A steak house from chef Nancy Silverton, the Barish, debuted Oct. 21 in the historic Hollywood Roosevelt hotel on Los Angeles’ Hollywood Boulevard. This marks the first new restaurant from Silverton since 2013, when she added Chi Spacca to her list of ventures that includes Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner Osteria Mozza.
Though the restaurant isn’t yet open for indoor dining due to local COVID-19 restrictions, seating is currently available on the Hollywood Roosevelt’s palm-lined patio, where guests can enjoy Silverton’s signature Italian-influenced cuisine alongside a wine program managed by general manager Jerald Armstrong. The list is strongest in picks from Italy and California, with a range of whites from Friuli, Sonoma, Santa Barbara and farther abroad. The reds offer a mix of Italian picks from Piedmont, Tuscany and Sicily, with domestic options including Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The wine list is supported by a menu of Italian-style cocktails and aperitifs. Armstrong told Wine Spectator he plans to reach about 175 wines on the list once the Barish is open indoors, plus an additional 50 to 75 wines on a reserve list and a by-the-glass program of about 15 selections.
Chef Armen Ayvazyan is overseeing Silverton’s menu, with a focus on her hallmark flavors. “It will be a take on a classic steak house but with Italian inspired sensibilities,” Armstrong said. “Lots of little surprises.” The antipasti are a hearty affair of dishes like pizza fritti, pancetta-wrapped pork sausage and lamb riblets. Entrées include lamb chops, grilled Japanese snapper, a pork chop and a 30-day-aged New York strip. Per Armstrong, the restaurant will have a similar spirit to Silverton’s other restaurants, coming from a “common obsession” with great ingredients.
When indoor dining returns, the hotel’s interior will include a private-dining space and two more Silverton-run spots: A wine-and-cheese bar, Lorenzo’s, and a lounge called the Lobby, with a bar and drink-friendly “finger foods.” All three concepts feature redesigns that honor the existing space. “The Hollywood Roosevelt is a historic building and we wanted the design to stay close to what might have originally been here,” Armstrong said, “with some modern convenience of course.”
Alongside these new restaurants at the Roosevelt, Silverton is also set to open a takeout restaurant in Culver City called Pizette on Nov. 12. The openings come at the end of a difficult year for Silverton and her team, with the looting and destruction of several of her and partner Joe Bastianich’s restaurants in May.—Collin Dreizen
French Steak House and Late-Night Venue Opens in Baltimore
Baltimore-based Atlas Restaurant Group opened Monarque in the city’s Harbor East neighborhood Oct. 26. The latest addition to the Atlas portfolio (which includes Best of Award of Excellence winners Tagliata and Bygone) combines a nightlife venue with a French steak house, featuring whimsical acts alongside a serious wine list.
“[We] try to find what Baltimore is missing and try to provide it,” Monarque’s director of operations David Goodman said of the restaurant group’s mission. In this case, the team noticed the need for a place where guests could convene for after-dinner entertainment, and founder Alex Smith was particularly inspired by the style of spots he saw during visits to France. “We had that vision of the dark red curtain being pulled back, of the burlesque dancer sitting on a piano, and it built from there.”
On Wednesdays and Thursdays, Monarque features lower-key entertainment like live music during dinner service. There are similar shows on Fridays and Saturdays, but those are followed by late-night entertainment starting at 10 p.m. such as dancers, a contortionist and even a sword swallower. A 44-seat bar allows guests to stop in just for the late-night show.
The menu is a main attraction too, made up of classic steak-house cuisine with luxurious add-ons like crab Oscar and black-truffle butter, as well as French staples like beef tartare made tableside, seared foie gras and escargot. The exclusively French, 400-label wine list is meant to cater to both styles on the menu. “Whether it’s a reasonable large Beaujolais list to go with some of our hors d’oeuvres, or a reasonably well built-out Bordeaux list to handle our steak program, we wanted to find the niche of all of that,” Goodman said.
The wines-by-the-glass program is intentionally accessible and well-priced, with nearly 30 picks displayed as part of a pamphlet designed like a traditional playbill. Also showcased are the bottles themselves, in a glass-enclosed cellar adjacent to the private dining room showcasing 1,500 to 2,000 bottles.—Julie Harans
Los Angeles’ Fellow Unveils New Chef and New Look
First-time Award of Excellence winner Fellow in Los Angeles reopened Oct. 21 with a largely new team and an upgraded menu and design. Owner Philip Camino debuted the restaurant in 2018 before the pandemic forced it to close this past March, and Camino decided to use that time to reinvigorate his restaurant. “While this has been a challenging year for us all, I truly can’t think of a better opportunity to assemble a team of this caliber and start to build the future standard of dining in Los Angeles,” Camino said in a statement shared with Wine Spectator.
Wine director Scott Lester, who worked at Grand Award winners Eleven Madison Park and the French Laundry, will continue overseeing the 100-plus selection wine program. The list includes 20 wines by the glass and shows strengths in California and France. New to the team is executive chef Mazen Mustafa, who previously held positions at Restaurant Award winners Momofuku Ko and DB Bistro Moderne. Mustafa has shifted Fellow’s seasonal menu from casual Californian fare like avocado toast, sandwiches and burgers to more high-end cuisine like shrimp cannelloni with carrot tartare and a savory smoked oat milk panna cotta.
Fellow features a fresh look as well, with a modernized dining room reflecting the restaurant’s more upscale feel. The revamp includes the addition of the Galerie at Fellow, an art exhibition space that doubles as the primary entrance and reception area for restaurant guests. While only outdoor dining on the patio is offered at this time, the Galerie will serve as an indoor-dining space once local ordinances allow.—Taylor McBride
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