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Los Angeles sees influx of new restaurants despite tough economy

Los Angeles sees influx of new restaurants despite tough economy

LOS ANGELES —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

For now, however, Los Angeles is seeing a small boom in new concepts that entered the developmental pipeline before financial markets crashed last month. The new restaurants, filling venues leased months ago, now appear to be banking on the city’s recession-resistant entertainment industry and, in some cases, on repositionings with more moderate pricing. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

One hot spot in the making is a $2.5 billion entertainment complex next to Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. Developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group, L.A. Live debuted its first phase last year with the grand Nokia Theater, now home to the Grammy Awards ceremonies. A second phase is scheduled to open in December, including a slew of new restaurants. Still to come: a 14-theater multiplex, a 1,001-room Marriott hotel and 224 Ritz-Carlton condominiums. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Most of the restaurants slated to open in L.A. Live next month are familiar brands, including Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Trader Vic’s, ESPN Zone, Yard House and a version of the Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill concept. Local brands, such as the three-unit The Farm of Beverly Hills, also are opening as part of L.A. Live, as is the upscale sushi concept Katsuya. New York-based Rosa Mexicano also is poised to make its West Coast debut at the complex. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

L.A. Live will include the revived Conga Room, an entertainment venue designed to be similar to the House of Blues but with a Latin flair. Owned in part by entertainers Jennifer Lopez, Jimmy Smits and Sheila E., the Conga Room will include a 200-seat restaurant called Boca that’s expected to feature a pan-Latin cuisine and a lively bar scene, with entrées ranging from $20 to $32. The chef will be Cuban-born Alex Garcia, a Food Network host and chef-owner of the “Nuevo Latino” restaurant Calle Ocho in New York. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

The Conga Room has also signed Wolfgang Puck Catering to handle events. The Puck group has a separate catering kitchen within the venue, though Boca shares some cooking facilities. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Conga Room co-owner Brad Gluckstein is convinced that L.A. Live will see heavy traffic, not only from downtown residents and post-NBA-game crowds from Staples Center, but also from across the city. “L.A. Live is insulated from the current economic straits,” he said. “It’s being billed as Times Square West, and it will be.” —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Across the street from L.A. Live, pioneering chef-restaurateur John Sedlar, dubbed the father of modern Southwestern cuisine in the 1980s for his work at such Los Angeles destinations as St. Estephe, Bikini and Abiquiu, is scheduled to open a new concept called Rivera in December. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Sedlar has partnered with Bill Chait, founder of the Los Angeles-based Louise’s Trattoria chain and managing partner in Spark Wood-fire Grill here, and designer Eddie Soto, a former Disney Imagineer. Among the investors is high-end-boutique operator Fred Segal. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Sedlar is developing a menu that will reflect the spectrum of Latin cuisine, with touches of El Bulli-style molecular gastronomy. Rivera will include the Samba Lounge, with a bar menu; the Playa bar, offering Latin-style crudo; and the main dining room, with a “glass library wall” of tequilas. Guests can keep their own bottle there, flavored how they like it. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Small plates will range from $8 to $16, and full-plate entrées will run from $18 to $29. Chait estimated the average check would be $35 to $45 per person. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

“The price point is designed in a way so that people can eat casually and spend only $30 for dinner,” he said. “But this is one of the only restaurants downtown with a chef-driven, artisanal menu.” —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

But not the only one. Los Angeles chef-restaurateur Celestino Drago, known for his Drago Ristorante, Il Pastaio and Enoteca Drago, is scheduled to open the high-end Drago Centro in City National Plaza in the heart of downtown L.A this month. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Nearby, restaurateur Yuji Tsunoda is scheduled to launch Chaya Brasserie, the Chaya Restaurant Group’s third Los Angeles-area restaurant, early next year, giving the Italian-French-Asian concept its fourth location, including one in San Francisco. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

However, the new Chaya will offer a broader menu, including more moderately priced pasta dishes and options for bar dining, said Lawrence Moore, Chaya’s director of marketing. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Chaya plans to close its original West Hollywood restaurant briefly in November for cosmetic, menu and price overhauls to help diners “deal with this crazy economy,” Moore said. Entrées then will range from $15 to $33. The group also plans to open its third M Cafe, a macrobiotic concept, in Beverly Hills early next year. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Los Angeles, which this year greeted a wave of big-name chefs from other cities, including Tom Colicchio, Gordon Ramsay and Laurent Tourondel, is adding to that list next month when acclaimed Spanish chef José Andrés, chef-owner of ThinkFoodGroup in Washington, D.C., debuts several restaurants in the new SLS Hotel on the edge of Beverly Hills. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Andrés’ hotel plan includes The Bazaar, with a cocktail bar called Bar Centro; a tapas bar called Rojo y Blanca; a pastry shop; and roaming carts offering European-style street food. The centerpiece, however, will be the restaurant Saam, a 40-seat “jewel box” where Andrés pledges to “pay homage to his favorite culinary masters.” —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Another soon-to-be import, Australian chef Luke Mangan, who owns Glass Brasserie in Sydney and Salt in Tokyo, plans to open a Los Angeles branch of his San Francisco restaurant South Food and Wine Bar. To be called South on Sunset, the “mod-Oz”—for modern Aussie—restaurant will feature Australian and New Zealand wines and recipes. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

But famed home-grown culinary talent is also pushing the envelope of new concepts that seek to buck recessionary trends. For example, chef-restaurateur Susan Feniger, one half of the “Too Hot Tamales” TV team that for decades has given Los Angeles such eclectic landmarks as City Cafe, City Restaurant, Ciudad and the multiunit Border Grill, which includes a Las Vegas branch, is developing a new concept called Street on Highland Avenue in Hollywood. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

Street, expected to open in February, would feature refined versions of the street foods of the world, the kinds of culture-defining walk-away dishes one would find on the byways of Latin America, Asia and Europe. Marking Feniger’s first solo venture, Street would add to the string of popular restaurants she has launched over the years with longtime business partner Mary Sue Milliken, who like Feniger, also is a classically French-trained chef. —With financial backing harder to come by in today’s tough economy, restaurant deal makers here say the flow of new restaurants may slow to a trickle.

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