Westfield Corp. confirmed Monday that renowned chef Jonathan Waxman will be bringing his cuisine back to Southern California with a restaurant to open in the spring of 2018 at its Century City shopping center.
Waxman gained fame by pioneering and then popularizing California cuisine together with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley — and subsequently made his mark at Michael’s in Santa Monica and Jams in New York City.
He is currently the chef and owner of Manhattan’s Barbuto restaurant and won the 2016 James Beard Award as Best Chef – New York City.
“This is going to change the very nature of the food landscape on the west side of Los Angeles,” said William Hecht, Westfield’s chief operating officer. “Jonathan Waxman is widely credited with bringing California cuisine to the world and — in the process –reinventing the way America eats, cooks and seeks out farm-fresh ingredients. He is a native of California — he first made his mark here — and we’re excited to welcome him back home.”
Waxman and NYCA Restaurant Group’s as-yet unnamed eatery will be located alongside the mall’s front facade on Santa Monica Boulevard.
“I have been looking for the right venue for my return to L.A.,” he said. “The location at Westfield Century City is the perfect spot and has everything — great street access, instantaneous valet parking and some of the best shopping in the world coupled with AMC Theatres and exciting new offerings like Nordstrom, Eataly, Shake Shack and Equinox.
Our location is steps from Santa Monica Boulevard and in close proximity to Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Culver City, Westwood and Santa Monica,” Waxman added. “All in all, this makes for a stellar location where I’m greatly looking forward to feeding folks in L.A. again.”
The announcement of Westfield’s partnership with NYCA Restaurant Group comes as the center prepares for its grand reopening this fall. The redeveloped center feature 200-plus stores and restaurants, including new Nordstrom and Macy’s stores, completelys remodeled Bloomingdale’s and an Equinox fitness club.
In addition to Waxman’s eatery, other new dining options at Century City will include the West Coast’s first Eataly, Din Tai Fung, Javier’s Finest Foods of Mexico and Petros Benekos, as well as Tender Greens, MidiCi Neapolitan pizza, Wexler’s Deli, Asian Box, Big Fish Little Fish, La Colombe Coffee Roaster, Minamoto Kitchoan, Randy’s Donuts and Compartes Chocolatier.
–City News Service