oh! restaurant officially opens as ‘o bar & kitchen’
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After a long delay and false start over the new year, O Hotel’s swish lobby eatery now known as O Bar & Kitchen (unrelated to the similarly-named West Hollywood establishment) has officially opened for business.
The restaurant held a low-key soft opening a couple weeks ago, and several key details have changed since our First Look feature back in October.
Former Noe Restaurant sous chef Vahan Tokmadjian has been recruited to helm the kitchen and bring a degree of sophistication to the dining experience.
Under the direction of the new culinary team, the menu has shifted towards “new American cuisine with a Mediterranean flair” comprised mainly of tapas, salads, soups and Tuscan flatbreads with a limited selection of sandwiches for lunch and entrees during dinner hours, which run until 11:00pm daily.
While availability may be expanded down the road, breakfast hours are now reserved for hotel guests only.
Wowed by the Wagyu
A personal preview taste offered by the chef late last week started with a trio mezza with white bean hummus, eggplant caviar and feta piquillo presented on artist palette-shaped plate, a creation equally refined, simple and flavorful.
Next in line came the extraordinary Wagyu burger topped with pickled shallots, bacon horseradish and provolone cheese (served with a side of truffle Parmesan tots) — an overnight sensation, I’m told, among early repeat patrons.
Food and Beverage Director Jana Barrett insisted I sample the colossal picture-perfect patty stack, which she explains will be contending for this year’s best Downtown burger award.
Wearily taking a wide bite amid high expectations, I was instantly jolted by the rush of exquisite satisfaction and flavor — the Wagyu burger is pure confection, a bold statement coming from a staunch vegetarian who sways only in the line of journalistic duty.
Tommy’s and Pete’s, you’ve been warned.
South Park Gets With It, SoHo Style
Aside from the palatable food offerings, Barrett and her team have created a chic urban hangout in Downtown’s South Park neighborhood, akin on many fronts to Jean Georges’ Mercer Kitchen (of The Mercer) in New York City.
An expansive brick wall lined with orange strips of ambient light and nature-inspired photography by Oregon-based Craig Pavilionis connects the hotel’s lobby space with the rear bar area.
The back wall of the venue adjacent to the bar is set to showcase projected Charlie Chaplin classics, a feature designed to also be seen by patrons lounging on the upper mezzanine level overlooking the dining hall where a future VIP room will be made accessible.
Adding to the nightlife mix is a separate 7,000 square-foot underground ultra-lounge beneath the hotel and restaurant expected to come on line later this year. Barrett explains the hotel is in the process of securing a second liquor license for the new lounge enabling alcohol sales until last call.
Appealing to the Masses
Several bi-monthly events organized to appeal to a variety of locals are also in the works, and promise to usher in a steady stream of repeat customers.
“Every first and third Tuesday of the month from 6:00pm to 8:00pm we offer free sangrias,” says Sales & Marketing Manager Azzi Kashani, who calls herself the in-house party girl.
“It started about a month ago and is already very popular,” she explains, referring to the bar lounge component that opened earlier this year already drawing a regular casual crowd.
Business women looking for a more cultivated after-work drink setting may enjoy the free champagne offered on Ladies Night every Wednesday from 6:00 to 7:00pm.
For those with more edgy tastes, a musical function called Downtown Sound will be held every second and fourth Tuesday (beginning in April) from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. Music industry new-comers wishing to exhibit their talent will be allowed to play their unique beats for all the ears in the restaurant.
Fans and pioneers of the independent music scene are encouraged to attend.
O Bar & Kitchen
Lobby of the O Hotel
819 S. Flower Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
213-623-9904
ohotelgroup.com
Lunch: 11:00am to 3:00pm daily
Dinner: 3:00pm to 11:00pm daily
-oh! restaurant debuting after the new year
-first look: orchid hotel’s oh! restaurant & bar
17 comments
those are my brother’s photographs on that wall!!!
~michele in oregon~
Nice! Swankier environs and better lookin’ foods/drinks/specials than the other O Bar (in WeHo)…
What are the prices like?
Very reasonable - in the $7 to $9 for most items, except entrees which are around $20.
I can try to get the menus posted later tonight.
hmm, looks and sounds great. is this the kind of place that you can recommend for a downtown blogger’s birthday party?
As long as you don’t blog about it afterward!
my recent track record on blogging speaks for itself.
Sounds very reasonably priced. I can’t wait to try out the burger!
south park is rounding out very well.
Bottle Rock, O restaurant, Hygee, Kor’s restaurant, Rivera 26, LA live, Doheny, etc.
It is shaping up very nicely. Places like these will be needed to sell lofts in the coming months.
^^^Bottle Rock, O Restaurant, Hygee, Kor’s, Rivera 26, Doheny also Palms, ESPN Zone, the Farm, Flemings, Rosa Mexicana, Yard house, Katsuya, Conga Room, Lucky Strike, Club Nokia and dont forget all the other upcoming restaurant spaces in 717 9th, Hanover, Luma, Skyline, LA Central, etc wow by 2015 South Park will be a total LA hotspot
2015? Most of those places will be open by next year!
Hmmm… walked by there tonight, looked at the dinner menu… “small plates” are $9-$12, “large plates” are $15+. The burger is $18. No thanks.
Sincerely,
2 poor 4 downtown
This place has great potential and the food was great. (Black truffle parmesan tots are deadly- we ordered another round!) So why was nobody there on a Saturday night? It was very quiet and lonely. The Charlie Chaplin film projection made a great backdrop but nobody was around to appreciate it. Let’s get more bodies into this restaurant. It’s a great hangout! The fireplace is super swank. Maybe a better music selection would help. It was all 80’s remixes- blah.
beautiful and cozy. food is fantastic!
i agree—i think some of the most innovative food downtown right now is here! i was there a couple of weeks ago around 6:30 p.m. on a week day and to my pleasant surprise it was packed. usually i’m there late at night, when it’s much more sedate. but the food is always fantastic. i’ve eaten there about 8 times in the last couple of months and never had a bad meal.
I need to say it. I am very surprised at the good responses this hotel has gotten. I stayed there for a weekend and it was one of the worst experiences I’ve had. First I paid way to much for a room that wouldn’t be fit for anybody. There was a hot water leak in the tub all weekend long, I don’t know how many gallons of water was wasted. When I asked for a new room, and/or the leak to be fixed there was always some excuse to why the management couldn’t make it happen. The food, ahhhh the food; took about an hour for a steak and when it did arrive a manager was nice enough to bring it out. The manager actually placed a cold steak in front of me and apologized for the wait, that was nice. However, when I told her that the steak was cold and dry,she apologized again and told me that the kitchen was closed and there was no way to reorder. I went to sleep hungry that night. The steak was to be taken off the bill, and never was. I will never go back.
i agree absolute crap !
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