Inside Soulmate, LA’s Prime New Spanish Patio Hangout

One of West Hollywood’s most anticipated restaurants of 2021 arrives this week, as Soulmate takes up residence at 631 N. Robertson Boulevard. The massive project has taken years to come to fruition, but now seems — as Los Angeles County moves into the state’s least restrictive reopening tier — perfectly suited for what’s expected to be a summer of safe, mostly outdoor dining fun.

The first thing to notice with the new Soulmate is the space itself, a wide, deep development that spans a massive front open-air patio, complete with live olive tree at center stage and eucalyptus, passion flower vines, and ficus at the edges. The patio can hold more than 75 diners at a time, and even has its own bar to seat more than a dozen people, once appropriate to do so. The Kelly Architects build team also brought to life an entire attached indoor restaurant space, also with its own bar, that doubles the capacity of the property to a total of 200 people at a time. Inside, expect rotating artwork to pair with moody uplighting, colorful booths, and lots of burnished wood beams and tables.

As for the food, chef Rudy Lopez (NoMad, H.Wood Group) is on to craft a mostly Spanish menu with broad Mediterranean influences, from a vegetable and greens-studded fideuà to a simple uni toast made with sea urchin from nearby Santa Barbara. Roast meats, salads, and lots of cocktails from beverage director Naomi Schimek round out the evening, with Nick Shultz on to oversee it all as general manager. The opening menu is below.

The new Soulmate opens this week in West Hollywood at 631 N. Robertson, keeping hours from 5 p.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday, with an extension to 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday night. Keep in mind that the kitchen will cease serving food an hour before closing time, and that the city of West Hollywood continues to experiment with making Robertson a partially pedestrian-only lane, so park (and party) accordingly.

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