Sherry Yard’s new culinary project, the Tuck Room Tavern, opened in June at iPic Theater Westwood, serving American fare. Cocktails draw inspiration from Hollywood’s Golden Age, including punch bowls meant to be shared. Dishes include Santa Monica farmers' market nightly specials, brioche-crusted Maryland crab cakes, reuben croquettes, and grilled rib eye. The venue has room for 250 guests standing, or 75 for seated events. The Parlor Room holds 60 standing, or 30 in lounge seating. The Den holds 40 seated guests, or 60 for receptions. And the Conservatory holds 25 seated guests, or 70 for receptions.
InterContinental Los Angeles Century City has introduced several new dining concepts, marking the final phase of a recent multi-million-dollar renovation. Led by executive chef Jonathan Wood, Copper Lounge and the new signature restaurant Mari Los Angeles opened in July with a menu of globally inspired dishes. Wood has served as the executive chef and director of food and beverage at the hotel for eight years. The reception capacity for Mari Los Angeles is 150, and 75 for Copper Lounge. The hotel’s renovation also brought enhancements to all public spaces, function space, and newly redesigned guest rooms and suites. The new one-bedroom premier terrace suites feature expansive, furnished outdoor space overlooking downtown Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills. Upgrades to the hotel’s spa and new Grand Chateau Ballroom were also completed last year.
Ciel Spa at the SLS Beverly Hills has been acquired by Pearl Wellness. The 5,000-square-foot Philippe Starck-designed space reopened in August with new luxury services, product lines, and options for festive group entertaining. There are six treatment rooms including a couple's massage room with side-by-side soaking tubs, as well as the 1,000-square-foot relaxation lounge offering snacks from SLS culinary director José Andrés. There is room for 150 people for reception-style events on a flow. Groups can rotate guests through treatments during the course of an event.
Obicà Sunset Plaza opened in September, the third location for the mozzarella bar restaurant, with views of the city and new menu items. Obicà Group’s corporate executive chef Erind Halilaj serves a selection of signature dishes, such as mozzarella imported twice a week from Italy, as well as new additions. The fare emphasizes regional Italian cooking—like pizza ouvo (with egg), and cavolfiore al forno (oven-cooked cauliflower). The venue is available for buyouts and seats about 120.
Partners Beau Laughlin, Brett Cranston, and Jay Milliken opened their Silver Lake restaurant Kettle Black in August, following the success of newly opened nearby sister restaurant Sawyer. Executive chef Sydney C. Hunter III helms the kitchen. Originally home to the California Bank, the space seats 105 guests and features a modern take on a rustic vibe with artisanal and handmade food and cocktails. The venue prominently displays an original vault from when the building was first built in 1922. Centerpieces of the look include 17-foot ceilings, original tile, brick, and vaulted wood truss beams. Modern updates include mid-century dining chairs, hexagon marble floor tiles, custom iron and walnut chairs, banquets made with raw denim fabric, tapered legs with brass fittings, and Carrera marble table and bar tops. There’s an enormous brass back bar, a recessed front patio off of Sunset Boulevard hidden by a roll-up door, a topography-inspired art installation, 120 contemporary wood pendants hanging over the dining room, custom firewood racks, and a potted succulent installation on the patio.
Winsome, recently named one of Bon Appetit's 50 Best New Restaurants, opened for dinner in August. The neighborhood eatery’s new dinner menu includes plates meant for sharing such as whole roasted branzino or rib eye, with pastry chef Leslie Mialma’s Faloodeh and Almond Milk Slushy (rose water and rice noodle granita, housemade vanilla almond milk, market strawberries) for dessert. There’s a wine and beer list, plus cocktails from beverage director Edwin Cruz such as the At Last (pisco, matcha tea and fresh lychee syrup, lemon juice, egg white, angostura bitters-soaked finger limes). Seated capacity is 90, or the venue holds 100 for receptions.
Georgie, the new American restaurant from chef Geoffrey Zakarian, fully opened in the Montage Beverly Hills in July; dinner service began in June. There are five distinct private dining spaces. The smallest private room, Clementine, holds 12 for seated events; the largest space, Beverly Terrace, holds 40 seated or 60 standing. A full buyout accommodates 350 for receptions. The Garden Bar, which is also located in The Montage and created by Zakarian, can be booked for semiprivate and private events for as many as 300. Both Georgie and the Garden Bar can be combined for a total buyout of 600.
Spotify hosted a summer block party for its 750 employees on June 8. Held at the Knockdown Center in Queens, New York, the event featured basketball courts, a disco ball, a roller rink, a 1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille photo booth, and a performance by T-Pain. An interactive graffiti wall allowed guest to spray paint their own designs. The event was planned and produced by Tinsel & Twine.
Comic-Con International, which was held from July 20 to 23 in San Diego, is known for over-the-top stunts and interactive fan experiences. Comedy Central series Broad City got in on the action for the first time this year with a life-size coloring book activation. Illustrations designed by Broad City artist Mike Perry covered the walls and furniture.
Throughout the long weekend, attendees used neon paint to add color. The activation—which took place at the San Diego Wine & Culinary Center—also offered Broad City-inspired manicures and temporary tattoos.
On July 20, the Long Beach Convention Center opened its newest event space, the Cove, with a street party that included food trucks and games such as ping-pong and foosball. In honor of Long Beach's history as a port town, and to tie into Pow Wow Long Beach, which created large outdoor murals around the city, the event at the Cove featured large shipping containers that guests could paint throughout the evening. The containers were provided by Duncan & Son Lines.
At BizBash Live: Los Angeles and BizBash Live: Florida, held on July 19 and May 4, respectively, Champagne Creative Group encouraged guest participation at its booth with a giant coloring book.
To mark the launch of her new line at Michaels, Martha Stewart hosted a colorful, interactive paint party at Hudson Studios in New York on June 15. David Stark Design and Production built a colorful house facade out of 2,710 bottles of home-decor paint and watercolor-craft paint. Guests were invited to grab paint brushes from window boxes, then go to work painting everything inside the house—including rugs, couches, lampshades, duvet covers, nightstands, and more. Organizers wanted to show the versatility of the paint, which can be used on fabric, wood, glass, ceramic, and metal surfaces.
Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry draws top chefs and mixologists who donate their time and efforts to end childhood hunger in America. The 2017 event, which was held on June 11 at Media Park in Los Angeles, included tastes from more than 40 restaurants, breweries, wineries, and mixologists. Guests were invited to grab a paint brush and contribute to a mural using paint supplies donated by Yoobi.
Toronto architectural studio Raw Design hosted its annual “Raw” party in June 2015, taking over a 3,000-square-foot industrial space. The 3,000 guests became an “army of artists,” according to organizer Kim Graham, and were invited to help create a giant paint-by-numbers picture, spray paint onto other guests, write on the wall, and paint on bottles at the bar.
At Diffa Dining by Design at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart in November 2015, doodling was encouraged at the table designed by Allsteel and Henricksen. The design incorporated pages plucked from adult coloring books, and centerpieces held crayons and colored pencils.
Art doesn’t have to involve paints and markers. At the inaugural Panorama music festival, held on Randall’s Island in New York in July 2016, Macy's partnered with LeadDog Marketing Group to produce the Macy's Oasis. The lounge gave festivalgoers a chance to relax, and featured a string art wall created by attendees.
In 2016, national furniture rental company AFR introduced a new initiative called #ColorYourEvents, which allows guests to grab a marker and color in branded decals that are adhered to tabletops. Clients provide the artwork and markers, and AFR handles the decal printing and pasting. Pricing depends on the item and the size.
At the New York City Wine & Food Festival, held in October 2016 at Piers 92 and 94, a Coca-Cola-sponsored barbecue showcased a giant illustration of New York that guests were encouraged to color in throughout the event's duration. The illustration was created by Robert Gerdts, artistic director of Warren Moore Events.
