San Francisco Chef Josh Skenes’ Pristine Seafood Spot Comes to LA Soon

Big things are yet to come at the Beverly Center, the upscale multi-level mall at the edge of Beverly Hills. Not only are names like Ayesha Curry still planning restaurants inside (as part of a food hall being led by chef Michael Mina), but so too is San Francisco superstar Joshua Skenes. He’ll soon be opening Angler, a more casual spinoff to his elegant three-Michelin-starred Saison, and Food & Wine has some new details on just what to expect from the Los Angeles outpost.

Per the publication, Skenes is eyeing an April opening for his sprawling seafood-focused restaurant. There’s no official date just yet — the chef is quoted as calling construction “the devil” — but apparently the space will be even larger than the one in San Francisco. It’ll still rely mostly on live-fire cooking from a big, open kitchen, with a dining room that should carry around 120 seats.

As for the menu, it’ll likely hover in the $100 per person range, says Food & Wine. Much of the product will be sourced from the Central Coast’s waters on down, with an obvious emphasis on Central Valley and other local farming communities as well. Skenes says there are also plans to bring a similarly ideological Angler to Seattle, and rely on the seafood and produce from Washington State as well, though that’s still a ways off.

Meanwhile Angler continues to draw praise up in San Francisco, including from New York Times California critic Tejal Rao. Back down at the Beverly Center, the reborn retail building is already bursting with new food options from fast casual to beyond, including spots like Cal Mare, Easy’s (located inside the mall), and the farmer-led sit-down restaurant Farmhouse. Look for Skenes and his Angler LA team to arrive sometime this spring.

• 16 Splendid Seafood Restaurants to Try in Los Angeles [ELA]