The lobby of the Long Beach Arena has been transformed from a basic entry walkway into a lounge that offers comfortable seating areas and eye-catching decor like artwork and colorful crystal chandeliers. The former Arena Lobby is now the Pacific Gallery, a venue that can be used separately or in conjunction with a convention or event. The patio area overlooks Rainbow Lagoon and Long Beach’s downtown waterfront. The 19,000-square-foot space can accommodate 1,400 for a reception or 800 for a seated event. The space's new look is part of a $40 million redo of the convention center.
Sirtaj Hotel is the newest boutique hotel property in Beverly Hills. Designed by Santa Monica’s Akar Studios, the overall look of the 32-room space is a mix of bright and muted colors and textures inspired by sights and the spices of the East. P.S. Beverly Hills is the hotel's intimate 50-seat indoor-outdoor restaurant and bar; the heated patio seats 32.Â
This month, Paligroup opens its newest hotel property, Palihouse Santa Monica. The 36-room venue is located in a Spanish Colonial Revival-style building that formerly housed the Embassy Hotel Apartments. It has been in operation since 1927 and maintained over the decades; the city named it a historic landmark in 2001. The hotel’s grand lobby has original fresco ceilings, Malibu tile floors, a wood-burning fireplace, and blown glass doors that open onto a private outdoor patio. The Palihouse Lobby Lounge is a café concept during the day with a cocktail and lounge menu at night. Suite sizes reach 2,850 square feet, and most rooms have fully equipped kitchens, separate vanity rooms, and walk-in closets for an urban apartment feel.
This spring, the Los Angeles Athletic Club completed its latest phase of a revamp with its new Invention Bar on the third floor. The bar offers a cocktail program created by Marcos Tello and Aidan Demarest of Liquid Assets with interiors styled by Tracy Beckmann Design. Originally built a century ago, the space served as a sitting room complete with spittoons on the floor and books on the walls. The new look pays homage to that idea with a concept based on old invention patents and drawings owned by former members and recently unearthed in the club’s storage. Cocktails include an assortment of archival bar staffs' recipes that were discovered in the club's old members' publication. The bar has light fixtures that resemble molecular structures, old patent documents on display, and vintage sports paraphernalia. Three years ago, Los Angeles Athletic Club completed the first phase of the renovation by remodeling the club’s 72-room and nine-suite boutique hotel.
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. There's room for 100 in 5,000 square feet. 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 buyouts individually or together.
The nightclub Create, formerly the Vanguard, opened in May as a partnership between SBE and electronic dance events producer Insomniac. Across more than 20,000 square feet, the renovated space includes a new Funktion One sound system and four distinct areas: an expansive main room, the Living Room lounge downstairs, a large patio with cabanas, and an upstairs private lounge. Within each space are V.I.P. areas, highlighted by four tables surrounding the DJ booth and stage, and a balcony booth upstairs provides guests with their own terrace overlooking the main room and performance area. It has what's being billed as the largest LED screen in L.A.
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-inspired 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.
Willie Jane is a a seasonal California restaurant that pays homage to the coastal cuisine of the Southern states. The restaurant, helmed by executive chef Govind Armstrong, offers large dishes meant for sharing, decor evocative of a quintessential Southern home, and a chef's garden that supplies the kitchen. Dishes include California quail with cornmeal dumplings and greens; collard-green pecan pesto over cast-iron chicken and cornbread panzanella; and rainbow trout with peanut and black-eyed pea hummus and Brussels sprouts slaw. Willie Jane’s design is a tribute to the French colonial style. Walls are papered in blue and green damask and lined with antique white wainscoting. A Mason jar filled with antique buttons and a collection of handwritten correspondence between a couple who lived in Venice in the 1940s are on display. There's communal and booth seating in the restaurant bar area, plus two covered patios lined with hanging plants, antique wall sconces, and vintage shutters.Â
Indian eatery Badmaash opened downtown in May. It features a menu that combines the flavors of Indian street food with an energetic downtown L.A. scene. Housed inside the historic Higgins Building, the space's look and feel comes from DEX Studio. The centerpiece is a two-story feature wall composed of colorful steel and wood stripes that evokes color found in traditional elements like saris, spices, and mandalas. The wall connects all three levels of the space. Dishes include spice lamb burgers, chicken tikka masala poutine, and crispy tamarind glazed pork belly.
El Corazon de Costa Mesa opened in April at the rebranded Triangle in Costa Mesa. Chef Armando Martinez, who trained with Rick Bayless and oversaw Bayless’s Red O restaurant in West Hollywood, helms the kitchen. There's also a menu of handcrafted cocktails, including margaritas made with combinations such as banana and mint, berries and basil, and spiked melon with a blend of watermelon and honeydew. The restaurant’s spacious patio has a resort-like feel with oversize palapas, lounge-like rattan chairs grouped around individual fire pits, and tropical foliage. The dining room and patio share a double-sided fireplace.
