CURRENT

sweetfin

Santa Monica’s Sweetfin Poké reimagines Hawaii’s traditional “soul food” with its delicious, healthful poké bowls. The fresh fast casual restaurant serves up both customizable and signature bowls from a menu created by Chef Dakota Weiss. After visiting the islands, founders Alan Nathan, Seth Cohen, and Brett Nestadt were inspired to bring the authentic Hawaiian dish to the pier but with an added Californian twist.

www.sweetfin.com

estrella

Drawing inspiration from the famed Laurel Canyon bungalows of Joni Mitchell and “Mama” Cass Elliot, Estrella restaurant, opening this July, recreates this long-vanished artistic community through its seamless blend of indoor and outdoor spaces, modern American cuisine, and theatrical venue. Estrella, named after the circus girl from the Mitchell song “Ladies of the Canyon,” evokes a time when food, music, artistry, and community all coexisted under one canopy. Guests will dine on globally inspired dishes from Executive Chef Dakota Weiss on an expansive outdoor terrace lined with a golden wood trellis, and hung with colorful glass pendants, twinkling lights, and locally sourced plants.

Estrellasunset.com

matheaterDescend past the kitchen at Estrella, and guests enter MA Theatre and its corresponding lounge, which further solidify the bohemian spirit and artistic heartbeat of Estrella. Available for private events, the space provides a counterpoint to the ethereal glow of the restaurant with its leather- wrapped marble bar, fireplace, curated artwork, and adjoining terrace capped with a wooden trellis. A late-night menu, also developed by Weiss, is available to pair with the same seasonal cocktails available in the restaurant that combine fresh juices, geometrically shaped ice, and small-batch spirits. The state-of-the-art theatre features a 4k digital projector, 9.2 Dolby surround sound, a variety of couches and free-standing seats refurbished in a customized Kelly green velvet fabric, and almost 300 subterranean parking spaces.
Estrellasunset.com