Bouchon Beverly Hills is closing at the end of the year, and Kogi BBQ’s Roy Choi is making pizza
From the closing of Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Beverly Hills to pizza from Roy Choi, here’s what’s happening in the food and drink world.
Au revoir: Chef Thomas Keller announced that he will close his Beverly Hills restaurant Bouchon, Bar Bouchon and the Bouchon bakery at the end of the year. The chef, known for his Yountville, Calif., restaurant the French Laundry, cited “adverse conditions impacting our success with our landlord, the city of Beverly Hills” as the reason for the closure in a recent statement. Bouchon Beverly Hills, Bar Bouchon and Bouchon bakery downstairs are all located across the courtyard from the Montage Beverly Hills hotel. The restaurant, known for its beautiful seafood towers, French food and Monday night fried chicken dinners, has been open for nine years. “The circumstances no longer exist to operate a profitable restaurant,” said Keller in the statement. The last day of service for the restaurant, bar and bakery is Dec. 31. 235 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 271-9910, www.thomaskeller.com/bouchonbeverlyhills.
Pizza pizza: Roy Choi, the chef behind the Kogi BBQ trucks and restaurant, Chego, Pot, Commissary and Locol (Jonathan Gold’s restaurant of the year), is making pizza. The chef posted a photo of a bubbly pie on Instagram with the caption “R&D round two. Getting there. POT Pizza Joint is opening soon.” Choi will be making a thin, square pizza in a pan, that’s between a Detroit, New York and LA-style, with the sauce on the bottom. He’ll start serving the pies out of the POT cafe space in the lobby of the Line hotel, where he also has the restaurant Commissary, upstairs. The pizzas will be available starting in November, on Friday and Saturday nights, from 6 p.m. until they run out. 3515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 368-3030, www.eatatpot.com.
Dinner and a show: Les Coulisses, a new restaurant at the Belasco Theater Complex on Hill Street in downtown L.A., will open Nov. 1. The restaurant, which has taken over the space formerly occupied by Vintage 10 Fifty Wine Bar, is located off the main lobby of the theater. Executive chef Francis Li, who was part of the opening team at Providence and has worked at Melisse, is preparing a menu inspired by the regions near the Mediterranean Sea. Highlights include crispy octopus with blood orange gastrique, loup de mer, and roasted carrot and farro salad. The restaurant’s name means “backstage” in French, and the 3500-square-foot space includes a first-floor parlor room, a second story bar and an upstairs mezzanine. Marc Sittenfield of the Belasco Theater Hospitality Group and TINI Vintage Interior Design remodeled the space, which now includes overstuffed sectionals and remixed antiques. The restaurant will be open from 5 p.m. daily, and the lounge will be open until midnight. 1050 S. Hill St., Los Angeles, lescoulissesla.com.
Cocktail time: Matthew Biancaniello, the Los Angeles bartender who has made a name for himself with his innovative cocktails (that often incorporate foraged ingredients), has started a weekly pop-up at Ysabel restaurant in West Hollywood. Every Wednesday, from 6 to 10 p.m., Biancaniello will be behind the bar, working on R&D for his next book, serving classic and new cocktails. In November, Biancaniello will introduce a ticketed, eight to 12-course tasting menu with two seatings (eight people each) a night. The pop-up will run through Christmas. 945 N. Fairfax Ave., West Hollywood, (323) 366-2940, www.ysabel.la.
Chicago burgers: DMK Burger Bar, the Chicago burger restaurant by James Beard Award nominated chef Michael Kornick, David Morton of Morton’s Steakhouse and David Grossman, is headed for California. The restaurant’s owners will start accepting franchise applications in California (as well as in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin), and they are starting with California. DMK is known for its grass-fed beef, Colorado lamb, turkey and veggie burgers; a secret sauce and Parmesan truffle fries. Multiple locations and more information is available at dmkburgerbar.com.
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