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Kate Mantilini, the Hollywood industry favorite at Wilshire and Doheny, is closing June 14 after 27 years. The Lewis family announced the closure Tuesday. It's a rent thing. "I can't pay that higher rent and that's all," chief executive Adam Lewis told the LA Times. "They were gentlemen about it. There was nothing contentious, no conflict, they were sad and we were sad." The Woodland Hills branch will stay open, Lewis and his brother David, the executive chef, said in a statement. The siblings took over the restaurant from their parents Harry and Marilyn Lewis, who kept Kate Mantilini (opened in 1987) when they sold the Hamburger Hamlet chain they had created. The space was designed by Thom Mayne and Michael Rotondi of Morphosis.
Open late with a big menu, a couple of go-back-for dishes and a decent bar, Kate Mantilini definitely meets a need in that part of town. I took several years off after moving west, but lately have made a few return visits and found the place pretty crowded (including with older celebs.) A personal note of possible interest to LA Observed long timers: Kate Mantilini is where I first met Mark Lacter and over lunch in the corner booth he broached the idea of blogging together.
