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A light white off-centered photo of food shown from the side, including roast meats.
A table full of Soulmate food
Wonho Frank Lee

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Inside Soulmate, LA’s Prime New Spanish Patio Hangout

This massive summertime stunner is likely to be the biggest 2021 opening in the area

Farley Elliott is the Senior Editor at Eater LA and the author of Los Angeles Street Food: A History From Tamaleros to Taco Trucks. He covers restaurants in every form, from breaking news to the culture, people, and history that surrounds LA's dining landscape.

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.

An off-white ceramic plate with cut toast and orange uni on top.
Santa Barbara uni toast
A wide white plate with fresh fish and lots of seasoned avocado on top.
Kampachi ceviche
A high-rimmed ceramic bowl with light greens lots of vegetables and cut bread.
Escalivada salad
A paella pan with Spanish rice and topped with lots of colorful vegetables.
Vegetable fideuà
Overhead photo of roasted chicken on an off-white plate with broccoli.
Oven roasted chicken
A tall glass of light pink cocktail with crushed ice.
A tiki-style cocktail drink in a tall glass with a wicker chair beyond.
A tall, colorful cocktail in a dark room.
A semi-clear cocktail in a rocker glass with a flower protruding.
A square room with an open ceiling and a bar along one wall, at night.
Open-air dining
A dinnertime restaurant with light filtering in from a separate room.
Candles and green
A dark bar with lots of bottles behind a backlit bartop, with stone underfoot.
A corner lounge area at night inside of an open-air bar, with yellow pillows.
A large communal table with outdoor seats at a new restaurant, at night.
A pitched roof inside of a dark restaurant at night with pitched wooden beams.
A long restaurant with orange booths at left and bulbous lights overhead.
Wooden tables and chairs in a new restaurant at evening.
Colorful wallpaper showing a woodsy scene with bulbous lights overhead in a new restaurant, at night.
A dim red wall showing a round artist mural and six-top table at front.
Lights and colors abound
An inside, door open peek at a new restaurant with an open-air patio in front.
Peek inside

Soulmate

631 North Robertson Boulevard, , CA 90069 (310) 734-7764 Visit Website
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