The Quick Pitch: David Bernahl and Rob Weakley, the fine-food forces behind the Pebble Beach and Los Angeles Food & Wine Festivals, seek to turn the sizable spot near Staples Center — that until recently held the short-lived Towne — into a serious destination dining address. They’ve brought in chef Michael Hung, previously of San Francisco haute haven La Folie, to execute a deft New American menu with the requisite flourishes (deviled Jidori eggs with kimchi, oxtail agnolotti with tangerine salsa and beef tendon chicharrones).
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Desserts come courtesy of former French Laundry hand Ben Spungin; cocktails — order the English milk punch — are conjured by Michael Lay from Restaurant 1833 in Monterey.
The Insider’s Dish: One panel in the quilt-of-doors wall between the bar and the main dining area used to provide the point of entry for Bob Hope’s dressing room. Faith & Flower’s proprietors picked it up at the downtown L.A. salvage shop Olde Good Things further south on Grand Ave.
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The Must-Order Item: A mushroom-stuffed quail entree perfectly roasted in the restaurant’s wood oven and served with a Madeira sauce.
The Industry Neighbor: Mad Men — which frequently leverages the area’s architecture for a masked Manhattan — is currently shooting its final episodes at Los Angeles Center Studios a few blocks west.
705 W. 9th St., L.A., 213-239-0642, faithandflowerla.com
