Here's a look at the best new Los Angeles restaurants, corporate event venues, hotels, conference centers, and private and party rooms to open this spring. These new and renovated Los Angeles venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, conferences, meetings, weddings, business dinners, teambuilding activities, cocktail parties, and more.
The aviation-theme studio Air Hollywood, home to sets for such movies as Airplane! and Bridesmaids, has a unique new venue/dinner theater experience for guests: The Pan Am Experience is a mock-up built from interior components of a retired 747, along with newly fabricated pieces, restored to the look and feel of 1970s air travel glamour. Within the space, servers dressed in period uniforms serve a four-course meal to guests seated in airplane seats, upholstered to match those of real Pan Am planes of the '70s, followed by cocktails and a film appropriate to the era. The space reproduces details of the flight experience, including the wave pattern wallpaper, the iconic carpeted wall on the forward bulkhead, and the color scheme of the galleys, carts, linens, and tray liners. China, stemware, and silverware are all original from the airline. The fully programmed experience is available for buyouts of 32, or the space can be used without the full program for as many as 500. Bookings should be made well in advance. The Pan Am Experience opened in October.
Redbird formally opened in January (after a soft opening in December) at Vibiana downtown. The restaurant, from Neal Fraser, comprises an interior lounge with 24 seats at a marble bar and an alfresco dining area in the courtyard with a retractable roof. Fraser's menu offers seasonal and sharable plates, and the cocktail program comes from Julian Cox and Tobin Shea. The atmosphere contrasts existing architecture with contemporary finishes. Designer Robert Weimer and Amy Knoll Fraser maintain the rectory building’s Spanish Baroque details with a hand-painted ceiling by artist Guerin Swing and arched doorways. Other details include an original silver door that was a gift from the papacy in 1933. The space also features new and found accent pieces in the lounge, around the bar, and in the courtyard. The venue measures 1,800 square feet inside and 1,500 square feet outside.
The London West Hollywood hotel, in the second phase of its $25 million renovation, opened a new 110-seat screening room in January. Conceptualized by Gonzalez Architects with interiors by Richmond Design, it's billed as the largest on-site screening room for a hotel in the Los Angeles market. The screening room is on the hotel's first floor, located off the main lobby and across from signature restaurant Gordon Ramsay. It has a contemporary design with plush seating and wall coverings in a palette of taupe and plum. There's a 20- by 8.5-foot screen, Dolby 3-D, Christie 4K Digital Projector, Dolby Digital 7.1, and satellite broadcasting capabilities, and it works in conjunction with VGA and HDMI inputs.
The Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills has several new options for meeting and event groups. First, there's been an overhaul to all 10 of the hotel's meeting rooms, which now have a residential feel. Sue Firestone of SFA Design redesigned the spaces with new hand-loomed custom carpets in deep purple and silver. The Wetherly Room underwent a significant renovation that slimmed down its columns and other measures that increased the volume of space. Decorative chandeliers and pendants hang in the room, which also features new hand-tufted carpets and Italian porcelain tiles. Multipaned French doors have been replaced by modern sliding glass for a full view of the garden patio. Electric heaters have been installed outside, and landscape lighting was replaced by LED lighting to highlight the mature plantings in a newly designed landscaping project. The Promenade received new Italian tile flooring and succulents.
On the fourth floor, the hotel also has a new nail salon, appropriate for pampering V.I.P.s or hosting small group events. The Nail Suite offers four pedicure stations and two manicure stations, with imported custom glass mosaic treatment bowls. Manicure tables have custom floral glass pattern etching. The ceiling has a handcrafted stainless starburst chandelier with multicolored jewel tones and smoked-glass diffusers.
Restaurateur Stephane Bombet of Bombet Hospitality Group and chef Kris Morningstar opened Terrine in December. The brasserie on Beverly Boulevard is located in the former Pane e Vino space and offers dinner plus a late-night menu at the restaurant, bar, and garden. Managing partner and wine director François Renaud, formerly of the Tasting Kitchen, curates the primarily French wine list to complement the menu of seasonal California comfort food. The restaurant has nearly equal indoor and outdoor spaces. The patio has a 20-year-old tree as its focal point. Inside, an exposed whitewashed brick wall is complemented by warm woods and accents of glass and copper, including a copper and marble bar. The redesigned kitchen has a large window facing into the restaurant. Adjacent to the bar is a large wood-burning pizza oven and a viewable wine cellar storing 1,000 bottles. Throughout the restaurant is banquet-style Oxblood leather seating. The dining room and garden each seat 60 for a total of 120.
Hotel Maya’s new 6,400-square-foot Lagunita waterfront pavilion event space opened in December. The 80- by 80-foot event venue offers views of the Pacific Ocean, Long Beach skyline, and Queen Mary. The permanent space has a cathedral-style ceiling that frames five oversize chandeliers and is accentuated by two 13-feet tall floor-to-ceiling glass walls that open to panoramic views. The space holds 600 guests for receptions, or 400 with a dance floor; it seats 450 in rounds or 350 classroom-style. To enter the space, guests pass through Vista del Mar, a 10,000-square-foot outdoor area lined with eight towering palm trees and a red carpet that opens to a permanent outdoor stage, a water and fire display, drought-tolerant foliage, a rock-faced fire pit, an alfresco bar, and a reception area. Vista del Mar holds 700 guests for a reception or seats 350 guests. Together, Lagunita and Vista del Mar hold 1,000 for receptions.
The H.wood Group opened Blind Dragon in January. The Asian-theme karaoke bar and lounge features royal dynasty-inspired fixtures and nostalgic furnishings, including a hidden entrance and a life-size statue of Bruce Lee. The 2,800-square-foot venue has three unique private karaoke rooms, complete with TV screens and audio systems. There is a full bar and menu, including sharable punch bowls and '80s pop-culture-inspired cocktails. It holds 150 for receptions and is available for buyout.
Ford's Filling Station opened in December at the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live. From chef and restaurateur Ben Ford, the restaurant focuses on sustainable, regional cuisine and a new cocktail program. From Claire Stansfield Design, decor includes structured pieces mixed with repurposed items for a residential feel. Reclaimed brick frames the kitchen, and wooden shutters and trees contrast with brass fixtures and orb lighting. A private dining room holds 50, or the whole venue is available for buyouts of 140.
Preux & Proper opened in December in downtown Los Angeles. The restaurant in the two-story space, formerly the Parish, takes its inspiration from New Orleans and Louisiana. It has two distinct dining areas, including a downstairs frozen daiquiri bar and an upstairs raw bar, as well as stacked open-air patios with pub-style tables. Menus include a California interpretation of New Orleans cuisine paired with strong cocktails. Small and sharable plates include smoked shrimp beignets and deviled eggs. There's room for receptions of 120 guests.
Marina del Rey Hotel, the marina’s first hotel, reopened in January after a $25 million renovation. Originally opened in 1964, the property features 164 updated rooms and suites, a full-service restaurant called Salt, 24-hour room service, a concierge marina-facing pool and sundeck, a waterfront wedding venue, multiple meeting spaces, and boat slips. There is a total of 9,700 square feet of event space, which can hold 350 for receptions.
