What better setting for a restaurant aspiring to disrupt modern day dining than a twisted curvilinear tower by Eric Owen Moss?
The progressive architect, who has spent years dramatically reshaping the Hayden Tract, a former industrial zone in Culver City, is the force behind the smouldering red building inhabited by Vespertine, a 22-seat experimental restaurant helmed by chef Jordan Kahn.
Promising to blur the line between architecture and food, Vespertine’s tasting menu-only concept brings together influences as wide ranging as astronomy, composer John Cage’s music and Moss’ own manifestos in edible form. The building’s distinctive lattice facade is matched in the interior with custom-built steel banquette seating and translucent acrylic tabletops, exposed tubular columns and a curving 26-foot long table suspended from the ceiling which will present diners with a keepsake when they depart.
Outside, a garden by the main entrance cuts a striking figure with an artful configuration of mounded earth, concrete tables and planted flora, while its rooftop offers a more casual space for enjoying cocktails and the architectural view.
