Sometimes you leave Los Angeles only to find that it has arrived at your destination long before you.
A few years ago on a trip to Tokyo I encountered Downtown Los Angeles' Pie Hole in the basement of a train station on my way to try Afuri Ramen, a yuzu ramen specialist.
And this cultural transmission works in both directions. A few weeks ago, not far from the original location of Pie Hole, I had the same bowl of noodles at the new Arts District branch of Afuri Ramen.