Meet Korean Gatsby: Lock & Key’s Cyrus Batchan

Tucked between a gas station and an unparalleled dining window on neon-strewn Vermont Avenue in the Korean neighborhood of Los Angeles, Lock & Key is a black-owned company, something many of the owners of the popular date night are unaware of. . This is not a result of the usual oversight or removal of color leaders, but rather by design.

“I’ve always been an owner who doesn’t really want to be famous,” said Cyrus Batchan, owner of Lock & Key. THR As you sit in your institution’s leather lounge-style booth. “It was one of my favorite books. Დ Received Gethsemane. Like you’re the person behind the scenes that people either know or don’t know. You’re at a party, but you’re in a corner and you’re just there. But you’re throwing a big party. I love this idea. It also recently opened a brasserie in the camphor art district under the influence of France and India (it conquered the space that Batchan’s previous venture, Nightshade, called home before closing in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Batchan is native to Southern California throughout the period. Born in Riverside to a family of black parents and a Persian mother who ran a small restaurant, he grew up in the Moreno Valley, studied law in San Diego and has lived in Los Angeles ever since.

The many subcultures and scenes inseparable from this experience are on full display at Lock & Key, which opened its doors in 2013. After a series of unfortunate events in the last two years that threatened its success (pandemic closure, multiple , looting that completely destroyed its sound system, alcohol, light fixtures and sales terminals), rose from the ashes to be reborn as a phoenix. For consistently loyal people.

When Batchan developed the idea of ​​Lock & Key in relative uncertainty, paying attention to the cultural rhythms of Los Angeles, the nightlife speaker of the early Renaissance, was crucial in choosing the right venue. “I felt that when people went to Korea, they had to leave here to go downtown or Hollywood. I thought, “Why can’t we have a cool cocktail bar in Korea?” “My vision was a cocktail bar, but with the idea of ​​a New York neighborhood bar,” Batchan said.

At the time, the entrepreneur believed that many of Los Angeles’ cocktail destinations were too pretentious and based more on aesthetics than authentic meaning.

“I wanted to be a good neighborhood bar where you go after work. If you live close by, come with friends, celebrate your birthday, listen to good music, it could be a jazz band, it could be a DJ, and you just have good hospitality with quality food and drink. Bar Mixology of the Neighborhood. These are the institutions in New York – everyone has them Their Pub. “

The concept was strong, but funding, especially as a businessman of color, was low. People doubted that the new bar, located among several small businesses on a busy intersection in Korea with few parking opportunities (especially before the ride-sharing business boom), would thrive. Finding the necessary funds, says Batchan, was “literally boots”.

“The day I opened this place, I think I took the last $3,000 out of my bank account and applied wax, so the waiters had money. “It was done or you died,” he recalled.

In 2022, a host of Los Angeles-flavored makers and creators will join the pack, waiting to cross Lock & Key’s secret entrance, rabbit hole, speaker-style bar, and enclosed outdoor patio. But beyond that.

“We have an ID scanner system [which gives us] Data metrics. It shows a lot of regular integration users, locals and some tourists,” Batchan said. “I think every event we do has its DNA and demographics, but we have a very large crowd in LA every night.

Starting in July and August, the bar typically sees a wave of East Coast and international visitors, the perfect time to experience Lock & Key’s array of summer activities. On Saturdays, Betchan invites several famous hosts and DJs to use the space for their parties, and on Sundays, Lock & Key’s “Ice Cream Week” (hosted by everyone from Billy Walsh to Jerry Lorenzo to Sean. The Hosts) presents a large and varied crowd.

“We wanted to feel like a backyard boogie, like you’re at someone’s house in Los Angeles,” Bethany said at the hit party. Over the years, Barry has met Zane, Eddie Murphy, Miguel and many others through their doors, as a guest and sometimes even as a surprise performer. “It was always an organic thing that was happening.”

Programming has always been a key ingredient to Lock & Key’s success. That’s why when the bar was dark at the end of the mandatory quarantine of the pandemic, Batchan noticed the tendency for DJs to stream from their homes and install streaming in the bar not only to connect with new audiences, but also to provide opportunities. work to lift the mood. .

Speaking of spirits, Batchani and his team always update their cocktail menu: “People drink tequila. So we changed the menu to add more tequila cocktails because I want to try [one]”He says.” And after that I’ll make a Mezcal cocktail [on the menu]Because I think if you love tequila, the natural progression is fascinating. “It’s a little bit of programming to give people what they want, but it also forces them to follow the standards I want.”

Batchan, who studied law before embarking on the hospitality industry, says entrepreneurship has always been his goal. “For me, law was more of a business skill than what I wanted to do for a living,” he says. He internally understands how to manage (and protect) a business. And his approach to hospitality is creative, yes, but not without strategy or care.

When the kitchen was closed due to a pandemic, Batchan spent personal funds supporting the LAPD Olympic Division with hundreds of meals. “It just came to our attention so [to do]”Especially since a black man supports the police, but these are the people who care about my neighborhood,” he said. “I add value to the neighborhood, but I also have to support my community. My parents had a family restaurant with a picture of a local team in town on the wall. I grew up with the mindset of doing something good for your neighborhood.

And while Béchan’s charity has been on the scene in various versions for years, the call to attention to make his work as a black businessman more visible came after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police caught the world’s attention.

“What I realized is that there might be a kid who wants to become a restaurant owner or a bar owner, right? You must have a mentor you can go with. There are professional organizations for everything. “I was lucky enough to build an 8-year-old bar in Los Angeles and succeed,” said Batchan. “After George Floyd [death]I thought, “What can I do in business to participate in this change?” And I think part of that shift is perception, standing up and saying, ‘Yes, this is a black business. I am the person behind this. And I went through all the trials and tribulations depending on the color of my skin but also as a small business owner. But I still held on and built something successful in Los Angeles.

In the future, Batchan intends to continue to launch new menus, including new pizza concepts, with the possibility of adding desserts. And in the fall, he hopes to launch new program initiatives, like a series of tequila training dinners. Lock & Key is currently open every week Thursday through Sunday, but Batchan says adding Wednesday hours to the schedule is already on the horizon.

Meanwhile, Camphor has just launched a new bar menu, and Batchan is actively looking for different opportunities to open another location, possibly in Korea or East Hollywood, he says. But Lock & Key, the green light at the end of the pier, so to speak, is still their base.

“Treat people as you would like to be treated, be warm and comfortable with yourself,” Bacchan said of his approach to building Los Angeles’ favorite institutions. “People have always told me, specifically in business, you can’t be everything to everyone. I think it depends on quality, consistency and hospitality – how you treat people. ”

A version of this story first appeared in the June 22 issue of The Gossipify. Click here to subscribe.