5 Only-In-LA Gourmet Halloween And Fall Foods

Editor's note: This story was first published in 2019 and continues to be popular with readers. We've updated and republished it (because you can't get too much of a good thing).

We love skeleton-shaped cakes and pumpkin-spiced lattes as much as the next basic witch but there is more to Decorative Gourd Season than... well, decorative gourds. This is especially true in Southern California, where local autumnal cuisine is rich with season-specific recipes.

The fall harvest brings us not only chunky stews and apple turnovers; it ushers in months of warm cocktails and way too much candy. The sugar frenzy goes into overdrive on Halloween, when mini-Snickers become the base of our national food pyramid. While Fright Night isn't the most sophisticated culinary holiday (at least in the U.S.), the opportunity to experiment with themed dishes still bewitches L.A.'s chefs.

Here are five delicious spins on autumnal classics that you can only find in and around Los Angeles.

The beloved baked apple at Philippe's, a steal at $3.50.

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Philippe the Original

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Philippe's: Baked Apples

No L.A. restaurant makes baked apples with as much care as Philippe's. Instead of suffocating the humble fruit in molasses, their kitchen staff drizzles cinnamon sugar syrup onto pans of carmine Rome apples, bastes them throughout the morning as they cook, then serves them in quaint white tureens under dollops of vanilla ice cream.

The result is both comforting and photogenic, a crisp, sparkling dessert so popular that Philippe's — famous for their French dip — finally added it to their menu year-round. Even so, you must arrive early. Batches are small — sometimes as few as 30 or 50 apples per day — and they sell out fast at only $3.50 per apple.

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Wurstküche

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Wurstküche: Seasonal Spiced Mulled Wine

Hand-made glühwein, the Teutonic cousin of sangria, is the most satisfying hot boozy beverage this side of a toddy. It's difficult to find in the U.S. and the restaurants that make it, usually German, often use ready-made spicing packets. Mulling wine isn't easy. It's a time-consuming process that involves hours of simmering vanilla beans, cloves, citrus and, of course, red wine in cauldrons. In recent years, Wurstküche's two locations have become key destinations for the libation. Glühwein is deceptive. It's sweeter than most dry wines but more potent than cider. So if it's on offer, best to sip it during or after eating something hearty, maybe one of Wurstküche's signature sausages, perhaps the buffalo with luxardo cherries and mint or the rattlesnake and rabbit with jalapeños.

The candy corn chocolate bar is a pre-Halloween favorite at Edelweiss Chocolates.

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Edelweiss Chocolates in Beverly Hills

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Edelweiss Chocolates: Candy Corn Bar

Candy corn, a gelatinous mass of corn syrup, food coloring and stiffened wax, is as lazy a candy as has ever existed. But Edelweiss Chocolates, the Beverly Hills store founded in 1942 and featured in the famous I Love Lucy candy factory episode, has elevated it to unexplored heights. Its dark chocolate candy corn bar is studded with "kernels" of chewy orange, yellow, and white sugar globules. (They're imported from an outside provider and the recipe is proprietary.) Mixed by hand and made onsite, the bars, $10.95, are dense, smoky, somewhat grainy and available only in the weeks leading up to Halloween.

Littlejohn's Candies: Caramel Apples

You won't find caramel-dipped and almond-encrusted Granny Smith apples on Littlejohn's website. The beloved 99-year-old candy shop only sells these tart, nutty goodies to customers who come to their stand at the Original Farmers Market. These old school Halloween delicacies have a price to match: $10.95 each. And worth every penny. The small-batch caramel, made from "fresh milk, cream and pure cane sugar," is beyond sumptuous and the apples are large enough to feed multiple people. You can also get a chocolate coating, if that's your thing.

The house boxty at Griffins of Kinsale in Pasadena.

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Griffins of Kinsale

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Griffins of Kinsale: Salmon Boxty

Americans know October 31 as a night of costumes and candy but in Gaelic tradition, it's Samhain, a holiday that marks the end of summer. Here in the U.S., "Celtic Halloween" isn't a national holiday (yet) but intimate Irish pub Griffins of Kinsale, in South Pasadena, lets you try foods from the popular harvest festival. Their shepherd's pie and corned beef with cabbage are much loved but it's their house boxty, a potato pancake caught somewhere between a crepe and a latke, that's the unexpected treasure. Although the boxty is associated with St. Brigid's Day in February, it's also savored in the autumn. Griffins of Kinsale offers a version topped with smoked salmon throughout the year, including on Samhain.

The seasonal turkey and gravy potato balls at Porto's Bakery.

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Courtesy of Porto's Bakery

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Turkey & Gravy Potato Balls: Porto's Bakery & Café

Nobody does potato balls (also called papas rellenas) like Porto's, the über-popular boulangerie with locations scattered around Los Angeles. No surprise, then, that the Cuban bakery chain applies its ingenuity to a seasonal version featuring turkey. Porto's breaded and deep-fried ball is packed with its standard potato puree as well as turkey breast, carrots, onions and celery seasoned with sage and white wine, and served in porcini mushroom gravy. It's like a Thanksgiving donut hole.