Show 35, July 13, 2013: Restaurant Impresario Bill Chait

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Adam Bell

If you’re Southern California-based and not familiar with Bill Chait’s name you certainly know the high profile restaurants with prominent chefs in the kitchen he’s behind. In the last few years these include Rivera and Bestia in Downtown L.A., and Sotto, Picca, Short Order and Short Cake (in the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax) with more standout ventures on the way.

Bill started in the mid-80’s with the purchase of the original Louise’s in Brentwood. Bill (with partners) upscaled and branched it into a casual Italian trattoria, multiple-unit operation. He generously credits his later association with the late Mauro Vincenti (Rex) as his platform to his current success. Before the purchase of Louise’s his only experience in the business was as a nighttime pizza delivery guy for Jacopo’s in Beverly Hills.

Bill Chait’s business philosophy is best summed up by a quote he gave to the Los Angeles Times in a prior interview. “The concept of being in business is that you learn much more from your failures than your successes. People have said that, but I’ve lived it.”

Show 35, July 13, 2013: Restaurant Impresario Bill Chait Continued…

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Adam Bell

Bill Chait When Bill continued the conversation turned to the story of Test Kitchen. The original Test Kitchen occupied the spot where Sotto is now. Ricardo Zarate’s Picca is in the same building right above the space.

As Bill explains it while he was deciding what was going into this space (with Picca being built above) the thought was to do an iteration of a pop-up in that space. The eventual concept was to bring big deal chefs into the space for a week to cook the menu of their dreams and perhaps test new ideas. The only publicity was an e-mail blast to folks who signed up to get it. The media did the rest by picking this up and promoting it as hidden dining! The demand for a seat at any of the Test Kitchen evenings well exceeded the available room thereby creating high interest in future programs!

Ricardo Zarate functioned as host chef and John Sedlar also helped out. Walter Manzke, Neal Fraser, Javier Plascencia, and others were part of the ambitious effort. Steve Samson and Zach Pollack (who now occupy the space with Sotto) were also part of the series.

Bill’s newest projects are the pending Republique with Walter Manzke (ex-Bastide) and Redbird with Neal Fraser (bld.)

Republique is looking at a late August or early September launch in the former Campanile space on S. La Brea Ave. It will include a 95-seat café in the style of Joan’s on Third as well as a French bistro that will be Walter’s adaption/refinement of Church & State (where he also previously ran the kitchen.)

Redbird is Neal Fraser’s long in the works restaurant for the former rectory building at St. Vibiana Cathedral in Downtown Los Angeles. The project is in plan check with the City and depending on construction issues is aiming for a late fourth quarter opening.

July 13: Mary Sue Milliken, Bill Chait, Anita Lau, Jet Tila on Sushi

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Adam Bell

Podcasts

Segment One: Dining discoveries of the week with Chef Jet and Producer Andy
Segment Two: Restaurant Impresario Bill Chait Part One
Segment Three: Restaurant Impresario Bill Chait Part Two
Segment Four: Mary Sue Milliken, Executive Chef & Partner of Border Grill
Segment Five: Anita Lau, creator of the Mad Hungry Woman Blog
Segment Six: Chef Jet Tila with “Sushi 411.”

Previews of potential dining adventures…

Chef Jet somewhat reluctantly shares his recommendation for Northern Thai food in Los Angeles. It’s a small place with 15 seats but worth seeking out. Their signature dish is khao soi.

Producer Andy highlights Marche Moderne’s (Penthouse @ South Coast Plaza) annual Bouillabaisse festival running nightly until July 18th. It’s an authentic Marseillaise-bouillabaisse with all the fish flown in from the South of France. Spoil yourself with the very best and a glass of Rose! Reservations are a must…

If you dine-out in Los Angeles you’ve no doubt heard of Rivera and Bestia in Downtown Los Angeles. You probably also know the Italian favorite Sotto and the Peruvian-flavored, Picca located just East of Century City. How about Short Order and Short Cake at the Original Farmers Market at Third & Fairfax?

What you probably don’t know is that all of these popular, chef-driven restaurants are ventures put together by low key restaurant impresario, Bill Chait. Bill joins us to discuss how he has created a string of successful, and enduring, restaurants (done on a budget) with talented celebrity chefs in a very tough business environment.

In the pipeline for Chait are Chef Walter Manzke’s Republique in the former Campanile space on La Brea Avenue and Neal Fraser’s Redbird in the former Vibiana Cathedral space in Downtown Los Angeles.

On Monday, July 22nd at 6:30 p.m. at Border Grill Las Vegas Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger, and Border Grill Executive Chef Mike Minor are teaming up with Chef Rick Moonen of rm seafood and Chefs Collaborative to host a Trash Fish Dinner. The cocktail reception and dinner will feature tasty alternatives to the seafood we love and, unfortunately, eat too much of. Understand the fish is delicious…

Mary Sue Milliken joins us to preview the fun evening with a purpose.

Time for Fair Food!

The OC Fair is on through August 11th! Mad Hungry Woman blogger, Anita Lau, is with us to discuss what extreme foods are new at the Fair for 2013. She will actually be judging some Fair food contests during the event.

Fair food vendor, Chicken Charlie’s, always is always out there with fab fried food items. Eagerly anticipated is his new Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe’s and Bacon A-Fair’s Wild Boar on a stick (an OC Fair exclusive.)

According to the Orange County Register’s Nancy Luna, Chicken Charlie sold 50,000 deep-fried Twinkies last year at the Fair!

Other Chicken Charlie highlights are a deep-fried bacon pickle and a waffle dog.

Do you crave sushi but feel somewhat compromised about proper manners and ordering technique in a sushi restaurant? When do you use the ginger, soy sauce, and wasabi? Is omakase (“trust the chef”) the best way to go? If you sit at the sushi bar how do you convey respect to the sushi chefs?

Listeners to the “SoCal Restaurant Show” are in luck. When he was helming Wazuzu at Encore Las Vegas, Jet had some of the most highly regarded sushi in Las Vegas on his menu. Backing it all up was in-house master sushi chef (and his highly trained team.) He will give us the 411 on ordering, and enjoying, sushi.

Podcasts

Show 32, June 22, 2013: Chefs Steve Samson and Zach Pollack of Sotto in Los Angeles

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Adam Bell

Samson and Pollack are the co-executive chefs and partners (with restaurateur Bill Chait) in Sotto on Pico Blvd in West Los Angeles. The exterior has a very New York-brownstone feel. The restaurant is actually located a few steps below the sidewalk. Above is Picca featuring the cooking of executive chef Ricardo Zarate.

Steve Samson’s mother is Italian so the foods of Northern Italy are something he grew up with. During the time he was with Piero Selvaggio of Valentino fame (Santa Monica & Las Vegas) he traveled extensively in Italy to master regional Italian cuisine. Sotto is actually their interpretation of Southern Italian fare.

Zach is not Italian. His love affair with Italy started when he was a college student studying architecture in Florence. He is a master at preparing the authentic Naples-style pizza. His special Italian wood-burning pizza oven was actually shipped to Los Angeles from Italy and assembled on-site by skilled Italian masons.

In the mornings they bake the Sotto bread in that oven.