When Christian Warren moved to Catamaran Street on Venice Beach in 1992, he passed by 1 Washington Boulevard and gazed at the prime location. He thought a business could thrive there.
Photo Credit: Chris Mortenson
On May 3, Warren and his partner, Justin Urich, turned his decades-old musings into reality when they opened Nalu Vida. The beach bar and restaurant offers tropical cuisine and cocktails. Nalu translates to “wave” in Hawaiian, and vida is “life” in Latin.
“It feels like coming full circle for me,” Warren said. . . .
Melody Bar & Grill owner Christian Warren refers to his business partner, who is 20 years his senior, as a legend.
Photo Credit: Chris Mortenson
“Old bartenders stick together and confer that title on each other,” Warren’s partner Bobby Hughes said.
Being called a legend is an honor bestowed on bartenders who have survived many years in the business.
Hughes, who laughed upon hearing about his legend status, started his career in New York City, where he once served a martini to actress Lauren Bacall. He gained a reputation as a first-rate bartender working at Chez Jay in Santa Monica and Cheesecake Factory in Marina del Rey.
Warren was working as a bartender at Baja Cantina in Venice when he met Hughes through a mutual friend.
“Buying a bar was the penultimate dream for most bartenders then,” Hughes said. . . .
When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, Heather Wong was celebrating the one-month anniversary of the million-dollar bakery in Sherman Oaks that she had just helped to open. A year and a half worth of work, and Wong now found herself without a job. She launched her own brand, Flouring LA, baking and selling out of a ghost kitchen in Chinatown.
“I started the brand in July 2020 because I needed to do something for my sanity and for money,” Wong stated.
Within a year of starting her own business, she was approached by the great-granddaughter of the founder of New Chinatown, who offered her a space in the last building that the family owned — the historic SooHoo Leung Building on Hill Street, alongside Pearl River Deli, Thank You Coffee, Paper Plant Co., and Sesame LA. . . .
Café Gratitude challenges the stereotype that plant-based cuisine is limited or boring. Its locations in Venice and Larchmont Village now offer a Radhi Devlukia Collab Menu, a Medical Medium Collab Menu, a new fall menu, and a reimagined happy hour.
Photo by: Chris Mortenson
“Fall is my favorite season as a chef and menu creator,” said executive chef Seizan Dreux Ellis sitting in his test kitchen in Larchmont Village. “I am a November baby.”
Ellis explained that now is the moment for mushrooms, butternut squash, pomegranate, persimmon, kale, and radicchio, and cranberries are about to come into season just in time for the holidays. . . .
Max Olper, head of U.S. operations for Bacio di Latte, described a true gelateria experience as a “place where gelato is handmade in-house using quality ingredients.”
Bacio di Latte, located between Warby Parker and Kreation Organic at Waterside in Marina del Rey, has built its reputation on offering a true gelateria experience. This is the brand’s sixth Southern California location, joining the others in Century City, Newport Beach, Brentwood and Larchmont Village, and Rancho Cucamonga.
The brand’s original storefront on Sāo Paulo’s Rua Oscar Friere opened in 2011. Since then, it has become the world’s largest artisanal gelato chain, with more than 190 locations across Brazil. According to a statement, that’s due to its commitment to fresh products, creative flavors, and first-rate ingredients. . . .
“Top Chef” winner Brooke Williamson thinks about produce first when crafting a recipe or meal.
Photo by: Chris Mortenson
As she described one afternoon at the tail end of summer, she considers the season and what vegetables look good. Her culinary perspective was shaped by growing up in Los Angeles, going to farmers markets and tending a garden in her backyard.
When Williamson decided to craft her first cookbook, produce felt like the most organic thing to write about. . . .
Ettore Vino e Cucina, now the largest sit-down restaurant at LA’s Original Farmers Market, is open for business. The Italian wine and culinary destination is a collaboration between Osteria Mamma, the cherished family-owned Italian restaurant in Hancock Park, and Ettore, a boutique organic winery in Mendocino owned by Ettore Biraghi that uses the scientific Purovino method to eliminate sulfites from its wine.
Photo credit: Chris Mortenson
Filippo Cortivo, the co-owner of Osteria Mamma, explained that his partnership with Fabrizio de Falco, Ettore’s managing director, is a natural extension of their shared philosophies about ingredients, production and lifestyle. Both businessmen are passionate about handmade food, hand-harvested grapes and the use of sustainable practices to deliver authentic products. Chef Mònica Angelats Coll was brought on board because she, too, is cut from the same cloth.
“When Filippo came to us with an idea for the farmers market, we thought it was a perfect place for us,” stated Falco. “We are proud to be part of this family.” . . .
After a little more than two years, asterid — the restaurant at the base of the Walt Disney Concert Hall — has brought on chef Mazen Mustafa to continue the culinary legacy of Ray Garcia, who will remain as chef partner. Mustafa, who has worked around the world, will manage the kitchen and spearhead menu development.
“Walt Disney Concert Hall is a legendary space in LA,” Mustafa said. “To be able to work in that space and help create a new identity and new legacy is humbling, rewarding and exciting.
“I look at it as an extension or continuation of what Ray was already doing. The restaurant was designed to be a celebration of Los Angeles, and I’m trying to take that a step further.” . . .
In honor of its 25th anniversary at its second-story location and October’s National Seafood Month, The Lobster offers a special $25 anniversary menu with four of its signature dishes for $25 each.
Photo Credit: Chris Mortenson
Located at the top of the Santa Monica Pier, The Lobster has been open for 25 years under its current ownership, but some incarnation, beginning with the Seafood Shack, has been in operation in its current location since 1923. . . .
