With planning for corporate and office holiday parties underway, these new and recently renovated venues provide suitable options for company festivities. The venues, which include bars, lounges, nightclubs, restaurants, private rooms, and hotel event spaces in Los Angeles, can accommodate small and large groups for Christmas, Hanukkah, or holiday parties of any type.
In June, Russian restaurant Mari Vanna Los Angeles opened in West Hollywood, offering Russian cuisine, karaoke, and eye-catching decor. It's the sixth location for the international chain from Russian hospitality group Ginza Project. The venue is meant to mimic the interior of a residence, and has four distinct spaces: a fireplace-lit 30-seat family dining room, a 30-seat sunroom, an intimate 20-seat bar, a 20-seat wine and karaoke lounge, and a 60-seat garden patio. A white wrought iron gate marks the entrance, decked with potted plants and flowers, and birdhouses, flower baskets, and lanterns hang above the cushioned wicker seating throughout the patio for an open-air gathering. Inside, the karaoke and wine lounge comes equipped with an audiovisual system, and the in-house accordionist will entertain diners with traditional folk Russian folk music. The venue is available for buyouts and events.
The Larchmont is new in the former Larchmont Grill space, and has revamped the two-story craftsman-style structure with a fresh, airy look that includes a new marble bar and wooden floors and a menu of Californian farm-to-table fare. Partners Robert Kass, Spoon Singh, and Mathew Cape have selected Cody Diegel as executive chef, working with consulting chef Don Gragg (of Chez Panisse) to co-design the menu. For a homey-feeling holiday event, take over the upstairs space, which has a residential bungalow air with a private entrance and a patio with a view over Melrose.
The buzzed-about hotel The Line is slated to open on October 1. The Line has 12 flexible spaces accommodating receptions for as many as 800 guests, or meetings for 400. There are two ballrooms, and special event menus are created by Food & Wine's best new chef (and BizBash innovator) Roy Choi.
Crossroads is the new high-end vegan restaurant by chef Tal Ronnen (a BizBash innovator). For intimate holiday gatherings, there are two private dining spaces. The wine room has a retractable roof and white-washed wooden beams, as well as a herringbone-pattern wine wall, acid-wash concrete floors, and a palette of red, gold, and grey. Another private dining room for 10 has an antiqued mirrored wall, an opulent chandelier, arced plaster ceiling, and an original Toulouse-Lautrec print. Wood cabinetry that houses the venue's collection of wines flank the space.
Think long tables, cozy patios, massive ceiling beams, plank floors, and roaring wood fires set against the backdrop of vineyards and oaks at Triunfo Creek Vineyards. There's room for 130 guests indoors, and more outside under the open air or in tents. Triunfo is a private working vineyard, ranch, and organic farm that has recently opened to private events and filming, with limited availability for use through the harvest and holiday season for the first time. Venue fees range from $3,500 to $12,000 depending on the type of event, number of guests, and the time of day and year. The venue hosts only one event at a time.
Mr Chow is new in the seaside space in the Malibu Country Mart that once housed Nobu. It's been transformed with a white color palette and an intimate dining room with a view to the open kitchen. The experience includes a champagne trolley and theater in the form of Ella Hu, the restaurant's first female pasta chef, who pulls yards of pasta in the air. Signature dishes include chicken satay, green prawns, soup dumplings, lobster two ways, Peking duck, and scallion pancakes. A collection of specialty cocktails made with fresh ingredients is poured and presented against the cool, white, stone bar. The patio is draped in white linen, and is available separately, or the whole space is available for buyout.
Del Frisco's Grille opened in Santa Monica in July, adjacent to the entrance of the Santa Monica Pier. The venue has a menu that offers new twists on American comfort classics from executive chef Daniel Tiger. Dishes include wood oven–baked flat breads, steaks, and hearty salads. Del Frisco's worked with SF Jones Architects to create an environment inspired by the sea, with a sprawling patio overlooking Ocean Avenue combined with communal tables and an exhibition kitchen. The venue is available for holiday party buyout on select nights of the week.
Manhattan Beach's Chez Soi offers chef-partner Mark Gold's cooking in an environment meant to feel as comfortable and welcoming as a private home (the restaurant's name means "at home" in French). The 5,900-square-foot venue combines cream tones and light natural stone with warm lighting, dark-stained woods, and natural touches in the form of potted forsythia, lavender plants, and simple floral arrangements. There is a large indoor dining room, a large separate dining patio, and a lounge and two lounge patios. The space is available for buyouts, at a cost between $5,000 and $20,000 depending on day of week, time of day, and season.
Aventine Hollywood offers Italian fare from Adolfo Veronese, highlighting local produce as well as artisanal and house-made ingredients. Design firm Davis Ink transformed the historic 1920s Marion Building on Cahuenga Boulevard into a vintage space with industrial exposed beams, the building's original brick walls, and a marble pizza bar with an imported Italian wood-burning oven. A cocktail bar features refurbished, salvaged wood, old brass handrails, and a patina mirrored back bar. A patio lounge features 80-year-old olive trees. The space is available for buyout with a capacity of 400.
Opened in West Hollywood in May, Chi Lin is a collaboration between Innovative Dining Group and cuisine inspired by Cecile Tang of Joss. Chinese dishes include Maine lobster with ginger and scallion over house-made noodles; chicken carved and served with handmade porbien crêpes, plum sauce, and julienned cucumbers and scallions; and seared Wagyu served with the chef’s XO sauce and coarse sea salt. With a look by interior design firm Studio Collective, the space is meant to reflect the colors and tone of the Hong Kong skyline. The 5,000-square-foot space holds 100. The venue also shares a retractable wall with its sister restaurant RivaBella, for a total of 13,000 square feet. The spaces are available for buyout individually or together.
