Chef Matthew Kenney, co-founder of Manhattan's premiere raw restaurant Pure Food & Wine, always wanted a reason to spend time in Los Angeles, and now he has one. Replacing Valentino Restaurant Group's short-lived Primi al Mercato inside The Market at Santa Monica Place comes Matthew Kenney Culinary and raw restaurant M.A.K.E., opening September 17 and "late September," respectively.
Guests enter M.A.K.E by the front main dining room which will offer communal tables, twotops and fourtops of reclaimed oak (outdoor tables as well). At the white marble Carrera bar Kenney will serve a five or six course raw omakase menu or daily chef's choice list, in addition to organic, biodynamic, and vegan wines, plus sake cocktails. Kenney describes his food as "low impact cuisine," food in its natural state. One potential dish he's working on, kimchi dumplings with a black sesame foam.
Behind the bar and past the kitchen will be Matthew Kenney Culinary, a school dedicated to teaching the principles of raw cuisine. Overall, Kenney wants to introduce raw food to the general public, and he feels Santa Monica is an ideal place to continue his mission.
·Raw Food Guru Matthew Kenney Opening Restaurant and Culinary School Inside Santa Monica Place [~ELA~]