New bars, restaurants on La Brea south of Wilshire
Met Him at a Bar recently opened across from its sister site, Met Her at a Bar, at the corner of Eighth Street.
Also at the corner of La Brea Ave. at Eighth are the Tokyo-style Sake House Miro, 809 S. La Brea Ave. and the newly opened Roji Bakery, 807 S. La Brea Ave.
Across La Brea, All Season Brewing Company will be pouring from 20 taps of beer as well as serving wine and cocktails by year’s end. The microbrewery and restaurant will breathe new life into the historic Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., developer Brad Conroy of Conroy Commercial told us.
Streamline Moderne on tap
The 12,724-square-foot building’s Machine Age Streamline Moderne design, circa 1938, will be a feature of the new facilities.
The Firestone tire store was in continuous operation from 1938 until the last owner, Bridgestone, closed the business in the fall of 2015.
Further up the street, there have been other restaurant changes in recent years. Little is known about what might be happening at 320 S. La Brea Ave. (Kass Wine Bar, which was Wilde Wine Bar before that and 3Twenty Wine Bar before that). Similarly, there is no news on the fate of the space at 127 S. La Brea Ave. (Odys + Penelope).
In addition, according to an “Eater LA” article last June, the space at 127 S. La Brea Ave. was being taken over by Workshop Kitchen from Palm Springs. When we reached out to Workshop Kitchen to get confirmation of that, we were told to check back with them this summer.
Just south of Melrose, it appears that no one has taken over the former Pizza Romana space at 615 N. La Brea Ave.
‘Met Him’ opens as
pasta bar
By Billy Taylor
There’s a new Southern Italian pasta bar in the Miracle Mile, and the noodles are homemade. Need we say more?
Local residents Mindy and Vincent Kinne opened Met Him at a Bar in January, which, conveniently, sits directly across the street from the couple’s breakfast and lunch café, Met Her at a Bar.
Having first opened the café two years ago on La Brea Avenue, the duo was contemplating an idea for a pasta bar, but didn’t have a location in mind.
That’s when they heard that the owners of Rascal were closing their longtime gastropub.
“It was perfect timing,” says Vincent.
“We met Rebecca and Sandy of Rascal when we first opened the café and they helped us with a lot of technical stuff, and plenty of good advice. So when this space opened, it felt like a good fit.”
Mindy adds that they love the idea of having “her corner” and “his corner,” which straddle 8th Street.
Vincent, who is half Italian, has a pedigree for preparing good food. His grandfather migrated from Southern Italy and opened a restaurant in upstate New York.
“Cooking good food was a part of growing up in my family,” explains Vincent, who notes that his restaurant’s meatballs are from an old family recipe.
When the couple recently got married, they honeymooned on the Amalfi Coast: “We used it as an opportunity to do some research and be inspired by the colors and culture of the region,” said Mindy.
Their newly renovated space at 801 S. La Brea Ave. includes ocean-blue colors and potted lemon trees to help transport guests to Capri — but the homemade pasta and sauces are the showstoppers.
“The Bolognese is to die for,” recommends Vincent. “The truffle ravioli is amazing,” raves Mindy. Both agree that the lemon-glazed donut served with vanilla bean ice cream should not be missed.
Bar manager Brian Colbert Kennedy serves a craft cocktail program with twists on classic Italian drinks, like a Limoncello Drop and a Rodeo Clown that includes gin, campari and carpano antica.
“People are looking for places to shop and eat that are walkable in the Miracle Mile,” says Vincent. “Our goal is to help make this area walkable by providing a spot that families and young professionals can stop by for dinner and a cocktail.”
As Miracle Mile residents, Vincent says they too want more restaurants to open “so we don’t have to go to West Hollywood to hang out.”
The Mile can be the next hot spot, he predicts.
Met Him at a Bar is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. for lunch and dinner. Visit methimatabar.com.
The ‘Little Bar’ that could, after 15 years and still counting
By Rachel Olivier
It’s been the “Little Bar” that could (at 757 S. La Brea Ave.) for the Miracle Mile and La Brea neighborhoods since 2005.
Whether celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, or simply as a place to play darts or trivia with friends, the 15-year-old neighborhood local could be considered one of the founding businesses of the renaissance currently underway along South La Brea Ave.
Angelo Vacco first opened Little Bar (so named on account of the space, he says) because he missed the vibe of East Coast bars and taverns he had worked in and gone to when he lived in New Haven, Conn. When he moved to Los Angeles, he ended up becoming the personal bartender for several celebrities. He said that they often told him he needed to open a place of his own.
So Vacco did.
“In addition to my life savings, four friends who believed in me loaned me the money to open Little Bar,” says Vacco.
“Not too many people know that the site of Little Bar first opened in 1959 as a speakeasy called Chatter Box. Then it became Klondike Bar in the 1960s-70s. In the ’80s it was a run-down place called Girl Talk. A friend and I put in a lot of hard work to turn the place around. Little Bar was born,” says Vacco.
That friend was Bob, who helped Vacco and his wife Marisa (who owns and manages the bar with Vacco) get the bar up and running back in 2005. It wasn’t easy at first. At the time, Little Bar didn’t have a full liquor license and could only serve beer and wine. Crafting cocktails with soju, a Korean alcohol, helped tide the tavern over until Vacco was able to obtain a full liquor license in 2012.
He further noted that they had “a lot of support from customers and neighbors along with the Miracle Mile Residential Association and Sycamore Square Neighborhood Association” to get that license.
In addition, however, there was no kitchen, which meant no snacks or munchables for customers to enjoy. Creativity overcame that obstacle. Little Bar lets people “order in” and even has a folder of nearby eatery favorites that will deliver to the bar. It has become a well-established custom to this day for the occasional pizza delivery person to show up at the door asking who ordered a pizza.
Mermaid theme
By 2010, Vacco’s friend Bob, who had done so much to help open the bar, had passed away. Vacco needed to be re-inspired, and he felt the bar needed a little help as well. With the aid of Antonio Ballatore of “The Antonio Treatment” on HGTV, the bar was able to get the little extra flair that it needed.
During the Broadcast TV segment, a memorial for Bob was added on the wall as a nod to the bar’s beginnings. In addition, a faux pressed-tin wall gave it a 19th century feel, and other coastal props were brought in, such as a mermaid statue looking down on the bar, to support the East Coast vibe Vacco wanted to keep.
Dartboards, Saturday night trivia contests, and a jukebox round out the props that are a draw and add an overall coziness to the space.
Neighborhood scene
Angelo and Marisa Vacco, members of the Greater Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce since 2006, continue to keep the bar low-key and comfortable and the prices reasonable. Vacco says they have a small dedicated staff and are happy to be the neighborhood spot, “not pretentious, but quirky. Everybody feels welcome. It’s not your typical L.A. scene.”
St. Patrick’s Day, Tues., March 17, will see the green beer and Guinness flowing “as always,” noted Vacco. He says the bar is often on the route for folks who are pub crawling from Molly Malone’s and Tom Bergin’s.
The bar will celebrate its anniversary officially by teaming up with Lost Coast Brewery out of Eureka, Calif. to serve Little Bar House IPA brew on tap. It will be a limited edition signature beer to be pulled in April and May.
“Stop in and say hi,” says Vacco. It’s an open invitation; all are welcome.
For more information, visit littlebarlounge.com.
Category: Entertainment