Jessica Koslow

“Settecento” means 700, the number of the building that houses the new Italian restaurant and latest culinary effort from Global Dining Inc., which opened La Boheme in West Hollywood in 1991 and 1212 Santa Monica in 2016.

“When we were scouting a third location, we went to the 69th floor of the U.S. Bank Tower in Downtown LA and saw Maguire Gardens,” said Settecento owner Lucian Tudor. “We fell in love with the garden aspect of it and saw the potential of creating something unique, a space for the community to enjoy.”

Settecento will open its doors to the public on Friday, Jan. 24, and reservations are available via OpenTable. The menu is cloaked in secrecy until the opening date. Established in 1995, Café Pinot previously operated at 700 W. Fifth Street for 25 years until 2019. The space had been vacant for the past four years while Tudor’s team worked toward launching Settecento. . . .

Read the full article at LA Downtown News.

Starbird CEO Aaron Noveshen measures his success in more than dollars and cents. For the Los Angeles native, true pros-perity means helping people improve their lives.

“For me, it is first and foremost about giving opportunities to people with jobs, with growth, with education,” he said.

That economic boost is continuing. With the recent additions Starbird’s Pleasanton and Palo Alto locations, the chain founded in Sunnyvale now operates 16 restaurants in California. Starbird recently inked a seven-unit franchise development agreement in Colorado and is eyeing additional deals in Utah, Arizona and Washington by the end of 2025.

“The reception is nothing short of miraculous,” said Noveshen, calling from his Bay Area home. “The sales per square foot in our average unit is upward of $2,000, two to three times what typical restaurants experience. We are fortunate to be growing while so many others in the industry are struggling.” . . .

Read the full article at Playa Vista Magazine.

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. 

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. . . .

Read the full article at The Argonaut.

Melody Bar & Grill owner Christian Warren refers to his business partner, who is 20 years his senior, as a legend. 

“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. . . .

Read the full article at The Argonaut.

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. . . .

Read the full article at LA Downtown News.

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.

“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. . . .

Read the full article at The Argonaut.

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.  . . .

Read the full article at The Argonaut.

“Top Chef” winner Brooke Williamson thinks about produce first when crafting a recipe or meal. 

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. . . .

Read the full article at The Argonaut.

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.

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.” . . .

Read the full article at LA Downtown News.

A new executive chef is feeding Downtown.

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.” . . .

Read the full article at LA Downtown News.