Ambitious restaurant is set to open
April 17, 2008, Easy Reader. By Robb Fulcher. Photography by Rachel Coleman
Brix@1601, a first-of-its kind South Bay restaurant, was abuzz with activity days before its opening Monday.
Crisp, quietly attentive servers brought American contemporary dishes to invited guests in the largest room, a handsome, well-appointed space set aside for casual – and, if wished, affordable – dining. In a nearby room crowned by a vaulted ceiling and groined brick arches, celebrity check Michael McDonald sampled from five identical dishes to recheck the consistency of heat from a grill in the sprawling kitchen. Jeff McGrath, manager of the accompanying brixwine shop, made arrangements to open a couple of days ahead of the restaurant with an initial 900 facings, or individual wines.
Restaurant watchers say nothing in recent memory has been attempted in the South Bay that would rival the 10,000 square-foot eatery with more than 300 wines at table, a grand kitchen – perhaps 40 percent of the total space instead of a more typical 20 percent – an the accompanying wine shop, 11,000 square feet of wine storage, a lounge for small wine tastings, and a catering wing as well.
“I would say this is the most complicated undertaking I have ever been involved in. The execution really has to be seamless or it will be glaringly noticeable,” said restaurant consultant Michael Tsue, who comes to Brix after opening the Mauna Lani Bay hotel and other luxury hotels and restaurants.
My vision for this restaurant is to create both a local hangout and a dining destination in one place,” said owner Gene Shook.
Tsue said the clientele will be South Bay-centered, coming primarily from the beach cities, El Segundo, Torrance and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Beach Friendly
If the restaurant inside the Hermosa Pavilion on Pacific Coast Highway sounds quite upscale, it is. Witness the marble and stone, and the rimless Reidel glassware designed to deliver each sip of wine to the most advantageous spot upon the palate. But Tsue stressed that the restaurant will be flip-flop friendly and the wines and food – including steaks, fresh seafood and fresh-made pasta – will range in price to meet the budget and the occasion of the diner.
“We’re sensitive to price points,” Tsue said. “I want you to have a $19 steak and fries that eats amazing, so if you spend $50 for a filet it’s because you want that particular cut.”
In the smaller room, a rotating menu for tastings will come with a variety of bill sizes as well, from $29 for three courses to $85 for seven.
The Brix lunch and dinner menus will feature Dungeness crab salad with green beans, frisee, heirloom beets and meyer vinaigrette; hot smoke salmon with crisp potato, crème fraiche, caviar and herb salad; braised oxtail sandwich with gruyere, caramelized sweet onion and grilled country bread; 14-ounce veal chop with tri-color cauliflower gratin, haricourt vert and tarragon jus.
The wine shop will represent the growers of California, France, Italy and the rest of the wine-loving world, with bottle prices starting about $8 and climbing toward the rare vintages.
“We’ve tasted some wines under $15 that are just amazing,” McGrath said.
The Team
“I knew that we had to offer a totally new dining experience, and the team we have assembled here is prepared to take on this challenge,” Shook said.
The lineup includes Tsue; general manager Francois Xavier Ghys, who has managed Le Bernandin, Aureole in NYC, L’Orangerie and Spago, and McDonald, former executive chef in charge of the food and beverage programs at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, including Dakota restaurant and 25 Degrees.
Sommelier Caitlin Stansbury is a certified expert in viticulture and food and wine pairing who has served as sommelier at Tasca and The Lodge restaurants in Los Angeles, has been recognized in national publications and runs the consulting firm Wineocology.
Pastry chef Renee Ward, formerly at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Mix, Le Cirque and Circo in Las Vegas, is a graduate of The French Culinary Institute. She plans to launch a line of fine chocolates sold exclusively at brixwine. Her dessert menu will feature shortcake with Gaviota strawberries, vanilla mascarpone and honey lavender ice cream and coconut coupe.
