by Richard Foss
For over a year, there was an apartment in Manhattan Beach that was the scene of the coolest, smartest parties. The place was decorated in tasteful luxury by a wealthy, urbane Mexican hotelier with a fondness for mid-century furniture, and guests sat on couches, sprawled on the bed, or stood near the well-stocked bar to chat. The owner, Arturo Valdez, was never seen, possibly because he was on a date with one of the telenovela actresses he had a weakness for.
Or perhaps nobody ever met Mr. Valdez because he didn’t actually exist, except in the mind of restaurateur Greg Newman. Newman had opened Esperanza Cocina de la Playa restaurant on Manhattan Beach Boulevard to immediate success, but with no immediate idea about what he was going to do with the space upstairs. It was zoned as an apartment, and he hatched the idea of creating an intimate event space and decorating it as a stylish hipster love shack. As Greg visualized the occupant, the name and character popped into his mind, and eventually developed a life and history that was worthy of an experienced fiction novelist. Greg then went about the task of reflecting on the nonexistent tenant with an attitude worthy of a Hollywood set designer, even though the original plan was that relatively few people would see it.
As Greg explains, “We were going to use it as a private events venue, but after Esperanza opened, we were so busy that we let people up there. Once they saw it, they wanted to be in that space, so we let them in. We started having regular dining up there, and then people hanging out, having social gatherings late at night. It was really busy, and no one seemed to mind.”
Until, inevitably, someone did. The city’s inspectors came to inquire about whether the correct permits were in place, and everything upstairs came to a halt. Arturo Valdez’s apartment went silent and untenanted while Greg figured out what to do. There were legitimate concerns about access, which had been a single stairway down to the alley behind the restaurant. To fix that would involve adding an elevator and stairway inside. That would not only reduce the seating downstairs, but force closure of the whole restaurant for months while the work was done. Greg decided it needed to happen, and the restaurant closed for four months. When asked whether the upstairs should have been incorporated into the restaurant’s design from the outset, his answer was surprising.
“They probably wouldn’t have approved it. This was a raging bar back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and they would have been worried that we were going to do a busy bar concept, even though we told them this is a restaurant. We had a lot of pushback even to do this, and they would never have approved the upstairs. I think it took them seeing how great Esperanza was for them to be like, “Oh, so it’s just going to be more Esperanza up there. Great, no problem.”
Arturo’s apartment is no longer what it was – the bed is gone, as is the tiled shower and other touches that made it seem like a place whose owner was out for the day. Still, it’s a more intimate and personal space than you’ll find in most eateries in downtown Manhattan Beach, and should offer a chill contrast to the pulsating energy of the main room downstairs.
Was theming a restaurant space around an imaginary person a one-off event, or is it now part of Greg Newman’s design philosophy? The answer seems to be the latter.
“We just opened a place called Hideaway in San Diego that is a retrospective of their surf, skate and music culture. It’s like an old beach bungalow of the type developers keep knocking down, but we built a really big one. There’s a whole story about the guy who owns it, a surfer named Lance who inherited it from his mother… I sketched out his story and worked with two different designers, collaborating on things that would tell his story.”
Hideaway is the fourteenth restaurant in which Greg has an ownership stake, ranging from San Diego to Santa Barbara, and he doesn’t seem to be done yet. There may be new characters to be created, each with their own quirks and foibles, expressed in little details of a dining room or watering hole with a personal touch. If Greg someday feels like collaborating with a filmmaker rather than a chef and architect, the sets for at least two movies will be ready to go.
When you visit Esperanza’s sleek upstairs space – and based on past experience, you should – raise a glass to Arturo Valdez. He will be with you in spirit, with an actress on one arm and a tequila drink close at hand.
The public will get their first chance to see the whole space on Thursday, June 26 when Esperanza is back in business.
