April Bloomfield Closes Hollywood’s Troubled Hearth & Hound Tonight

Hollywood restaurant the Hearth & Hound will close tonight, ending an up-and-down yearlong saga for what was at one time among the most anticipated openings in Los Angeles. The Sunset Boulevard restaurant only opened in December 2017.

Eater confirmed that the final night of service for celebrated chef April Bloomfield’s restaurant is tonight, and reached out to Bloomfield’s team for comment earlier this week. They ultimately declined, and instead posted a closure notice to social media several minutes ago.

Despite having Bloomfield in the kitchen, the Hearth & Hound will be most notably remembered for its onetime connection to opening partner Ken Friedman out of New York City. Just six days after opening the Hearth & Hound, Friedman was credibly accused of sexual harassment by a number of employees at well-known restaurants like the Spotted Pig. Friedman took a “leave of absence” from his role as a manager within the restaurant group, but continues even now to pull revenue from the venues where he maintains an ownership stake.

Wonho Frank Lee

In June 2018, Friedman and Bloomfield formalized a business partnership split that saw Bloomfield keep the Hearth & Hound as well as Tosca Cafe in San Francisco, while giving up her ownership stake in Friedman’s New York City restaurants. As for the allegations of years of misbehavior by Friedman towards his employees, Bloomfield has stated that she “let down” her employees by not doing enough when the allegations first came to light.

It’s unclear what will happen to Hearth & Hound’s space, or what’s next for Bloomfield at this point. The British chef had already relocated to Los Angeles permanently to open the restaurant, and notes in the statement above that she hopes “one day to cook here again soon.”

• April Bloomfield Speaks Out About #MeToo and the Spotted Pig [ELA]