Rockwell in Los Feliz set to open this weekend

Rockwell, the multi-level 6,000-square-foot restaurant, bar and outdoor lounge in Los Feliz, is expected to open tonight. 

Rockwell partners Chris Diamond and Wayne Elias also recently took over the adjacent Vermont Restaurant & Bar, and Vermont chef Stephane Beacamp has created the menu: salads, flatbreads, burgers and small plates. From the menu: almond pesto marinated shrimp skewers; calamari with ginger, shallot and chile; pancetta flatbread with caramelized onion, fig jam and Gorgonzola. Specialty cocktails include the "Sazerac Vermont," Rittenhouse rye, Peychaud's bitters and absinthe.

The defining design feature might be the 30-foot coral tree that stands in the middle of the restaurant. And the overall look here might be called Hollywood rustic, with Shaker furniture, distressed leather and a 12-foot canoe hanging from the ceiling. 

1714 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 669-1550, www.rockwellvt.com. Monday to Sunday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. (kitchen open til 1 a.m.). Valet parking.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Rockwell

A new chef at Patina: Tony Esnault steps in this month

After searching for nearly a year, restaurateur Joachim Splichal has tapped a new chef for his flagship restaurant, Patina at the Disney Concert Hall.

Tony Esnault, former executive chef at Alain Ducasse’s New York restaurant Adour, is expected to start at the downtown landmark this month. Patina Restaurant Group says Esnault will be working closely with Splichal on a new (presumably Cal-French) menu.

Esnault was executive chef at Ducasse’s Essex House in New York before opening Adour in the St. Regis Hotel in 2007. Then-New York Times critic Frank Bruni gave Adour three stars, but the dining room — complete with an interactive touch-screen wine bar and an accent-aigu-heavy menu — didn’t seem to catch on with the masses. Esnault left Adour last year.

Born in Saumur, France, Esnault attended the François Rabelais culinary school and worked in Paris and Alsace before embarking on a career within the Ducasse empire in 1996 at Louis XV in Monaco.
Patina’s previous chef, Theo Schoenegger, left last year to open his own restaurant at the Encore resort in Las Vegas.

Patina, 141 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 972-3331, www.patinagroup.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Tony Esnault at Alain Ducasse's erstwhile Essex House in 2005 in New York. Credit: Essex House

Small Bites: Chichen Itza on 6th Street to close; Philippe plans October opening [U

Farewell to Chichen Itza: Yucatecan restaurant Chichen Itza on 6th Street in Westlake has announced that it is closing. In a send-off celebration, the restaurant will be offering free drinks and appetizers tonight from 6 to 8. For fans of the slow-roasted, achiote-and-Seville-orange-marinated cochinita pibil (and arguably the best habanero salsa in L.A.), all is not lost: The restaurant's original location at the Mercado la Paloma will remain open. Chef-owner Gilberto Cetina is extending hours there and now will be serving dinner. The new hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Chichen Itza in Westlake: 2501 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, (213) 380-0051. Chichen Itza in the Mercado La Paloma: 3655 S. Grand Ave. No. C6, Los Angeles, (213) 741-1075. www.chichenitzarestaurant.com.

Philippe sets opening date: Philippe Chow plans to open his latest outpost of Philippe -- a chain of upscale Chinese restaurants -- on Oct. 1 in the former Dolce space on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. Chow recently was hit with a trademark lawsuit by his former employer, Michael Chow (a.k.a. Mr. Chow and no relation). The menu at the 175-seat restaurant will feature dishes such as chicken satay, Peking duck and spicy prawns.  8284 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 951-1100, www.philippechow.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo of Chichen Itza's cochinita pibil by Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Rustic Canyon and Huckleberry's Loeb and Nathan to open ice cream shop in Brentwood Country Mart

The owner of Brentwood Country Mart, known for his painstaking pursuit of tenants he thinks belong in his casual neighborhood hangout, has scored a coup in signing rising culinary stars Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb to run an ice cream parlor.

The couple opened the hit Huckleberry bakery in Santa Monica earlier this year. Loeb also owns Rustic Canyon Wine Bar & Seasonal Kitchen. Both restaurateurs grew up on the Westside, said Loeb, who has a nostalgic connection to the Country Mart.

"I must’ve gone to Reddi Chick 5,000 times," he said, referring to the mart's popular chicken stand. (He told Food GPS 6,000 times.)

The pair plan to open the shop in January, and will make small batches of ice cream daily. The shop has yet to be named, but "it should be fun," Loeb said. "The idea is to go back to from-scratch craftsmanship of making ice cream in eight to 12 flavors. We'll have ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cakes, root beer floats --  all things ice cream."

Loeb promised he wouldn't get carried away making up exotic new flavors. "The idea is to use really good quality chocolate, strawberries and cream," he said. "Flavors will be old-fashioned but with imaginative twists."

Country Mart owner Jim Rosenfield bought the 60-year-old property on 26th Street in Santa Monica in 2003 and has been chasing his favorite retailers ever since. "Huckleberry is our kind of tenant," he said.

-- Roger Vincent

Photo of Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb by Ann Johansson / for The Times

Small Bites: Schmidt's Brauhaus to open downtown, 20 Italian wines in 20 days at Cube

Schnitzel! Pretzels! Beer!: German restaurant Schmidt's Brauhaus is scheduled to open downtown this fall, serving regional favorites, including sausages, schnitzels and pretzels in a 7,000-square-foot space at Olympic Boulevard near Olive Street. There will be a biergarten separate from the dining area. Also, a new supper club called First & Hope is scheduled to open in the fall -- at 1st and Hope streets -- with "modern American comfort food," according to a release. Schmidt's Brauhaus, 330 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 514-5354, www.schmidtsbrauhaus.com.

A wine a day: Cafe and marketplace Cube on La Brea Avenue is offering $12-or-less by-the-glass regional Italian wines -- one per day over 20 business days starting Sept. 8. Each wine will come from one of 20 regions and will be a winner of a Gambero Rosso award, Italy's honor for excellence in wine making. Wines will be offered only by the glass, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Featured vintages will include the 2007 "Zuani" Collio Bianco from Friuli and the 2006 "Bonci San Michele" Verdicchio, from Le Marche. 615 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 939-1148, www.cubemarketplace.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Kaveh Rostamkhani / AFP / Getty Images

 

An exclusive look at Pierre Gagnaire's first U.S. restaurant, slated to open at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas

 

The Vegas Strip is no Rue Balzac, but come December, a Pierre Gagnaire restaurant will open on Las Vegas Boulevard. 

Twist by Pierre Gagnaire will be the Paris chef’s first restaurant in the U.S., and it will be located on the 23rd floor of the coming Mandarin Oriental — part of the first phase of openings at the $8.5-billion CityCenter.

Gagnaire, who also has restaurants in London, Dubai and throughout Asia, follows other Michelin three-star chefs from the City of Light to Sin City: Joël Robuchon (Joël Robuchon and l’Atelier de Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand); Guy Savoy (Restaurant Guy Savoy at Caesar’s Palace); and Alain Ducasse (Mix at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay). Gagnaire’s original Paris restauranthttp://www.pierre-gagnaire.com/index-fr.htm is in the Hotel Balzac in the 8th arrondissement.

Gagnaire’s Vegas foray comes as restaurants struggle in an economy that has hit once-high-flying high rollers. Also slated to open in the CityCenter are restaurants from Wolfgang Puck, Michael Mina, Masayoshi Takayama and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

The idea of Twist “is to respect the unique sense of place of Las Vegas whilst creating our own story,” Gagnaire says. “Where my concepts are different at my restaurants across the globe, my philosophy to cooking is the same: quality, pleasure and my own twist — which is my signature.”

Small Bites: Fuego opens in Long Beach, Sol Cocina opens in Newport Beach, Debbie Lee at Gyenari, the new lunch menu at Water Grill

 

"Latin coastal" in Long Beach: Fuego restaurant is now open in the new Hotel Maya in Long Beach, with a menu that's "coastal Latin American." The executive chef is Jesse Perez. The indoor-outdoor dining room overlooks the waterfront of Long Beach, with 360-degree views. On the menu: shrimp ceviche with chile roja; duck al pastor tacos; chile relleño with pork carnitas; Yucatan-style pork “two ways"; and ancho chile grilled rib eye. Tequila tastings are delivered on a vintage dumb waiter to guests seated in the lower bar area (where there are leather and mohair tequila chairs). Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hotel Maya, 700 Queensway Drive, Long Beach, (562) 481-3910, www.fuegolongbeach.com.

"Baja-inspired" in Newport Beach: SOL Cocina restaurant and bar has opened on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach. Executive chef Deborah Schneider is serving "Baja-inspired" dishes such as sauteed tangerine shrimp, mango-lobster tostadas, and ceviches, as well kurobuta pork carnitas and buttered tequila-steamed clams. The bar stocks more than 50 varieties of tequilas and mezcals. 251 Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Beach, www.solcocina.com.

Debbie does Gyenari: The judges on "The Next Food Network Star" raved about Debbie Lee's cooking. If you want to find out what the fuss was all about, you might want to try Gyenari in Culver City, which bills itself as an "upscale Korean BBQ destination." Lee, a Los Angeles-based restaurant consultant who made it to the final three of the Food Network competition, has revamped Gyenari's menu. Lee calls her style "Seoul to Soul," in homage to her unconventional upbringing: Her parents were Korean immigrants who settled in the South. Lee was raised on collard greens and fried chicken, and wasn't introduced to Korean food until she was well into her teens. Now, she puts a Korean spin on traditional Southern fare. On the menu at Gyenari: a SeoulTown Po' Boy made with sesame shrimp tempura, cilantro slaw and chile tomatoes; a crispy chile-crusted snapper with soy bean succotash and twice-fried pork belly; and pan-seared pork chops with Fuji apple gravy and kimchee smashed potatoes. 9540 Culver Blvd., Culver City, (310) 838-3131, www.gyenari.com.

New lunch menu at Water Grill: Chef David Lefevre has unveiled a new lunch menu, with salads such as Sea of Cortez white shrimp Caesar salad and sandwiches such as albacore tuna confit and lobster roll. Entrees include Cedar Key clam and sweet corn orechiette with Niman Ranch bacon and sweet basil and Alaskan halibut sauteed and basted with lavender, Meyer lemon and Madagascar vanilla bean oil. The current oyster selection: Malaspina, Fanny Bay, Evening Cove, Kumamoto, Bagaduce and Beausoleil. 544 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 891-0900, www.watergrill.com.

-- Betty Hallock and Rene Lynch

Photo: Gyenari. Credit: Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times.

 

Police crack down on food trucks along Wilshire Boulevard; Miracle Mile office workers are sad

Not everyone's excited about L.A.'s food truck explosion, at least not in the way that hordes of kimchi-quesadilla-eating fans are. Restaurants along the mid-Wilshire corridor weren't too pleased about the caravan of food trucks parked outside their doors and prompted a recent police crackdown.

For the last two months, Green Truck mobile catering services would park on Wilshire Boulevard along Los Angeles' Miracle Mile and serve handmade organic fare to the neighborhood's lunch crowd.

"It was wonderful," said Bobby Allen, general manger of the Culver City-based company. "We had a line of people every day."

But last week, the lines disappeared after police officers swooped in and forced Green Truck and several other mobile food vendors parked in the mid-Wilshire area to move on.

Police say the vendors didn't have proper permits. Miracle Mile lunch-timers are disappointed.

For more of Ann Simmons' story, click here.

 Photo: Stefano Paltera / For The Times

All'Angelo on Melrose has closed

All'Angelo, the Italian restaurant on Melrose Avenue owned by Stefano Ongaro, has closed its doors. Ongaro opened the restaurant in January 2007 but today announced by e-mail that "All'Angelo is no longer in business."

"Like many other restaurants here in this city and across the country we have become a victim of this unpredictable economy, and despite all of our efforts we are no longer able to keep our doors open," Ongaro wrote.

Earlier this year Ongaro had transformed All'Angelo, well-received by critics, from a higher-end ristorante into a lower-priced trattoria, cut staff, started delivery service and assumed many of the tasks of running the restaurant himself. But apparently it wasn't enough to buoy business.

"I was looking at the situation last week," Ongaro said when reached by phone. "I needed an injection of capital, but it was impossible in this economy. There's nothing really we can do. There just wasn't enough business to sustain the day-to-day operation. That's the bottom line." 

Ongaro said that he would like to thank his customers. From his e-mail: "All' Angelo was my dream, and I took great joy in sharing this dream and the tastes of my native Venice with all of you. Hopefully our paths will cross again soon, in better times."

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Stefano Ongaro at All'Angelo. Credit: Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times

Via Twitter: Ludo eyes space for restaurant

@chefludo (Ludovic Lefebvre): "Off to a meeting with my consultant to do an offer for a lease on a permanent space. Fingers crossed - if not "pop-up" here we come."