Roy Choi Takes Over Beechwood Kitchen; Jamie Lauren Out

Categories: Chef Tracker, News

beechwoodjamielduo.jpg
Beechwood (left) and chef Jamie Lauren (right)
Kogi, Chego and A-Frame impresario Roy Choi can add one more restaurant to his resumé: Beechwood. We heard about this a couple weeks ago, but now it's official. Chef Jamie Lauren is out and Choi is in at the sleek New American restaurant in Venice. Owner Dave Reiss has asked Choi to step in and "provide some new direction for the kitchen while making plans to renovate and update the dining space," according to Alice Shin, Choi's PR and Twitter maven. Get ready for Choi's most American menu to date, one that's "laid-back, beachy and contemporary, while expressing some of the classic idiosyncrasies of Roy's imagination."

No word on where tough-talking Lauren, who made a name for herself as a contestant on Top Chef season 5, plans to go next. When we talked with her in December, she had recently relocated from San Francisco and was excited about the culinary possibilities in Los Angeles, telling us:

"I just think that you can get away with a little bit more here [in L.A.], culinary-wise, for some reason. I don't really know why. Like in San Francisco, everybody sort of did the same thing... Here you can get away with using different ingredients or different spices, and people seem to be a little bit more accepting of them. At least here that happened for me."

Or not.

Location Info

Venue

Map

Sunny Spot

822 Washington Blvd., Marina del Rey, CA

Category: Music

0 user reviews
Write A Review
Save to foursquare
Powered by Voice Places
My Voice Nation Help
2 comments
Zouri
Zouri

Thank god she's gone, she ruined that restaurant for the locals. Eagerly looking forward to what Roy Choi will do there...

Reddy Kilowatt
Reddy Kilowatt

It's certainly not true that everybody in San Francisco is doing the same thing. Even similar places with long histories like Chez Panisse and Zuni Café can use very different approaches to similar dishes. Further, it looks like Jamie misread Los Angalus, doesn't it?

From the Vault

 

Browse Voice Nation
  • Voice Places Los Angeles

    Voice Places

    Find everything you're looking for in your city

  • Happy Hour App

    Happy Hour App

    Find the best happy hour deals in your city

  • Daily Deals

    Daily Deals

    Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%

  • Best Of

    Best Of...

    Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city