Spartina — Los Angeles, USA
![Flower vase and fruit bowl on dining table](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/asiRjprxP7KakW4gbeFSD9-415-80.jpg)
Los Angeles-based interior designer Heather Ashton has joined forces with chef Stephen Kalt - of Iron Chef fame - to launch Spartina, a re-introduction of the restaurant Kalt originally opened in New York’s Tribeca neigbourhood in the 1990s. In the L.A. rendition - located on a stretch of Melrose Avenue that’s having its own resurgence - Kalt marries Italian dishes with ingredients from the region’s local farmers’ markets.
The result: a Cal-Ital trattoria that puts more emphasis on fresh and seasonal than checking all of the expected Italian-restaurant boxes. Dishes like grilled avocado with Moroccan lemon, Calabrian chilies and ricotta salata feel rooted in an Italian cooking heritage, yet with a decidedly Californian flourish.
To match the tone set by Spartina’s menu, Ashton has created a well-considered, unfussy and easy-going aesthetic; the almost industrial space - with concrete floors and exposed beam ceiling - is made warm with the addition of natural elements like wood wall cladding, leather-embellished seating and plenty of live greenery. French blue tables and cabinetry lend a hit of colour to the restaurant’s otherwise neutral palette, while landscape photography taken by Kalts wife, Shelley, is also on display.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
7505 Melrose Avenue
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
PHOTOGRAPHY
Douglas Hill
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
Embrace solitude at Folly Mojave, an off-grid desert retreat
Folly Mojave is a wilderness escape enveloped by hundreds of square miles of natural scenery and designed by LA-based architect Malek Alqadi
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Sandbourne Santa Monica heralds a ceramic oasis by the sea
Check into Sandbourne Santa Monica, a new hotel concept moments away from the city’s fabled pier and Venice Beach
By Carole Dixon Published
-
The Ritz-Carlton, Portland blends luxury design with the wilds of the Pacific Northwest
With architecture by GBD Architects and interiors by ROAM, the new Ritz-Carlton outpost brings the Oregon wilderness to downtown Portland
By Dan Howarth Published
-
Dine under a colossal Zaha Hadid sculpture at Elastika in Miami
Elastika opens its doors as a one-of-a-kind dining destination inside Miami Design District’s The Moore
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Scribner’s Catskill Lodge introduces funky rounded cabins
Scribner’s Catskill Lodge tapped design firm Post Company for 11 new dodecagonal cabins
By Adrian Madlener Published
-
Famed steakhouse Beefbar opens an art deco-infused outpost in New York City
Beefbar’s first US location finds a home in an impressive 1920s Tribeca building, boasting interiors by Humbert & Poyet
By Dan Howarth Published
-
Bar Spero, in Washington DC, nods to the playful nature of Spanish cuisine
Bar Spero is a Spanish seafood bar and grill designed by Streetsense and led by chef Johnny Spero
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Southern Arizona sets the scene for a corking vineyard experience at Los Milics
Los Milics winery, designed by Chen + Suchart Studio, is set among vines at the foothills of the Mustang Mountains
By Sofia de la Cruz Published