Frank Gehry Meets José Andrés at Downtown L.A.’s San Laurel Restaurant; The Hideaway Opens in Beverly Hills

10.08.2022 - 19:51 / variety.com

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorNearly two decades after the Frank Gehry-designed Disney Hall opened in Downtown Los Angeles, the eye-catching edifice has welcomed a sibling across the street with the Grand L.A. The Gehry-designed Grand includes luxury apartments, the Conrad Los Angeles hotel and a clutch of drinking and dining concepts from José Andrés, including San Laurel, Agua Viva and later this year, a branch of the Bazaar Meat steakhouse.Andrés, who closed L.A.’s Bazaar in 2020, continues to rack up headlines for his humanitarian work feeding disaster victims, while simultaneously overseeing a global restaurant empire.

His plan to open in downtown L.A. has been gestating more more than 10 years, says Sam Bakhshandehpour, president of Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup.

“I love the fact that we could drive traffic to a part of downtown L.A. that frankly needed a little more love,” says Bakhshandehpour.

“It’s something José has done time and time again.” He calls San Laurel’s California-meets-Spain cuisine “an elevated experience” with flavor profiles that are a lot more bold, inviting and rich. “We took advantage of all the incredible produce that’s available and created a menu that could provide that experience, leading with sustainability, California farmers and then putting that touch of Spain that José does so well on top of it.” That means dishes like a bone-in Wagyu Blackhawk Farms rib-eye, celeriac carpaccio with noisette butter, and Andrés’ famous tomato tartare.