Moby’s Former Restaurant in Silver Lake Gets a New Vegan Tenant

Restaurateur Nic Adler is on the move, adding to his already-growing restaurant collection with a new project in Silver Lake. Adler will open Argento in the former Little Pine space soon, with an opening slated for sometime this summer.

The focus, Adler tells Eater, will be on Italian flavors, though it’s not clear yet if there are any specific regions of the country involved. Mostly Adler will be pushing California produce and flavors with the restaurant, with popular chef Jared Simons on to craft the menu and run the show. Simons is best known for his project Taco Vega, and is currently the executive chef of another Adler project, Nic’s on Beverly. Both Simons and Adler are longtime plant-based diners, so crafting a menu for vegan diners will continue to be top of mind. Jason Eisner of Party Beer Co. and other cocktail projects like Block Party in Highland Park will oversee the drinks, with a heavy lean toward natural wines.

The new Argento address should be familiar to LA’s many plant-based diners, given its previous history at Little Pine, a stable neighborhood spot that was once owned by Moby. That restaurant had a somewhat tumultuous run, with the musician stepping away from the restaurant in the summer 2020, months after a group of Little Pine employees accused the musician of leaving them “high and dry” at the start of the pandemic, offering little communication about the future of their jobs or benefits for weeks at a time. Little Pine quietly closed late last fall.

It’s a busy time for Adler, with Argento on the horizon and his ever-expanding vegan burger chain Monty’s continuing to grow across Southern California. What’s more, Adler has for years been an integral part of the robust food scene at the dual-weekend party destination Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which begins in April in Indio. As for Argento, expect an opening sometime this summer.