Chef Adam Perry Lang has suddenly closed his Hollywood restaurant APL after four years. The namesake spot at 1680 Vine Street opened in 2018 as a meaty ode to all things Adam Perry Lang, the celebrity-friendly chef who has spent a career working everywhere from fine-dining restaurants to East Coast smoked meat joints.
A member of the barbecue hall of fame, Lang first garnered attention in Los Angeles for his back lot barbecue setups, turning out short ribs and other meats behind the Jimmy Kimmel Live studio in Hollywood. He parlayed that success into APL, a glamorous ground-floor restaurant with an old-school chophouse vibe, while keeping the large basement as a dry-aging locker and private hangout space for chefs and celebrity pals. Now Lang says, via Instagram, that the restaurant is closed.
“Unfortunately, the ongoing challenges with this pandemic have forced me to make the difficult decision to close permanently,” Lang wrote in a post that appon his own page and the APL Instagram page. “I have so much gratitude to my guests and investors for their continuous support.” The statement also thanks the employees of APL, and ends with a “stay tuned” note, though what Lang’s future plans are remain unclear at this time.
During its run, APL was mostly favored by critics and fans, though at times it was tough sledding finding a large return audience in the middle of one of the city’s most tourist-heavy blocks. In 2019 Los Angeles Times critic (then co-critic) Bill Addison called the restaurant “irresistible” as a place to find well-cooked meats, albeit at an elevated price. The Hollywood Reporter also offered measured praise for the place in 2018, saying that the “supreme” beef Lang was dry-aging, butchering, and then cooking himself “immediately catapults [him] into the top ranks of local steak masters.” Now the restaurant, like so many others over the past two years, is no more.
More recently, Lang made headlines for being the former private chef for Jeffrey Epstein, with a 2020 podcast episode of Broken: Seeking Justice focusing on Lang’s alleged awareness of the billionaire’s sex trafficking ring during his employment. Lang has maintained that he never witnessed (nor was he told) of any illegal or depraved acts committed by Epstein or his associates, and as of 2019, he was cooperating with law enforcement. Perry Lang’s, the chef’s Yountville steakhouse that opened in late 2019, also remains closed at this time.