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    La Copine cookbook celebrates the good life in the high desert
    • April 8, 2026

    Claire Wadsworth and Nikki Hill say they didn’t know if they were desert people when they opened their celebrated restaurant La Copine in Yucca Valley. But they very quickly found out they belonged there.

    They share their story of life in the high desert, about 120 miles from Los Angeles, as well as some of their recipes in “La Copine: New California Cooking from an Oasis in the Desert,” a cookbook that will be published on April 26.

    It made Bon Appetit’s list of “Best New Cookbooks of Spring 2026,” which says it “celebrates the recipes that have made La Copine worth the trek, from their famous beignets to creative sandwiches like the pastrami-spiced Pork Belly BLT.”

    La Copine: New California Cooking from an Oasis in the Desert" will be published April 26. (Image courtesy of Gentl & Hyers/Abrams)
    La Copine: New California Cooking from an Oasis in the Desert” will be published April 26. (Image courtesy of Gentl & Hyers/Abrams)
    La Copine's beignets are included in a cookbook from the high desert restaurant. (Photo courtesy of Gentl & Abrams)
    La Copine’s beignets are included in a cookbook from the high desert restaurant. (Photo courtesy of Gentl & Abrams)

    “La Copine” costs $45 and has 200 illustrations on 304 pages, according to Abrams, its publisher, which specializes in art and illustrated books.

    Hill and Wadsworth, who are business and life partners, got their start in Philadelphia, where they were living and running the first version of La Copine, a “brunch” food cart. Hill was the chef; Wadworth has a background in music.

    They had a hankering to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant and also wanted to get married before same-sex marriage was legal but working its way through California courts.

    “We moved to California so we could get married and follow the California dream,” Wadsworth said in a joint phone interview with Hill.

    “Next thing you know, we’re getting married and going out to the desert to just get clear on our future and where we want to go. And we drove right by our now restaurant and saw it was for sale.”

    Claire Wadsworth and Nikki Hill visit the walk-in refrigerator in their Yucca Valley restaurant La Copine. It was part of the equipment that came with the building that they were able to put to use. (Photo courtesy of Gentl & Hyers/Abrams)
    Claire Wadsworth and Nikki Hill visit the walk-in refrigerator in their Yucca Valley restaurant La Copine. It was part of the equipment that came with the building that they were able to put to use. (Photo courtesy of Gentl & Hyers/Abrams)

    Making it work

    That happened on a road trip to Landers to visit a famous dome called Integratron for a sound bath. The shuttered restaurant was at 848 Old Woman Springs Road, in the Flamingo Heights neighborhood of Yucca Valley.

    After acquiring the property, they found the high desert to be a welcoming community.

    “Robert Adams, who died in the San Bernardino shootings, was our inspector. He was so kind and so helpful. He walked through with us and said, ‘You guys are young.’ We were 29 and 31 at the time.

    “He said, ‘‘Listen, if I were you I would keep all of this equipment here. Don’t start moving stuff out. Leave it as it is. You seem like really smart people here. Make this equipment work. Don’t change a thing. You can open in three months from now.”

    They were also encouraged by nearby neighbors, the late sculptor Steve Rieman and his wife Ruth, who did a walk-through and gave them the same advice.

    “He said, ‘Nothing is ever broken. It just needs to be cleaned.”

    Getting noticed

    La Copine opened in 2015, serving comfort food with a twist, It quickly began to attract attention.

    Hill said they immediately recognized one early customer who introduced himself with, “Hello, I’m Robert Plant. You may have heard of my band, Led Zeppelin.”

    “He ordered the grits and greens two days in a row and said he hadn’t remembered the last time he had a good meal. …

    “He was sitting next door to Jeremy Corbell, who is a UFO investigator, and they immediately started talking about aliens.”

    Other celebrities who have dined at La Copine include Laurence Fishburne, who they said frequents the Integratron, Patti Smith, Susan Serrandon and Elon Musk.

    “He ate a breakfast sandwich in a Model X Tesla before it was released to the public.”

    Customers dine on the front patio of La Copine in Yucca Valley. (Photo courtesy of Gentl & Hyers/Abrams)
    Customers dine on the front patio of La Copine in Yucca Valley. (Photo courtesy of Gentl & Hyers/Abrams)

    “What’s nice is that the celebrities go for the most part unnoticed, except someone like Jason Momoa, of course.”

    After opening, Hill and Wadsworth began to sense it was getting noticed by national restaurant writers. The restaurant was written up by Vogue in 2018, followed by Bon Appetit and the New York Times in 2019.

    “It changed everything,” said Hill. “All of a sudden we went from being just us and six employees to 15. And where it is now is 25.”

    Fame and years of tweaking the menu led to the cookbook, which contains about 100 recipes ranging from brunch items, soups, salads, sandwiches and main dishes to chutneys, mayos and sweet and hot sauces.

    Ricotta Gnocchi is one of the main dishes included in "La Copine," a new cookbook based on the menu of a restaurant in Yucca Valley. (Photo courtesy of Gentl & Hyers/Abrams)
    Ricotta Gnocchi is one of the main dishes included in “La Copine,” a new cookbook based on the menu of a restaurant in Yucca Valley. (Photo courtesy of Gentl & Hyers/Abrams)

    Wadsworth and Hill said they relied on their co-author, Ben Mims, to guide them through the complexities of creating a cookbook, including scaling down recipes for home use.

    Loosening up

    The cookbook ends with a QR code to La Copine’s setlist on Spotify and a guide to the high desert.

    The region tends to attract art and music lovers.

    “The desert is a sanctuary for artists,” said Wadsworth. “It’s a place where people come to get away, and unplug and reset.”

    Business gets a bump in April from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, currently underway in Indio, and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival that follows it.

    One festivalgoer was actor John C. Reilly.

    “He came in head-to-toe in a baby blue suit and a top hat. It was very hot outside and he was so hungry. He sat down and ate the fried chicken so fast.”

    The current menu features items ranging from grits, pork and beans and Waldorf salad to Mussels Dijonaise and Steak Lolita with Wagyu beef.

    It is open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, “lunch hours,” but Hill said that description is a little misleading because people can order anything during that five-hour window.

    “We’re trying to loosen the reins a little bit and let people have more fun with what their eating,” said Hill.

    La Copine remained open throughout the summer for the first time last year, and the couple said they will do it again 5-9 p.m. this summer, when the menu will be a little more slanted to dinner.

    Hill said good things come out of doing scary things.

    “Going in brand-new, it was scary and we weren’t sure we would fit in. But we always stayed true to ourselves and our vision, and people were just beyond excited to have a couple of people working passionately and giving all their care and creativity — giving their all to this thing.”

    The book describes the desert as a blank canvas and La Copine as a “joyful queer oasis in the desert.” Hill said the phrase is meant in a broader sense than people might think.

    “People may first think LGBTQ, but there’s a whole other side to it as well,” she said.

    “It’s accepting all kinds of people: artists, people who are a little more reclusive, off-roaders. It’s being an accepting, eccentric, loving environment.”

    “It’s cool that we’re still standing on the same mission statements as when we first opened,” Wadsworth added.

    Information: lacopinekitchen.com, abramsbooks.com

    ​ Orange County Register 

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