The spacious kitchen is wide open, and from the bar side of the restaurant is access to an inviting covered patio. It overlooks the unpretentious dining room, whose white walls are covered in a whimsical floral pattern, with polished wood tables illuminated by cage-style lanterns. On one side is a marble bar dispensing the deftly crafted cocktails of mixologist Clare Ward and a dining counter ideal for walk-ins or solo diners. Hippo occupies one of those century-old structures with a soaring barrel-shaped ceiling, exposed beams and trusses adding character to the space. Hippo guests have to walk past the pizzeria (operated by Molina and Mozza principal Nancy Silverton), engulfed by mouth-watering aromas on their way into the restaurant. By Roger Grody.Ī venture of talented young chef Matt Molina and partners that include fellow Mozza alum David Rosoff, Hippo shares a little campus-like complex with Triple Beam pizza and a coffee bar. The most beneficial byproduct of its popularity, for anybody living east of La Brea, is a growing selection of interesting, unpretentious eateries, and among the most notable is Hippo.
Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA.Ricotto tortellini by chef Matt Molina Yes, Highland Park is hot these days, its strategic location, edgy vibe and relatively affordable housing drawing pioneering young residents the way Silver Lake did a generation ago. After all, Hippo has been some four years in the making - what’s wrong with a couple of more days of anticipation? When it does, look for dinner-only service to start, with lunch and brunch down the line, and a slow seating creep out onto that same patio currently being used by Triple Beam Pizza. Dining touchesĭon’t start making the drive over to Highland Park just yet, though Hippo won’t open until sometime next week.
#Hippo highland park menu full#
Don’t forget about the full bar operated by longtime bartender Clare Ward (AR Cucina, Pacific Seas) either, with David Rosoff pouring wine. There’s even room for big platters of grilled vegetables alongside gnocchi and steak and some simple desserts to finish off the evening. That’s where Molina, who won the James Beard award for Best Chef: West in 2012 for Osteria Mozza, will turn out more than just burgers, rocking a variety of dishes from oysters on the half shell to crudos and clam pastas. So now it’s time for the 80-seat Hippo to settle into the intimate but high-ceiling space behind it all, opening as a gorgeously tall dinner destination with marble bar touches and one very open kitchen.
At the time Intelligentsia coffee planned to open there along with Heirloom LA, but they’ve since been swapped out for Go Get Em Tiger and Triple Beam, respectively. Sharp-eyed students of the restaurant world in Los Angeles will know the name Hippo (a play on “Highland Park Post Office,”) from years back, when some of the early details on the Figueroa address started coming to light. Well as it turns out Molina and Silverlake Wine partners Joe Capella and Randy Clement do have a project to share: It’s called Hippo, and it opens next week. Anyone who’s been to Triple Beam Pizza in Highland Park knows that James Beard award winner Matt Molina has been up to something in that papered-over back space near where the lines form.
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