Hinoki & the Bird, a casual lunch spot for CAA and WME executives who crave wagyu burgers and jidore chicken barbecue, opened for lunch on July 15. Its century-old courtyard is the most sought after: companies from Amazon Studios to UTA have “Welcome”. Meetings do exist, but coverage is still 50% down as hybrid and fully remote scheduling gets in the way of business. “I think it’s the new normal,” says owner Walter Schild.
Call it atmospheric change, or something harder to swallow, but two and a half years after the onset of COVID, the Hollywood restaurant scene has been transformed. An hour is not what it used to be. Advertising president Ben Silverman, known for his ubiquity in the city’s restaurants, is the new beat muse, or at least his beat muses: “Lunch is over, walk is over, Zooms will never die.”
Powers are still accepting lunch reservations substantially below pre-pandemic levels (it’s no longer impossible to get a seat at The Grill on the Alley), if they find it profitable to serve. Meanwhile, the food itself has changed. The era of mobile video calling has freed up the need for meetings of an hour or less, for which the limited menu, small free pre-recorded Sugarfish has become a favorite choice. Now, operators are realizing a new urgency among users looking to reconnect: multiple courses, fun chats, and even— Can you believe this century? – Alcohol flows freely.
“It’s becoming a much longer, more interactive event because people want to hang out,” says business manager John McIlvey. “I think lunch has become much more important now because it’s not mandatory. I only know the people I love. The whole idea of having to see people all the time is out the window. Attorney Lew Ginsburg agrees: “It shouldn’t be a surprise, right? After all, if much more time has passed than usual between meetings, I expect there to be more progress to be made.”
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Dinner has been a break, at best, for many restaurants since the industry stopped drinking slowly and then abruptly; hospitality veterans say it happened between the new millennium and the Great Recession (the latter also spelled the death knell for the cost-reporting culture). Except private clubs, which are funded by membership fees, and hotel establishments, which are funded by their guests. Among the popular players now closed for the afternoon: Musso & Frank, Pizzeria Mozza and AOC on Third Street.
“It’s not just ‘Are we going to be busy?’” explains Caroline Stein, whose Lucques Group reopened AOC’s Brentwood branch at lunchtime, even though it’s half the size it was before Covid. “It’s ‘Are we going to be busy enough to do this? Was it worth the investment? So be it?” “
Another now-dark restaurant for lunch is Citadel Spago in Beverly Hills. “We look at it pragmatically,” explains Tom Kaplan, Senior Managing Partner at Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, which maintains afternoon service at its namesake restaurant at the Hotel Bel-Air as well as Merois at Pendry in West Hollywood. . . “Lunch wasn’t a high margin before Covid and it certainly wasn’t after, so we decided against it.”
For restaurants that are still serving and even thriving, the new unpredictable hours of commercial customers can derail efforts to gauge demand. “We realized that before the pandemic you knew which days you would be busiest; Now you never know,” says Gigi Leon, restaurateur at La Scala. “Rhythms are out.” Jeff Klein, owner of San Vicente Bungalows and Sunset Tower, agrees: “We don’t understand standards anymore. are unstable”
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However, some things became clear. Outdoor dining is still preferred, especially as new COVID options continue to emerge. On Fridays (when, as Klein points out, customers “are all in their own homes”), alcohol, almost as much as it was two decades ago, starts flowing. “I realize at the end of the week: more cocktails, more wine,” says Pamela Gonea, owner of The Grill on the Alley in Beverly Hills for 21 years.
Also, it’s surprising that people just don’t rush. “The lunches that were so efficient, on an hour and off, today people have been here since the beginning [of service] before we close,” says Jesse Duron, manager of West LA Nexus Hamasaku, whose lunch volume is down 50% from pre-Covid levels. “Maybe it’s because they haven’t seen each other in a while, or it’s becoming more of an event, but when they arrive, they spend more time together. they Delay.” He adds that “the culture has changed.”
James f Lopez, president of Macro Film Studios, which can be found at Ocean Prime and Maybourne Terrace in Beverly Hills, explains, “I really miss being on Zoom and I miss that personal connection.”
Lacey Rose and Rebecca Sun contributed to this report.
This story first appeared in the August 3 issue of The Gossipify. Click here to subscribe.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
