Hotel dining is not known for
being good value. Openaire, the
newish poolside restaurant that
replaced Roy Choi’s Commissary
at the Line Hotel in Koreatown,
is no exception.
The portions are small,
carafes of sparkling water cost
$5, the avocado toast is $16, and
there is no validated parking.
In Openaire’s defense, that
avocado toast is a beauty: a thick
mortarboard of chunky, thickly
spread avocado on seedy bread,
lavished on top with emerald
curls of freshly snipped herbs
and thin-sliced chiles.
You are paying a premium to
dine in one of the loveliest rooms
I’ve sat in all year: a tall, light-
filled greenhouse canopied with
a jungle of cascading greenery.
The view is of Ktown skyscrapers
and stylish strangers drinking
glasses of Loire wine at long
marble communal tables. The
aquamarine glow of the hotel
pool is in your peripheral vision.
The restaurant is as noisy as it is
pretty, thrumming at most hours
with music and conversation.
Openaire debuted last year
under the aegis of chef and
restaurateur Josiah Citrin, who
took over the hotel’s food and
beverage responsibilities from
Choi. Citrin may not seem the
obvious choice to lead a boutique
hotel kitchen in Koreatown; he is
best known as the Michelin-
starred chef behind Santa Moni-
ca’s swank fine-dining temple
Mélisse (temporarily closed for a
retooling). But in recent years,
the native Westsider has branch-
ed out in intriguing new direc-
tions; his current projects in-
clude the retro Culver City steak-
house Dear John’s, the modernVenice grill house Charcoal,
Coast in Manhattan Beach and a
gourmet hot dog stand in Sta-
ples Center, Dave’s Doghouse.
At Openaire, Citrin only
briefly alludes to the flavors of
the neighborhood — as when a
sauce of garlic, brown butter and
doenjangcatalyzes a rich, ruddy
sirloin steak into some thing
flagrantly lush.
Citrin and executive chef
Richard Archuleta — a hotel
fine-dining veteran who most
recently cooked with Jean-
Georges Vongerichten at the
Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills —
lean into the vastness of modern
New American cooking.
Dinner may include odes to
the tapas era (grilled octopus
tentacles with saffron aioli),
farmers market flourishes
(cheese-smeared wedges of
late-season peaches and plums
with shiso), fresh pasta (pis-
tachio-dusted tagliatelle with
duck ragout), the globally eclec-
tic small plates thing (grilled
bass with a tomato-coriander
chutney) and something for the
steakhouse crowd (a tender
dry-aged New York strip with
crispy onions).
There are some beautifully
calibrated dishes: Tuna tartare,
served with a bowl of elegant,
wispy sweet potato chips, is a
round, citrus-bright cake capped
with a custardy layer of avocado
mousse. Swollen lobes of sweet
corn agnolotti break open in a
gentle slosh of sweetness and
butter. A whole branzino
steamed with ginger and soft
herbs is succulent and fragrant.
A light salad of heirloom
tomatoes, wax beans and lemon
cucumbers perfumed with a
tangy lemongrass vinaigrette is
lovely. Wilted Bloomsdale spin-
ach, flecked with smoked bits of
bacon and drizzled with Kombuhoney, evokes the flowery-spicy
tones of strong tea.
But then, in a rude turn, come
the letdowns, and they are pro-
nounced: There’s a soggy prawn
toast, a rubbery shrimp cocktail
and a dish called crispy suckling
pig that turns out to be a crab-
cake-like preparation of shred-
ded pork with a strawberry
rhubarb XO sauce. The most
disappointing thing about the
dryish pork cake, which is
topped with a messy heap of
citrus slaw, is the yawning gulf
between what you expect and
what turns up at the table.
To drink, the menu swerves
from herb-y Moon Juice-inspired
cocktails such as the Midnight
Margarita, dyed velvet-black
with activated charcoal, to funky
Northern California wines and
Dom Perignon.
Lunch favors efficiency; the
two-course prix fixe “express”
menu offers a starter and entrée
for $25, a rare value. Breakfast is
a modern-day L.A. morningcommunion of chia seed pudding
and an excellent plate of huevos
rancheros.
The beautiful setting is not
enough to sustain Openaire’s
weaknesses, which include slug-
gish service at dinner and an
uneven menu that flirts with
greatness on occasion but is
hobbled by inconsistencies.
Hotel food can be a hard sell,
but the challenge is magnified in
a restaurant-dense neighbor-
hood like Koreatown. Why con-
strain yourself to a hotel salad
when you are surrounded by a
dizzying constellation of cafes,
restaurants, bars and food-
centric mini-malls?
The short answer is waffles.
Brunch holds the various
strands of Openaire together.
Come on a weekend and you find
a different restaurant altogether.
The staff — keyed up for the large
crowds — is balletic and respon-
sive. The cooking has a playful-
ness missing from the dinner
menu. Everyone will tell you to
order the crisp-edged French
toast spackled with shards of
corn flakes; they are indeed
uncommonly delicious. Smoked
tomatoes, smeared on toast with
a mash of Rancho Gordo beans
and summer squash, is minimal-
ist and wonderful. Korean fried
chicken and waffles is exactly
what you want: hot and crisp, a
gorgeous blitz of crunch, fat and
salt. Dunk the chicken in gochu-
jang-spiked maple syrup sauce
and the dish sings.
At brunch, the tenor of the
room is louder, cheerier, and it is
impossible to stand in one place
very long without ending up in
somebody’s group selfie, if that
sort of thing bothers you. But
brunch — bougie, basic, exuber-
antly delicious — is an expres-
sion of joy, and there’s no greater
value than that.Josiah Citrin oversees Openaire in a greenhouse-like space at the Line Hotel in Koreatown. Check in for its bougie brunches.Photographs byKent NishimuraLos Angeles TimesRESTAURANT REVIEW
Brunch brings out its best
PATRICIA ESCÁRCEGA
RESTAURANT CRITICF2 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019 LATIMES.COM/FOOD
Take a flier on Pilot
Pilot has opened on the roof of the
Hoxton downtown. The Mediter-
ranean menu includes wood-
grilled arctic char with a Calabrian
chile caper sauce, mussel and
squid ink mafaldiwith smoked
tomato chervil, and a lamb gyro
with tomato jam and cucumber
yogurt that you can order only at
the stand-alone cocktail bar.
Info: 1060 S. Broadway, Los Ange-
les, (213) 725-5858,pilotdtla.com
Ji dan gao in town
Hemera’s Bench will debut Friday
at Copa Vida in Pasadena, fol-
lowed by appearances at La
Cañada Flintridge Farmers Mar-
ket on Saturday and Arcadia
Farmers Market on Sunday. The
pop-up specializes in Taiwanese
ji dan gao, small egg-based cakes
popular as street food, topped
with seasonal sauces such as
pumpkin caramel and apple cider.
Info:70 S. Raymond Ave., Pasa-
dena,instagram.com
/hemerasbench
Now that’s focus
Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice has
locations open in Rowland
Heights and San Gabriel. The
import from Ji Nan, China, has a
one-item menu and more than
6,000 locations worldwide.
Info: 1355 Nogales St., Rowland
Heights, (626) 839-8855; 140 W.
Valley Blvd., San Gabriel,
ymyusa.com
Spooky-yaki
Mo-Mo Paradise has opened in
Arcadia. This is the third L.A.-area
location of the Japanese sukiyaki
and shabu shabuchain.
Info:56 E. Duarte Road, Arcadia,
(626) 898-4500,facebook.com
/momoparadisearcadia/
Claw and order
The Hangry Crab is now open at
Plaza Car Wash in North Holly-
wood. The Cajun-inspired stand
sells smoked crab legs, smoked
shrimp, ribs and sandwiches, with
adjustable spice levels.
Info: 6462 Laurel Canyon Blvd.,
Los Angeles, (818) 850-9050,insta
gram.com/hangrycrabla
Boo-rder BBQ
Mary Sue Milliken and Susan
Feniger have opened two fast-
casual counters at the 2nd & PCH
development in Long Beach.
Border BBQ sells smoked meats
in wraps, bowls and salads, while
Pacha Mamas serves skewered
meats and ceviche. The chefs will
soon add a third stall at the devel-
opment, Twist, focusing on chur-
ros and chocolate.
Info:East 2nd Street and Pacific
Coast Highway, Long Beach,
2ndandpch.com
Art condition
ArtBarLA is open in Mar Vista.
The bar houses an art gallery and
offers nightly live performances
(tonight’s is “Zombie Disco Riot”),
along with a menu of California
and German beers.
Info: 12017 Venice Blvd., Los Ange-
les, (310) 881-9312,artbarla.com
Taste of Tunis
Barsha is open in Hermosa Beach
from the owners of Barsha Wines
& Spirits. The Tunisian-influ-
enced menu includes braised lamb
cheeks with polenta and tobacco
shallot, chicken mosli, grilled
prawns with caramelized lime and
horia, and rose trifle.
Info:1141 Aviation Blvd., Hermosa
Beach, (424) 452-6266,barsha
life.com
The birds
Delivery business Los Pollos Her-
manos is up and running through
UberEats. Named after the restau-
rant on “Breaking Bad,” the menu
includes hot chicken sandwiches
and chicken tenders, plus “Slaw
Goodman” coleslaw and dough-
nuts with blue frosting.
Info:ubereats.com/en-US
/los-angeles/food-delivery
/los-pollos-hermanos-west-la
/9nRQoR4kRciPBnJAZG_zeg
Little shop of boba
Tiger Sugar is open in Rowland
Heights. This is the first California
location of the Taiwanese milk tea
shop, famous for a signature com-
bination of tapioca boba pearls
and milk with brown sugar.
Info:18330 Colima Road, Rowland
Heights,facebook.com/tiger
sugarsocal
— Hadley TomickiKit Mills
For The TimesNEWSFEED
Openaire’s charcoal-dyed Midnight Margarita, stone fruit salad and crispy suckling pig. Richard Archuleta is executive chef.Openaire
LOCATION
In the Line Hotel, 3515 Wilshire
Blvd., Los Angeles, (213)
368-3065, thelinehotel.comDETAILS
Credit cards accepted. Full bar.
Valet parking. Wheelchair
accessible.PRICES
Appetizers $10-$22; vegetables
$12-$16; salads $15-$19; pasta
& grains $21-$54; mains
$29-$36; large plates $68RECOMMENDED DISHES
Ahi tuna tarare, sweet corn
agnolotti, whole steamed fish,
sirloin steak, smoked tomato
toast (brunch menu)