BEVERLY HILLS IS HOME TO SOME OF TODAY’S TOP CULINARY MASTERS
Hungry? Thirsty? Feel like dining out or seeking that perfect designer cocktail? Think Beverly Hills. There’s sure to be exactly the right restaurant, menu, wine, beer or cocktail list to fulfill your every desire.
Home to such celebrity chefs and restaurateurs as Wolfgang Puck, Thomas Keller, Nobu Matsuhisa, Thomas Bellec, Curtis Stone, Giacomino and Tanino Drago, Beverly Hills is the ideal culinary destination.
With its international recognition, strong civic support, ideal business environment, actively involved Chamber of Commerce, and discerning clientele, it’s not surprising that the dining scene in Beverly Hills is one of the best in the world, or that name establishments like Lawry’s the Prime Rib, California Pizza Kitchen and Spago all decided to first open their doors in Beverly Hills.
Pick your style— elegant to laid back.
For that perfect combination of elegance and cuisine, Beverly Hills offers a variety of 5-star hotel dining rooms to chose from led by its flagship establishment— the century old Beverly Hills Hotel and its renowned Polo Lounge.
There’s the hip European vibe of Canon Drive with its sidewalk eateries, the Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center and the new dining concept Avec Nous, taking over the signature restaurant of the Viceroy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills.
There’s the laid-back vibe of South Beverly Drive where fast food and fine food exist side by side, making it the perfect go-to spot for a mid-day to midnight get together.
And then there’s La Cienega Boulevard’s “Restaurant Row.” La Cienega has been a culinary desti- nation since 1938, the year its landmark restaurant— Lawry’s the Prime Rib— opened its doors and began serving its signature dishes.
There are so many menus to choose from in Beverly Hills, whether you’re in the mood for farm-to-table California cuisine, Northern or traditional Italian, classic French, Spanish tapas, spicy Thai, chili-rich Mexican, Mandarin or Hong Kong Chinese, meaty Brazilian, curry-rich Indian, Austrian schnitzel, native Venezuelan, pho from Vietnam, fresh seafood or that perfectly prepared slice (or chop) of USDA prime beef.
Beverly Hills also offers the perfect libation to accompany your culinary experience— from the most aromatic cabernet or buttery chardonnay, to craft brewery specials on tap and any cocktail you can imagine— Old-Fashioned anyone?
An exciting new event showcases the Beverly Hills dining scene. During the spring, the Beverly Hills Chamber of Com- merce in partnership with the City of Beverly Hills presents Beverly Hills Culinary Week, featuring more then 50 restau- rants, hotels and retail stores within the 5.5 square miles of Beverly Hills. Originality reigns as each eatery creates its own special dining experience including exclusive chef-created dishes, original beverages and thematic prix fixe menus. There arespecialchef’stables,cookingdemonstrationsandclasses, wine and spirit tastings and restaurateur greetings. You might find your martini shaken (not stirred) by Sly Stallone!
To accentuate Culinary Week, many of Beverly Hill’s fine retail stores remain open to accommodate evening diners and offer their own culinary related specials.
“Last year when we launched Culinary Week, 22 restaurants on Canon Drive and La Cienega Boulevard participated,” recalls Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce President & CEO, Todd Johnson. “After the success of that first event, more and more restaurants and chefs wanted to be included. Our goal this year was to have more than 50 participating restaurants, from pizza parlors to 5-star hotels.” Variety was the key.
“We have so many different types of restaurants here in Beverly Hills including many big-name chefs,” points out John Bendheim, former Chairman of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. “We think Culi- nary Week is a world-class event in the making!”
The point is it’s time to make plans to visit Beverly Hills. Your table is ready.
Raised in coastal Concarneau in Brittany, France, Thomas Bellec was inspired to cook by his grand- parents, who ran a renowned bakery in Brittany. His desire to go professional was his own, however: “I always wanted to play with food and please people” – a recipe for restaurant success if ever there was one.Trained in the classical tradition at a Michelin one-star in his hometown, he worked at a few addresses before joining FOUR SEASONS as Chef de Cuisine in Toronto. He made four more stops with the company en route to Beverly Hills, including Carmelo, Lana’i, Boston, and Toronto again.
Curtis Stone studied for a Bachelor of Business before deciding to pursue a career as a chef. He worked at some top Australian restaurants before leaving to work at various restaurants in London. In Australia, he debuted his cooking career at age 18 at the Savoy Hotel. Upon completing his qualifications as a chef, Stone began cooking in London under Marco Pierre White at the Café Royal and Mirabelle, and quickly went on to become head chef at White’s Quo Vadis. On 1 February 2014, Stone opened his first restaurant, MAUDE, here in Beverly Hills.