SBE and Michael Mina Team Up For XIV

SBE talked the talk about putting a restaurant in the (now) former Privilege space at the corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset for years, but Sam Nazarian is finally walking the walk: Look for XIV ("Fourteen" for the Roman numeral-challenged), with Michael Mina at the helm, to open this fall. More from the LAT:

Mina, who heads a mini-empire of restaurants including the Michelin two-star Michael Mina in San Francisco and Stonehill Tavern in Dana Point, says XIV ("Fourteen") will open in early October, showcasing the "modern American style that I like to cook, with a lot of European techniques." Mina and SBE are marketing it as "social dining," a design-your-own-tasting-menu idea that is a sort of deconstruction of Mina's signature "trio" menus -- three small, single-themed dishes served on one plate. "It would be as if you were to take those and break them up into individual dishes," Mina says.

The plan always was to get a pedigreed chef on board---Jean-George Vongerichten, Todd English, and Ming Tsai were all bandied about---and bringing Mina to LA is huge. But it's not like LA was ever a first choice: After his original SF debuts, he opened restaurants in Vegas, Orange County, Atlantic City, Detroit and Scottsdale before he graced us with his presence. Still, it's an impressive addition to the Sunset Strip and to SBE's chef roster, which now includes Katsuya Uechi (Katsuyas 1-4), Jose Andres (at the SLS Hotel), and our favorite Top Cheffer Antonia Lofaso (Foxtail). We also commend their moving away from the name Slab.
· A chateau-style XIV to feature chef Michael Mina [LAT]
· Sam Nazarian, Dreamer: SBE's Plans for LA Domination [~ELA~]
· SBE Future: Foxtail, Jose Andres, More Katsuyas [~ELA~]