Oh Man! Ramen Didn’t Happen, So Phillip Frankland Lee’s Going All In on Seafood

There’s been a flip of sorts up in the Valley as Encino chef Phillip Frankland Lee has taken control of the once-upon-a-time Oh Man! Ramen space, with plans to open a seafood restaurant instead. Lee and Ramen chef Luke Reyes were collaborating heavily for a time and had plans to bring the noodle concept to life right next door to Lee’s own Scratch Bar strip mall spot, but that all seems to have fallen through.

Instead, Lee will move ahead with a new idea called Frankland’s Crab & Co., a seafood-focused venture slated for later this year. Not that Lee and his awesome pastry chef wife Margarita Kallas Lee haven’t been busy — they’re bringing another Scratch Bar up to Santa Barbara soon as well.

The real interesting part of this all (besides the question of what’s to become of Oh Man! Ramen) is the notion that Lee is also continuing on his other restaurant on the opposite side of Scratch Bar, called Woodley Proper. That place has been pitching itself since the summer as a cocktail haven that served heaping seafood towers, so it will be interesting to have both Woodley and Frankland’s Crab & Co. operating simultaneously.

No opening date is set for Frankland’s Crab & Co., but with so much of the build-out done from the ramen days, it shouldn’t be long. As for Reyes, he’s mum on the future location of Oh Man!, but does pass along notice that he “had a great time working with Phillip as we tested out some dishes for Oh Man! Ramen and wish him nothing but the best.”

Frankland’s Crab & Co.
16101 Ventura Blvd. #242
Encino, CA