drago centro building recipe for success
Heavy-weight restaurateur Celestino Drago, of Enoteca Drago Ristorante and Il Pastaio fame, is assembling a team of notable names to helm his upcoming Downtown venture, Drago Centro.
By way of Eater LA, we learn that former Bastide chef Walter Manzke has been appointed Executive Chef, and is currently away in Italy to research and craft the finest menu of traditional Italian cuisine for the restaurant’s early fall debut.
Adding to the dream team are Matteo Ferdinandi, former head of Beverly Hills-based Cut, now involved with Drago Centro as acting partner and General Manager, and Giuseppe Mollica, long-time affiliate of Santa Monica’s Valentino, who has been recruited to help run the front of the house.
Expect this to be a top-tier operation.
Drago Centro is currently under construction in the retail pavilion of National City Plaza, next door to French-Japanese fusion eatery Chaya Brasseria, also underway.
-BREAKING: Manzke Lands Downtown (Eater LA)
-chaya brasserie under construction; drago coming downtown
downtown’s grand vision
A few weeks ago I was given an opportunity to set forth my thoughts on the Frank Gehry-designed Grand Avenue Project and what its overall impact will be on the fabric of Downtown Los Angeles, in the form of an Opinion piece that ran in this past Sunday’s LA Times.
While it’s a lengthy read, my argument is that great cities are formed and thrive when the right mix of planning and free-market initiative take hold to produce a project that reflects those served by it.
Take too much of one side of the equation and the project may not happen. Worse still, a completed project may become a white elephant hindering the potential of a neighborhood for decades.
The first phase of the Frank Gehry-designed Grand Avenue Project may have faults — extreme amounts of parking, consistent delays and large public subsidies to developer Related Cos., for one — but overall it’s a beautiful, unique collection of shops, residences and hotel rooms that will no doubt bring international attention to the revitalization of Downtown LA.
electric daisy carnival an even bigger hit than previous year
Looks like word of success for last year’s Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) got out because the crowd on Saturday was bigger than ever. There were more carnival rides this year, including the stomach-churning “MegaDrop.”
Party goers certainly got a lot of bang for their buck.
At 8:00pm text messages from friends indicated there was a monstrous line of people waiting to get into Exposition Park. That did not bode well so early in the night. We decided to take a cab since time spent finding parking and walking to the event would only delay our arrival.
details on cgv cinema coming to coutyard madang
A film industry look at South Korea’s largest multiplex chain — coming to Koreatown this November — was provided by Variety late last week.
According to the publication, CJ Entertainment’s CJ CGV chain set up CJ CGV America Holdings back in 2006 to operate its first subsidiary in the United States.
The company plans to expand throughout seven or eight major domestic markets, beginning with its initial location near Wilshire and Western — conveniently accessible to Downtowners via the Metro Rail Purple Line.
‘park 101′ vision downtown’s next big thing
A grand proposal to cap Downtown’s half-mile stretch of the 101 Freeway was publicly presented at the Caltrans Headquarters on Friday to a large audience of government officials, area stakeholders and curious residents.
Dubbed simply ‘Park 101’, the vision was formulated by 24 summer interns of EDAW, one of the world’s leading design firms. The company’s highly-acclaimed intern program, in its twenty-eighth year, brings together students from all over the world to address issues of regional or international significance — in this case, a progressive urban planning concept adapted to the unique needs of inner city Los Angeles.
Through site visits, discussions with state and local officials, EDAW staff and other design professionals participated with the students as a team to explore possible solutions to reconnect two halves of Downtown severed by the construction of the 101 Freeway.
All the details, including a vision for the West Coast’s tallest building, after the jump…
art gallery signs lease at 5th and spring
Joining the soon-to-open Crocker Club inside the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring is Phyllis Stein Art Gallery (aka PSA), a fine art venue focusing on emerging artists and film production rentals.
With the assistance of the Historic Downtown Retail Project, PSA signed a lease on the building’s ground floor last month and a grand opening celebration is scheduled for Thursday, July 10.
Councilman Jose Huizar will be present to officiate the ribbon cutting ceremony being held at 6:00pm that evening. Immediately following the public event from 7:00pm to 11:00pm is the artists’ opening reception. Complimentary hors d’ oeuvres will be served.
local gay nightlife scene heats up with ‘the hideout’
Early next month, Downtown is “coming out” and raising its bid to become the next gay mecca of Los Angeles.
The Hideout, a new gay lounge/club concept organized by angelenic contributer Bryan Higgins, will be hosted on a bi-weekly basis at Tranquility Base starting Saturday, July 12.
Don’t let the restaurant venue or the event name fool you.
Tranquility’s expansive outdoor lounge with cabanas and fire pit is ideally suited to accommodate large crowds, and the main dining room space will be converted into a dance floor where DJ Digital Imposter is set to spin out house tunes until 2:00am.
To get people in the door (as if the theme isn’t enough), there’s no cover charge. Also, $4-$5 specials for wine, drafts and cocktails will be offered for the first hour of the night. Everyone is invited to attend.
