Chef Keith Corbin has closed his Culver City food stall inside of Citizen Public Market. Louella’s Cali Soul Kitchen, a joint project between Corbin and Daniel Patterson that leaned into the familiar family flavors that Corbin grew up with in South LA, ended its run last month, more than two years after first being announced. The project, like all of the tenants at Citizen Public Market, only opened for service a year ago, just before Los Angeles’ deadly winter coronavirus surge.
In a statement to Eater, Corbin says that Louella’s closed “at the request of food hall leadership,” though he does not elaborate beyond that point. “We are so grateful to everyone who supported us,” Corbin adds. “We are working on a space to re-open in a new Los Angeles location. We wish the owners of CPM all the best.” Eater reached out to the operators of Citizen Public Market, but so far has not heard back.
The decision to depart from Culver City’s glitzy multi-story food hall did briefly open up a window for a new tenant to take over, and now that role has been filled by none other than Go Go Bird. The popular former takeaway fried chicken spot from chef Brandon Kida of Hinoki + the Bird offers a wide menu of Japanese-LA fried chicken iterations, from a chicken sandwich to spicy wings to takeaway gyoza with chili oil. The new Go Go Bird will open inside Citizen Public Market on December 8.
While Corbin switches Louella’s to a catering model for now, he also remains in charge over at Alta Adams in West Adams, the modern soul food restaurant he opened with Patterson in 2018.