Beach 2016: The Year In Dining
Rebel Republic’s Matthew Konen with a Rebel burger. The Riviera Village restaurant opened last summer with patio dining that displaced street parking. Photo
It seems strange to say it, but 2016 was a comparatively quiet year in much of the South Bay dining scene. This isn’t because few places opened, because over fifty did, but because after several years in which outrageous and eccentric concepts were brought to the market, this year was relatively sane. Perhaps the high cost of real estate in the South Bay made investors and chefs prefer sure things, but with few exceptions the restaurants that debuted this year followed familiar paths.
Gastropubs continue to flourish, as do Italian restaurants, eclectic pizzerias, and places where small plates and craft cocktails are the focus. No new steakhouses opened, though the ones we have seem to be doing well. The only big fad this year was Hawaiian poke – at least six places opened that serve almost nothing else, and that doesn’t count the restaurants that serve marinated tuna salads alongside other stuff. It’s hard to believe that a city the size of El Segundo needs four restaurants specializing in poke, two of which are only a block from each other, but the city has them. There are two poke specialists almost as close to each other in Hermosa. It’s great stuff, but a sudden rise in seafood prices or a change in public taste could leave these scrambling for a new concept.
There were some welcome newcomers that brought new cuisines to the Beach Cities. Hermosa’s Brat & Brau seems to be doing great business serving German sausages and beer, and Bollywood Zaika’s idea of repurposing Indian food for fast food salads, burritos, and sandwiches is a genuinely creative idea. The relaunch of Hermosa’s Akbar Indian restaurant as Kochi, with a shift to a focus on South Indian food, was brave and deserves to succeed. With rare exceptions, local Indian restaurants have almost identical menus of tandoori items and standard curries and breads. This one is remarkably different and should bring in adventurous diners, and it’s a good bet that other South Asian restaurateurs are watching to see how they do.
Going city by city, the biggest surprise was where things didn’t happen. Manhattan Beach had only two new eateries open this year, the Sunlife Organics juice bar and the tiny Crepe Lab in El Porto. The downtown area continues to be a major nightlife destination and will get at least one new restaurant next year in the former Twelve and Highland space, plus whatever goes in where Marine Street Café was was. Fishbar proved once again that you can operate a popular restaurant while doing major renovations, and La Sosta’s failure showed that our appetite for boutique Italian restaurants is not limitless. The ambitious concept announced for the former Cantina Real space seems to have been abandoned, stalling the upscaling of the PCH scene.
Jenna, Jason, and Jonathan Baran of Baran’s 2239. Photo .
Hermosa’s downtown also had no major openings; the most ambitious new place was Baran’s 2239 on PCH. Multiple concepts were floated for the former Establishment space on Hermosa Avenue, and it now seems that an Asian fusion restaurant is planned in that space. The Pier Plaza will perk up when Tower 12 opens, and along with Palmilla’s expansion this will add more energy to the already lively scene.
Redondo’s most ambitious opening of this year was its biggest failure, as Azure’s Egyptian fusion didn’t catch on and the place lasted only nine months. Riviera Village remained lively and the opening of the dining decks seems to have added to the European-style streetlife, though at the cost of making parking worse. The city lost some institutions when Thai Tani and El Indio closed, but will gain one back when Chicago For Ribs reopens in the former Casa Pulido space. Shade Hotel’s restaurant Sea Level debuted, but otherwise the area around the pier and boardwalk has been quiet as everyone waits to see what will happen with the proposed Center Cal development. When any project gets confirmed, as one must someday, there is a lot of pent-up interest in this area.
El Segundo had a lot of openings, most of them corporate chains in mall or business park locations. The opening of the Rob Rubens brewery and distillery added extra energy to the craft beer scene, and the WXYZ Lounge brought craft cocktails and hip surroundings to the highway corridor. The Point development was broadly successful, though continuing problems with parking at mealtimes suggests that the mix of restaurant and retail here is off. The most watched projects for next year are the Brewport gourmet market and tasting room and the two Petros restaurants in the Elevon development. The fact that several Main Street restaurants are for sale indicates that there will be movement there. There will also be change along Rosecrans,
Torrance continued to diversify and upscale, with the opening of high-end chain places in the Del Amo center making the area a credible dining destination. There are ambitious locally owned places too, and Primo Italia and Restoration Kitchen both offer a finer experience than has been available in their respective categories. The city has been an Asian food hothouse for some time and beach city residents have been venturing there for Korean and Japanese food rivaling the standards of Little Tokyo and K-Town.
Palos Verdes has been quiet with only two openings, the very good Plates Bistro serving innovative American food and the relaunched Salsa Verdes. Terranea relaunched their Catalina Kitchen and added to to the cocktail offerings around the resort, but not much else has happened on the hill.
Besides those previously mentioned, the places we lost include Buffalo Fire Department, Cali Cantina, Cozymel’s, Doma Kitchen (moved to Marina del Rey), Farm Stand, Jimmy’s, Lou’s on the Hill, Playa Blanca, and Sesame Moe’s. Looking forward, watch for more combination gourmet stores and bakeries with attached restaurants, and for more quick serve and counter ordering as restaurants experiment with cost cutting.
Despite predictions of doom based on the new tipped wage law and increasing rents in the area, the dining scene seems healthy. The average cost of dining out hasn’t increased and may have even dropped as modest places replaced high concepts, and the standard of service seems to be inching up. It may have been a quiet year in our area, but that’s only by comparison with the hectic past year or two – most other places would be thrilled to have this level of activity.