The Cronut inventor’s first foray into Los Angeles
189 by Dominique Ansel at The Grove Studio Unltd in collaboration with Rossi Architecture
Dominque Ansel’s new Los Angeles restaurant, called 189 by Dominique Ansel, is scheduled to debut at The Grove by early November, but they’re already to share some details on the interior. Taking over the former Morel’s Steakhouse with a prime corner right in from of the mini Bellagio-style fountain, 189 by Dominique Ansel has a fresh, European-style interior with a town center-style facade.
Designed by Studio Unltd along with Rossi Architecture, it’s the largest full-on restaurant in Dominique Ansel’s budding worldwide empire, with over 10,000 square feet of space across two levels. Unlike his cafe in New York City, this is a full service restaurant with brunch, lunch, and dinner, plus bar and cocktails.
The downstairs offers a grab-and-go style bakery, with some indoor and outdoor seating for 70. Upstairs boasts a more formalizing dining room with a sleek modern layout with layered white brick, low flung tables, semi-open kitchen, and floor to ceiling windows on certain sections. The dining room upstairs will seat up to 150, certainly one of the most sizable independent restaurants in the city, but by no means too large for The Grove, which is packed with millions of visitors a year.
Hyun Lee, who hails from South Korea but grew up in Argentina and has cooked with Jose Andres and Jean-George, will handle executive chef duties for the restaurant. The new project, named 189 for both the Grove and the original SoHo NYC addresses, a far cry from Dominique Ansel’s first kitchen space, which was 100 square feet with just four employees.
189 by Dominique Ansel
189 The Grove Drive
Los Angeles, CA
By Matthew Kang