The new 24/7 restaurant Mode hosts a party for the Los Angeles Fashion Awards downtown tonight, but it won't open to the public until next week (pesky inspectors). We stopped by today for a quick look around. Mode comes from the group behind Royale on Wilshire and promises fashion and French-inspired food all day, every day. The dining room isn't huge, but that glass runway with LED lighting in the center of the room is for fashion shows---or your own little fashion show every time you go to the bathroom. The photo mural along the one side of the restaurant is from the Los Angeles Tofu Festival; a great effect, but a little ironic since there's lot of meat---steak frites, cheeseburger, foie gras, croque madame---on the menu. (Brasserie: The New Black.) The chef is Eric Ernest, also from Royale. White banquettes and booths (with designer stitching, no less), cool Italian Kartell lighting, and a video wall splashing scenes from the latest runway shows are all very fashion-forward, but not so ostentatious that even the most style-challenged would feel uncomfortable. A garage-type door opens onto a small patio on Olive Street and there's a small patio in back. Owner Tony Jones hopes to debut on Wednesday, Halloween night, and once the doors fly open, "they won't close." The lunch, dinner and late-night/early breakfast menus here.
The 'garage door' and patio
From the front
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