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Jon & Vinny's, The Animal Guys' Project at Damiano Pizza

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Matthew Kang is the Lead Editor of Eater LA. He has covered dining, restaurants, food culture, and nightlife in Los Angeles since 2008. He's the host of K-Town, a YouTube series covering Korean food in America, and has been featured in Netflix's Street Food show.

[Photo: Eater]

Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo sit down with Eater National to discuss the progress of Petit Trois, which is planning to open imminently, while dishing out details on Jon & Vinny's, the name of their project going into the former Damiano Pizza spot on Fairfax. In development for two-and-a-half years, the "shared space" will serve multitude of functions: a wine shop, offices, catering space, and eventually a replicable concept that's not quite as "aggressive" as Animal or Son of a Gun.

The wine shop, which will delivery beer & wine around the neighborhood, is headed by partner Helen Johannesen, director of operations/beverage director at Animal. The upstairs will serve as offices for Shook and Dotolo's burgeoning restaurant empire, while the catering operations that have currently worked out of Animal's kitchen, will move into the Damiano space.

And finally, the duo is hoping to debut Jon & Vinny's as a stand-alone concept that will try to make it more approachable. Says Shook:

"I think a lot of people have a fear of eating at Animal ... because we're so branded as the Animal chefs that they're almost scared of us in a weird way. One thing that we've been working on a lot internally is how do you present something that might not feel so aggressive but still be as full-flavored as Animal or Son of Gun?"
In addition, they're hoping to make Jon & Vinny's a repeatable concept that will start cooking by the end of the year. In the meantime, catering and office functions will commence within four or five weeks.
· Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo on Partnerships and New Restaurant Projects [-E-]

Animal Restaurant

435 North Fairfax Avenue, , CA 90036 (323) 782-9225 Visit Website

Jon & Vinny's

412 N Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90036