Since starting their Blackhouse Hospitality restaurant group in Los Angeles three years ago, chef Tin Vuong and business partner Jed Sanford have opened four restaurants, with one passing the test of famed Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold.
Now, they’re speeding things up, preparing to open three more over the next few months. Wolven, a steakhouse, is set to open next week in Hermosa Beach. Next up is a downtown L.A. outpost of their Hermosa restaurant Little Sister, set to open by May. They plan to open a third restaurant, yet to be named, in Redondo Beach this summer. Blackhouse is also exploring a bakery concept, perhaps opening this fall.
While most of its locations are in the South Bay, Sanford said Blackhouse is looking to expand its reach as the firm continues to open more restaurants.
“You gain some benefits by knowing the area and some economies of scale. There’s some leveraging you can do with having multiple restaurants near one another,” he said. “I think as we move forward, we’re growing outside the South Bay now.”
A new territory can mean a different type of clientele, but Vuong said he’s prepared to adapt the menu to fit the area.
Take the coming downtown location of Little Sister, a Vietnamese concept praised by Gold. The new location will have a pretty dramatic difference in menu, and will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, unlike the lunch-and-dinner Hermosa spot.
“There’s a lot more foodies and a younger demographic downtown – not as many families,” Vuong said. “It’ll be geared a little bit different foodwise.”
Sanford added that of its now-seven restaurants, which cover a range of palates from Mexican, Italian and American, Little Sister is the most popular and therefore the easiest to expand to additional locations.
Settled In
You won’t see the Koala Tea food truck, which serves drinks filled with chewy tapioca balls known as boba, on the highways and byways of Los Angeles anymore.
Co-founders Vincent Ho and David Mangold traded in their wheels for a brick-and-mortar shop, Koala Tapioca, which opened this month in Westwood.
Mangold and Ho started the company after graduating from UCLA in 2013. After a year of driving around Westwood and serving the UCLA community, they knew it was time to hit the brakes.
“We were always planning on opening the store,” Ho said. “And we used the truck as a way to test the community and the store. It was never meant to be a long-term solution, so when the truck lease was over, we shifted our attention to the store.”
Customers can expect an expanded menu of Koala’s specialty boba and milk teas, though the menu will still include the truck’s most popular drinks: Milky Way, Sea Cream Jasmine and Lovely Lychee.
Ho and Mangold have also hired a head chef, who previously worked at Patina Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, to cook up gourmet tacos and koala fries – crispy fries with kalbi beef, sriracha aioli, pico de gallo and cotija cheese.
Revolving Doors
Chefs Karen and Quinn Hatfield, co-owners of Sycamore Kitchen, opened a casual Brazilian churrasco and grill Odys + Penelope this month in District La Brea. … Former pro football player Eric King will be opening a franchise of Detroit’s Happy’s Pizza in Leimert Park next month. … Parisian luxury candle and fragrance brand Diptyque opened a boutique in Beverly Hills this month. … Natural pet-food and supply company Protein for Pets in Santa Monica next week will open a Santa Clarita location, the company’s ninth. Its first was opened in Thousand Oaks last year. … Mattioli Automotive Group in Beverly Hills opened South Bay’s first Ferrari dealership in Torrance last week. The 23,000-square-foot showroom space is two stories and includes a service center. … Nordstrom Inc. in Seattle will be opening a 24,000-square-foot Nordstrom Rack at Marina Pacifica Mall in Long Beach this fall.
At Your Service
Casual apparel company Johnnie-O in West Los Angeles has named Dave Gatto chief executive. Gatto previously served as chief executive of Incase Designs, a mobile accessories brand in Chino. … Retailer Nasty Gal in downtown Los Angeles has promoted Sheree Waterson to chief executive. Waterson served as president and chief product officer. Founder and former Chief Executive Sophia Amoruso will continue as executive chairman and oversee creative and brand marketing.
Staff reporter Subrina Hudson can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 251.
