Just down the street from La Dolce Vita, on a quieter end of Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, a new supper club-style restaurant from Bravo TV’s ‘Top Chef’ winner Chef Mei Lin and owner Francis Miranda is now open. This venture is a tribute to the prosperity, success, and good fortune symbolised by the number 8 in Chinese culture, and this is Lin’s first fine dining project since her award-winning restaurant Nightshade in Los Angeles’ Arts District.
Wallplaper* dines at 88 Club, Los Angeles
The mood: hidden Chinatown speakeasy
The venue has been designed by Los Angeles-based firm Preen, which has an office in Chinatown and has worked on many local favourite restaurants, from Pine & Crane to Akasha. For this project, the designers wanted the space to look and feel like a private club, or that you just stumbled upon a secret – and they nailed the concept.
The dimly lit, intimate space is a mix of leather and dark woods, with lighter moments from the pink stone bar top and scalloped chairs to the retro-futuristic bar lamps, and round booths that also add a touch of glamorous Hollywood ‘golden era’ nostalgia. The team wanted a subtle nod to Lin’s Chinese menu, hence the black lacquered dining room panels and wall sconces.
The food: elevated Chinese classics
88 Club’s menu is very personal for chef Lin as it is rooted in the Chinese flavours she grew up cooking with her parents, all while focusing on elevated comfort favourites and a modern take on time-honoured Chinese cuisine – she is joined in the kitchen by long-time collaborator, chef de cuisine Nick Russo.
Dishes are placed on a marble rotating ‘lazy Susan’ for guests to share, with main highlights including a sweet and sour squirrel fish and Nam Yu roasted chicken, a version of one of Lin’s childhood favourites, served with ginger scallion oil, and aromatic soy. To accompany, add three-cup crispy Maitake mushrooms (a plant-based twist on the classic Taiwanese dish) or scallion rolls served with butter. The primarily French wine list is by sommelier and general manager Diana Lee, with Kevin Nguyen consulting on cocktails, which spotlight fun classics with a twist, such as Mai Tai and Long Island iced tea.
88 Club is located at 9737 S Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States; @88club