Lucques will turn 20 with all-star nights
From the celebration of a Los Angeles institution to more hot chicken, here’s what’s happening in our food and drink world:
It’s a party: Simply to open a restaurant in Los Angeles is a feat. To be around — and thriving — for two decades? It’s an accomplishment worthy of a grand celebration. Later this year, chef Suzanne Goin and partner Caroline Styne of the Lucques restaurant group will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their restaurant Lucques. Over those two decades, the two have expanded their growing empire to include A.O.C., Tavern and multiple locations of the Larder, as well as menus at the Hollywood Bowl. Styne also recently received the James Beard Award for outstanding restaurateur.
“We thought about taking an emotional road trip of highlighting moments in our history that have meant a lot to us or brought us into friendships that have been supermeaningful,” Goin recently told The Times. “Every time I look around, I can’t believe it’s been that long,” Styne added. “People come in and tell us how many times the restaurant has been involved in important moments in their lives.”
To celebrate, Goin and Styne put together five dinners with an impressive lineup of guest chefs. On July 1, Former Food and Wine restaurant editor Kate Krader will join Goin and chefs Marc Vetri (Vetri Cucina) and Paul Kahan (the Publican), who were named Food and Wine best new chefs along with Goin in 1999, for a fourcourse dinner for $150 per person.
On July 22, Goin is paying tribute to what she calls her OG Lucques crew with a four-course dinner ($95) cooked by former and current Lucques kitchen staff Julie Robles, Brian Edwards, Corina
Weibel, Laura Schweers and Breanne Varela. On July 30, Goin remembers a culinary trip to Spain she took with Gabrielle Hamilton (Prune), Michael Schlow (Tico), Kahan, Wylie Dufresne (formerly of wd~50) and Paula Disbrowe (cookbook author). All the chefs will contribute to a six-course dinner for $215 per person.
On Aug. 12, Russell Moore (Camino) and Chris Bianco (Pizzeria Bianco) will join Goin for what she’s calling a Wood-Fired Heroes four-course dinner for $150 per person. And lastly, on Sept. 24, there will be a five-course dinner with Goin and Styne’s favorite dishes ($195).
For reservations and more info, visit www.lucques.com.
Lucques: 8474 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (323) 655-6277
Filipino flavors: Charles Olalia, the chef behind Rice Bar, the excellent, tiny Filipino rice bowl shop on 7th Street downtown, will open Ma’am Sir, a Filipino restaurant in Silver Lake, on June 13. The name is a spin on “Hello, ma’am, sir,” the greeting often heard at businesses in the Philippines.
As with Rice Bar, Olalia is attempting to give Angelenos his interpretation of family-style Filipino food. The menu was inspired by dishes he grew up eating in and around Manila, including items from Pampanga, north of the capital city. Examples include lumpia made with shrimp and pork and topped with sea urchin; and a half lobster with taro leaf curry and galangal butter. Olalia partnered with Wade McElroy and Russel Malixi (owners of Cafe Birdie, Good Housekeeping and Horse Thief BBQ) for the restaurant, and Rafa DaCosta (previously of Aatxe by the Bon Vivants in San Francisco) is working on cocktails.
Ma’am Sir: 4330 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, www.maamsirla.com.
Spanish plates: Chef Teresa Montaño, formerly of Ración in Pasadena, will open Otoño, a Spanish restaurant in Highland Park inspired by her recent travels to Barcelona, Valencia and Copenhagen. The restaurant is in the former Frank’s Camera space on North Figueroa Street, just down the street from Highland Bowl and Good Girl Dinette. It is scheduled to open in mid-June. Details on the menu are still slim, but you can expect paella made with sustainable seafood, tapas and crema catalana (Spanish crème brûlée). Spanish beers and vermouth will be available on tap, and the wine list will focus on Spanish varietals. Otoño: 5715 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, www.otonorestaurant.com.
Restaurant reboot: On May 23, Chaya Venice reopened as Chaya Modern Izakaya. The 28-year-old restaurant, known primarily for its sushi, is now a Japanese izakaya with a focus on drinking food meant to be shared. The new menu, which also features a daily omakase menu, includes grilled octopus with papaya; wagyu chazuke (rice with dashi tea); rolls and hand rolls.
Cocktail consultant Feisser Stone, who has worked with Scopa Italian Roots and Felix Trattoria, has put together a new cocktail menu that highlights Japanese whiskey. The restaurant began renovations 18 months ago and now features a cedarwood plank facade and a dining room outfitted with black powder-coated metal, walnut and leather.
Chaya Modern Izakaya: 110 Navy St., Venice, (310) 396-1179, www.thechaya.com Hot chicken: If you like your chicken hot, you may have heard of the Nashville-based Bolton’s Spicy Chicken & Fish. The restaurant, known for its spicy fried chicken, is coming to Los Angeles on June 10.
Bolton’s will be at the LAeats Pop Up Food Hall event at the Water Garden Campus in Santa Monica.
The event also will feature food from chef Eric Greenspan (Greenspan’s Grilled Cheese), who will be making brisket sandwiches using meat smoked by Burt Bakman of Trudy’s Underground Barbecue.
New York City-based Urbani Truffles will be making truffle fries, and there will be iced coffee and nitro-cold brew from Califia Farms.
More information and tickets are available at www.popupfood hall.com.
LAeats Pop Up Food Hall: 1620 26th St., Santa Monica