Dining
Michael Chow Shares the Pain Behind the Glamour in New Documentary ‘AKA Mr. Chow’
Michael Chow is meant to be in Riyadh. But as drones spell out his name in the sky above Saudi Arabia’s capital, heralding the Oct. 5 opening of the latest outpost of his eponymous restaurant, the charismatic restaurateur, artist and bon vivant is in his Los Angeles home, grounded with a positive COVID-19 test. He is […]
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Succession, With Smoothies: Inside the Erewhon Dynasty
Maybe it was in 2014, when its second location opened in the Kardashian-rich foothills of Calabasas. Or was it 2018, when Kanye West tweeted about “Erewhon drip,” sending legions of Yeezy wearers on a mad scramble for (then-bootleg-only) merch? How about the summer of 2022, when TikTok caught on to its Hailey Bieber smoothies ($18 […]
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L.A.’s Larchmont Village Is “Really a Shopping Street Again”
“I call it the new Larchmont. It’s rocking,” says Louis Eafalla, who has been operating his Village Heights gift shop in Larchmont Village for 17 years. “It’s really a shopping street again.” The area — which features more than 50 stores and restaurants packed along Larchmont Boulevard between Beverly Boulevard and First Street — was established in 1921, […]
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Chef Michael Cimarusti Scores Big Wins for Two Of L.A.’s Most Loved Restaurants
Chef Michael Cimarusti has netted more than a few big wins throughout his culinary career and his recent successes further cement his status as one of L.A.’s most acclaimed chefs and restaurant owners. The James Beard award-winning chef owns two of L.A.’s most revered seafood restaurants, both of which have recently achieved major milestones. After […]
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How Robert Forster Surprised New Restaurant Owners When His Favorite Diner Closed
In an interview for the 10th anniversary of West Hollywood seafood hotspot Connie and Ted’s, James Beard Award-winning chef and owner Michael Cimarusti served up a heartwarming anecdote about the late Robert Forster. When the restaurant opened in 2013, it replaced the beloved diner Silver Spoon, a favorite hang for working actors. “We did get […]
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The Insiders’ Insider: Hollywood’s Go-To Wine Cellar Consultant
“You are part private banker, part art curator, part psychiatrist,” explains Jeff Smith, Hollywood’s go-to wine cellar consigliere, of his job. “Sometimes you’re hosting private dinners for your clients; sometimes you go in through the back door.” Smith, 63, grew up in Beverly Hills and now lives in Bel Air, a short stroll from the […]
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Irish Pub Owner Re-creates ‘Banshees’ Bar Using Film’s Set Pieces
Immersive cinema experiences are big business these days, with fans being invited, briefly, into the reconstructed worlds of Stranger Things, James Bond and other major titles. But few would put Martin McDonagh’s melancholic Irish comedy The Banshees of Inisherin as next in line. Enter Luke Mee, who has painstakingly rebuilt JJ Devine’s — the traditional pub […]
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Italian Restaurant Nerano Welcomes Beloved Toscana Veteran as New Maitre D’
When Nerano in Beverly Hills needed a new maître d’, owners drafted a familiar face from parent company Toscana Restaurant Group. Francesco Greco assumed the post earlier this summer, marking a return to the family after having served in a similar position at Toscana in Brentwood for 15 years before departing for a new chapter […]
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As Writers Strike Eats Into Profits, L.A. Restaurateurs Confront Actor Walkout As Well
Owners of restaurants near studios are ready to pop antacids. Nearly three months into the writers strike with SAG-AFTRA also joining picket lines as of July 14, L.A. hospitality businesses with the greatest customer exposure to the entertainment industry are experiencing economic domino effects and are girding for far worse. They tell The Hollywood Reporter […]
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Chef Evan Funke’s Mother Wolf Follow-Up Has a 1,500-Person Wait List
Auteurs forever chase final cut and a blank check. L.A. chef Evan Funke, the acclaimed phenomenon behind two of the toughest reservations in town, Felix and Mother Wolf, has attained both with his latest restaurant in Beverly Hills, the eponymous Funke, which opened May 5. “I told Evan, ‘This is your Spago,'” says Kurt Rappaport, […]
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La Dolce Vita, Funke and Steak 48 Lead a Wave of New Beverly Hills Restaurants
With the opening of Funke this month — and last year’s arrival of a Jon & Vinny’s as well as Mexican steakhouse Hideaway — the Beverly Hills dining scene is on a roll. Three other new restaurants of note have just debuted as well as a slew of others on the way. ESPELETTE French chef […]
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How Chain, B.J. Novak’s Concept Restaurant, Built a Nostalgia Factory With Hollywood’s Help
During a podcast interview in 2018, actor and foodie B.J. Novak teased an idea he had for a chain-themed restaurant that would, contrary to the fundamental business model of chain restaurants, consist of a single brick-and-mortar location. It would be a nostalgia play, drawing on a collective wistfulness for the menu items and now-kitschy aesthetic […]
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