Manuela Adds a Lush New Garden Menu at Arts District’s Warehouse Gallery

Arts District restaurant Manuela is switching up its open-air space just in time for spring, adding a new dining option called the Garden at Manuela this Friday, April 16. Kris Tominaga will run this show along side the Southern-leaning Manuela, offering a different (and more California-focused) menu out in the garden under the stars.

For those unfamiliar, Manuela is the anchor restaurant for the larger Hauser & Wirth property in the heart of the Arts District along 3rd Street, occupying an indoor-outdoor ground-floor space that has always enjoyed ample unsheltered seating in the building’s central courtyard. Since the beginning staff has used an adjacent unroofed area to run a robust garden and house live chickens. That’s where the new Garden at Manuela will live.

Tominaga’s menu will span from chile de arbor-rubbed chicken and garlic shrimp to simple sides like fries, creamy beans with chips, and churros for dessert. The garden will have its own freestanding bar for cocktails, wine, and beers offered by the can or bottle, all meant to complement the larger restaurant while giving diners a new opportunity to eat al fresco in the Arts District. Manuela’s move is similar to those undertaken elsewhere, including at the iconic Spago in Beverly Hills, which recently commenced its own side-project restaurant right on the street. Of course, the Garden at Manuela will certainly have its work cut out for it when it comes to building and maintaining a lush garden dining experience, what with the new all-outdoor rooftop restaurant Cha Cha Cha now open across the street.

Reps for the restaurant tell Eater that the new Garden at Manuela will be walk-up only and can seat nearly three-dozen diners at a time, serving during Friday dinner hours (5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., ) and afternoon/brunch hours on Saturdays and Sundays, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

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Katrina Frederick