On September 23, Bill Lanting of the Lanting Hotel Group described the upcoming dining options at downtown’s Cecil Hotel. At that point, Lanting predicted an October 15 opening for Marty, which he described as a “crossbreed of a Famima!! mini market and Starbucks coffeehouse.” He also detailed Catherine Coan and Amy Price’s design for the market, a restaurant called Tuck and a bar called Nip. Today, Tony Romano, Food and Beverage Director for The Cecil, revealed culinary details and laid out a timeline for the rollout.

Marty will open first, on Monday, December 1. “The café’s going to be like a hip Euro market,” says Romano. “I don’t want to be like a 7-11. I’m not going to have any marketing on the walls. We’re putting art on the walls from local artists.” A “Euro candy aisle” will host sweets from Berlin, Spain and Guatemala, including numerous chocolates. Expect fresh fruit and coffee drinks made using Illy beans, including espresso, cappuccino, lattes, ice-blended drinks and flavored drinks. Sandwiches and salads will be delivered until the Tuck kitchen is operational. Think ham and Swiss, roast beef, turkey and wraps. Expect 10 seats on the outdoor patio and 8 more inside.

Tuck will probably debut in February. Romano promises “comfort food, but on a designer level.” For example: grilled artichokes brushed with spicy herb oil and served with lemon aioli; mac and cheese with elbow pasta, cream, Vermont white cheddar and Swiss Gruyere; seared bacon-wrapped scallops; and seared ahi crusted with three peppers – red, green and black – served with daikon radish and baby carrots, drizzled with wasabi vinaigrette.

“Everybody has meatloaf, but I do it on a designer level,” says Romano. “I stuff my meatloaf with ricotta, spinach and artichoke hearts, then serve it with roasted garlic herb mashed potatoes and steamed broccolini…I want to do things you’d find that mom would make, but you can only get here. I stuff a pork chop with artichoke hearts and fontina and wrap it in prosciutto. Even my burger, it doesn’t come with lettuce, tomato, and onion. It comes on bed of baby arugula with blue cheese and garlic aioli on a brioche bun.”

Romano will also handle desserts, highlighted by warm chocolate bundt cake with a hot fudge center, served with white chocolate-marshmallow ice cream and raspberry sauce.
The design is set for Nip, and the Lanting Hotel Group will greenlight construction as soon as they secure a liquor license. After that, Romano will start on Vibe, a rooftop lounge above their art gallery. Romano said to expect “tables, umbrellas and a little bar if we can get the permits from the city.”

Romano has been a professional chef for 15 years, the past 8 as Executive Chef. He’s from Seattle, where he apprenticed with Chef Emily Moore at The Painted Table and Aninnia Salvatore at Salvatore. He also worked for John McNabb at Entro’s. His most recent L.A. restaurant experience was as Executive Chef at Tommy Ray’s in Studio City.

The Lanting Hotel Group was looking for somebody to design the menu for The Cecil and found Romano. He completed the job, then Lanting and his team took a closer look at Romano’s resume. Romano was hired as Food and Beverage Director at The Cecil Hotel, with the understanding that he’ll also help open a restaurant at any of the Lanting Hotel Group’s future hotels. On that front, Romano said, “There are contracts we’re working on now for a couple in Hollywood, one in San Diego and one in Atlanta. Nothing’s set in stone yet.”

Related Posts

1. Nip, Tuck and Marty to Open in Downtown’s Cecil Hotel
2. Miyako Hybrid Hotel Opens with second Gonpachi
3. Lawry’s Carvery Opens December 19 at L.A. LIVE
4. Rosa Mexicano Opens at L.A. Live
5. Bottega Louie Opens April 6 Downtown

1. mattatouille, November 25, 2008:

   in this economy, we’ll see how a place like this generates business, but so far it seems like something that can benefit downtown.

This entry is filed under LA Culinary Compass, Openings.