Kate Mantilini's, Beverly Hills - The Last Days
Last night we dined at Kate Mantilini's @ Wilshire and Doheny, Beverly Hills. Kate's closes it's doors at this location on June 14th. The other location in Woodland Hills remains open.
It was like old home week when we walked in the door. I recognized many faces from my years living in Beverly Hills. I ran into school friends, Fredde Duke and Bette Cohen. They also ran into friends. Everyone was saying hello to everyone else at different tables. It certainly was like a party. We made friends with a cute couple and their baby sitting across from us in one of the wooden booths. We started talking about modern architecture and what an innovative architectural design Kate Mantilini's has.
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| Ellen and Fredde |
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| Excellent Martini |
In addition to serving delicious food, the design of this restaurant was breath-taking when it first opened in 1987. Here is a description by The Los Angeles Conservancy:
For
her steakhouse named after 1930s boxing promoter Kate Mantilini,
restaurateur Marilyn Lewis directed architects Thom Mayne and Michael
Rotondi of Morphosis to create "a roadside steakhouse for the future –
with a clock." Mayne and Rotondi were part of a young generation of Los
Angeles architects who searched the city for commonplace materials to
use in their buildings. These "Deconstructivists" saw all objects as
potential building materials and were inspired by everything from chain
link fencing to hot-rod cars to watch mechanisms.
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| Door Handles |
For Kate Mantilini, the architects transformed a former Wells Fargo
Bank branch on Wilshire Boulevard by using industrial materials to
create a scaffold-like cage around the exterior of the building. To meet
their client's desire for a clock, Mayne and Rotondi looked at watch
mechanisms and motors. They created a sculptural orrery – an old
fashioned mechanical model of the solar system – that projects through a
fourteen-foot skylight in the ceiling. One end of the orrery forms a
sundial on the roof while the other touches an etching of the restaurant
on the restaurant's floor.
The large, open interior dining space is filled with sunlight and the
walls layered with three-dimensional collages. Kate Mantilini is an
icon of the late 1980s dining scene in Los Angeles. By commissioning
Morphosis, Lewis created a restaurant where dining out was an experience
that went far beyond the food.
Last night, during dinner, Larry and I admired the center open space and high ceilings paired with the lower-ceiling booths. To us, this was reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's design.
Now, back to the food. We started dinner with a martini. Perfect. We shared the Caesar Salad with REAL anchovies, thank you very much. Delicious. I ordered the Hobo Steak (grilled meatloaf). Larry ordered the White Chili (chili with chicken and white beans). Everything was served beautifully. The staff was on their toes. It was a lively, fun and yummy dining experience.
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| Authentic Caesar Salad |
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| Hobo Steak (grilled meatloaf), Mashed Potatoes, Kale |
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| White Chili |
We spent quite a bit of time after dinner, walking around, admiring and photographing the interior and exterior.
Note to David and Adam Lewis: Dont' forget to remove those wonderful murals and architectural elements inside and those faboo Kate Mantilini steel letters on the exterior of the building before you close!!! We will miss not having a Lewis-owned restaurant in Beverly Hills.
Labels: Architecture, Art, family, Food, Friends, Los Angeles, Memories
posted by Ellen Bloom @ 12:19 PM
6 Comments:
Every time I find myself driving by there, I am surprised that it's still around - apparently not for long though! Such a throwback to the Eighties. It opened when I was working across the street at the Music Hall and on paydays, if I was feeling flush, I'd order a cup of soup or a mac and cheese to go - I was far too poor in those days to ever get to enjoy the full dining experience :)
Thanks for the comment, Marielle. This is super sad for me. The Lewis' used to own and operate the Hamburger Hamlet in BH too. Kate's was their last restaurant. I know we can still go to the Kate's in Woodland Hills, but who wants to drive out there? Not me. Sigh.
Hi Ellen
I'm so sad it's closing. I've being going there since 1989. In your opinion what other restaurant in Beverly Hills would be the nearest thing to it in terms of cozy neighborhood ambience and food quality? Can you think of another one in the locale that might act as second best?
Thanks
Hi David, the only other restaurant in Beverly Hills that I frequent is The Nosh deli on Little Santa Monica and Roxbury. It doesn't have Mantilini's ambiance, but the food is good.
The only other place I can think of near BH that is dark and clubby and won't break the bank is Tom Bergin's on So. Fairfax, between Olympic and Wilshire. Give it a try. There's a new owner and a great new menu!
Thanks Ellen! I'll give them both a try!
I spent many evenings at Kate Mantelini starting in 1987, it (and Gorky's on Cahuenga) were the epitome of 80s Hollywood. After my first few visits there I realized almost every agent in town breakfasted at the counter there, so I picked one I wanted and landed him in under 10 meals. He's still my agent to this day.
I also remember my first visit to Hamburger Hamlet, I almost fell off my chair when I saw a burger was $8. Now they're what? $25? $30? Fries not included? Another time I went to the Hamburger Hamlet on Hollywood Boulevard across from what was then called Mann's Chinese Theater, and sat next to a pre-Friends Courteney Cox.
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