqirl, and Canyon Coffee.
They both met in 2017 while working at Squirl, but didn’t reconnect until a few years later.
Nikko: “I’ve been doing Seedy with Raquel since day one. She’s the heart and soul of Seedy. I’m the head dishwasher, drink chef and operations manager – I fix things.”
The menu features Raquel’s signature green pozole, a vibrant rice chicken bowl, papas tostadas, a coconut French toast, and two sandwiches: Tahini Chickpea and Goddess BLT. Every item has been thoughtfully curated with Raquel’s personal twist. In the California Bowl, you’ll find purple radish, turmeric cauliflower and her unique salsa macha.
“Traditionally, salsa macha is an oil-based salsa, made with a mixture of nuts, seeds and dried chilies. For Seedy, I wanted to make mine with only seeds and chilies. It’s nut-free so if you have a nut-allergy, you can enjoy it,” she said.
If you want to try the green pozole, as well as other things, a smaller portion is available.
“The menu is a mix of things that we’ve done for the pop-ups but on the comforting end. It’s our magical take on LA comfort foods while also seeing what we could add to the neighborhood – something familiar but a little bit different. Growing up, we ate very simple unless we went out of the community.”
“Part of my food journey, working in restaurants was to learn about different kinds of produce, so I want to introduce a couple of things for people, like purple radish in the California Bowl.”
Beverages include drip coffee, cold brew and the Linger, a refreshing concoction of sparkling water and cranberry cardamom shrub.
“It’s something that I would make for catering sometimes because people would ask us, ‘Oh, do you also make drinks?’ So, I’d make a citrusy Jamaica and this cardamom shrub, and they were so drawn to it that it became a fixture on the menu. The reason I called it Linger was because it was named after The Cranberries, and one of their most popular songs is “Linger”. With that acidicness and that cardamon, the flavor does linger, so I felt it was very appropriate. Most of my food is trying to create a methodology for myself, so it has to make sense.”
To end your meal with a sweet treat, you can opt for cookies, cupcakes, or a fruit-filled coffee cake – topped with a soft crumble topping, and flavorful enough without feeling heavy in the slightest. You can’t miss it!
“The coffee cake is an ode to our educators and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Here in LA, coffee cake is one of those things kids look forward to in the morning. Mine is very flavorful. I use different types of fruits. Today it’s strawberry. The bay leaf is also infused into it to give it a little bit of spice, different from traditional cinnamon. It also happens to be vegan, so anyone can enjoy it.”
Favorite places in LA
Raquel: “We don’t go out that much anymore. We go to a lot of different cafes because we have a lot of friends in the coffee scene and Nikko has also worked in the coffee scene for a long time. We like going to How’s It Going to End or Cafe Picaresca. We love Picaresca. Their coffee is so good and I love what they do for the community: making good food at a good price point. I hope to do the same for the neighborhood and provide them a different experience. LA Historic Park is always a good place to meet up with friends.”
Address: 3406 N Broadway Los Angeles 90031
Hours: Thursday – Sunday 9AM-4PM
