Latest news with #BryantNg
Eater
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Welcome to Los Angeles's White-Hot Chinese American Summer
Bryant Ng, the chef behind the now-closed seminal restaurants Cassia in Santa Monica and Spice Table in Little Tokyo, hails from two generations of Chinese American restaurateurs. His maternal grandparents operated the 200-seat restaurant Bali Hai in Culver City in the 1950s and 1960s, serving Polynesian and Cantonese favorites like rangoons and rumaki at the height of tiki's popularity. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Ng's parents owned Wok Way in Northridge, where Ng lent a hand washing dishes and peeling shrimp at the 'prototypical Chinese American restaurant,' he says. 'That's the restaurant that I grew up in.' This summer, Ng is carrying on his family's tradition and opening a Chinese American restaurant of his own. His forthcoming Jade Rabbit in Santa Monica joins an ambitious crop of Chinese American restaurants that are capturing the attention of Los Angeles's diners right now. Places like 88 Club in Beverly Hills, Chinatown's Firstborn, and Men & Beasts in Echo Park take influences from Chinese dishes, flavors, and techniques and blend them with contemporary trends, reinventing the rich tradition of culinary ingenuity originally born out of economic necessity nearly 200 years ago. Chinese American food — the way it is presented and the way it is understood — has evolved since the days when egg foo yong and chop suey headlined menus, and transformed in exciting ways. Think bite-sized sweet and sour sweetbread nuggets at Firstborn and vegan Cantonese barbecued pork buns styled like monkey bread at Men & Beasts. Los Angeles's white-hot Chinese American summer didn't just happen overnight: It has been centuries in the making. The story of Chinese food in America is nearly as old as America itself and almost as complicated. America's first Chinese restaurant was established in 1849 by Chinese immigrants who arrived in San Francisco during California's Gold Rush. But Chinese restaurants didn't spread beyond metropolitan Chinatowns and deep into America's suburbs until well into the 1900s due to sinophobia and Chinese exclusion laws. It wasn't until after 1965 that Chinese food went beyond catering to white American palates to reflect Chinese tastes when immigration legislation permitted hundreds of thousands of Chinese people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China to immigrate to the United States. Los Angeles's thriving regional Chinese food culture, centered around Monterey Park initially before spreading throughout the San Gabriel Valley and beyond, is a direct result of that policy. The city's contemporary Asian American restaurant scene, spearheaded largely by third-culture kids, boomed in recent years with the opening of Yang's Kitchen, Kato, Pine & Crane, Woon, and now-closed Cantonese-inspired restaurants Ricebox, Needle, and Pearl River Deli. Not bound by tradition, these restaurants intentionally colored outside the lines, riffed on recipes, dismissed dated notions of authenticity, and charged their worth for the experience. 'Look at this huge history — 200 years of Chinese and Chinese Americans creating this food out of necessity, hard work, and entrepreneurship, and creating something that is a type of regional Chinese cuisine,' says Ng. 'The region that influences it is America.' Much of the culinary creativity that Los Angeles embraces right now wouldn't be possible without a receptive audience that understands and supports it. The city's collective appetite for Chinese food and its robust Asian population make it uniquely fit to embrace Chinese American fare in its diverse forms, from Pasadena icon Panda Inn, which opened in 1973 and reopened in December 2024 after a years-long remodel, to robot-powered fast-food spot Tigawok in Burbank and Sawtelle. 'The LA diner is very curious. They're not afraid to try something new,' says Mei Lin, who opened 88 Club in April and previously operated the now-closed James Beard-nominated and Eater Award-winning Nightshade. 'I'm always willing to put something weird on the menu, whether or not it's weird to them.' Lin points to the cold tofu skin salad as one of her more out-of-the-box offerings. Inspired by the appetizer served at Michelin-recognized Bistro Na's in Temple City, the salad mixes in snappy celery and a hit of red vinegar. On 88 Club's menu, it sits alongside classic Chinese American homages like kung pao scallops and sweet and sour fish. Lin's dishes have landed in a similarly upscale room as the nearby Beverly Hills Mr. Chow, which opened in 1974 and specializes in Beijing duck and hand-pulled noodles. Anthony Wang, who grew up in the suburbs of Miami and Atlanta, was afraid that diners would 'pigeonhole us to being authentic' before opening Firstborn in March, he says. But with dishes like tofu-skin-wrapped duck sausage, charred cabbage, and Chongqing fried chicken heaped with a confetti of dried chiles found atop nearly every table, Wang's fear has subsided. 'I've never claimed to understand or know 'authentic' Chinese food,' he says. 'The food is just storytelling from my perspective, my own experiences of being Chinese American.' Firstborn's menu pulls from Wang's food memories, travels, training, and San Gabriel Valley favorites and taps into the kind of personal narrative cooking that resonates with diners today. His creations seek to give Chinese American food a sense of place that dishes like orange chicken and General Tso's chicken lack, he says. His version of a wood ear mushroom cold appetizer is rooted in Southern California cooking and comprised of turnips, tofu, and sugar snap peas dressed in a punchy horseradish vinaigrette. 'We wanted to cook from a place that told a story of where we were and give our guests a feeling of time and place,' says Wang. 'We try to utilize seasonal and local products whenever we can.' Like Wang, Lin grew up outside of Los Angeles in Dearborn, Michigan, where her family owned a Chinese American restaurant called Kong Kow. 'I don't know that I would have been confident enough to have opened up this type of restaurant five years ago,' says Lin. 'As a Chinese American kid, you're never Chinese enough, and you're never American enough, and so we always live in that weird gap of just trying too hard.' Lin changed her mind about not wanting to cook Chinese food following a trip that she and her family took together to their hometown of Taishan in southern China, where she dove headfirst into the region's vibrant Cantonese cuisine. 'If I had not taken that trip last year, I don't think I would have been able to put myself into the food that I'm making at 88,' she says. While Lin recognizes that the dishes coming out of 88 Club's kitchen aren't traditional ('I don't call anything I do traditional,' she says), the Chinese American banner doesn't quite resonate with her either. 'It is a modern Chinese restaurant located in Beverly Hills serving dishes inspired by my childhood and my upbringing,' she says. 'It's very straightforward. The food on the plate is what it is, and I will make that food as unapologetic as possible.' Everything gets served family-style, shared around a lazy Susan, and seasoned to be paired with rice, including saucy dishes like the Sichuan fish-fragrant eggplant and Taiwanese-inspired three-cup maitake. Across town at Men & Beasts in Echo Park, which debuted in June, Alex Falco and Huimin 'Minty' Zhu are taking a similar approach through a mostly vegan lens. 'We're continuing that spirit of innovation toward Chinese cuisine,' says Falco, who co-owned the restaurant Minty Z with Zhu in Miami before the couple relocated to Los Angeles. Their collaborative menu, which features many dishes from Zhu's formative years in Hunan province, takes recognizably Chinese dishes like dumplings, salt and pepper chicken wings, and wontons and prepares them with homemade plant-based proteins. Some of the more unique menu items include 'monkey buns,' a mashup of monkey bread and barbecued pork buns made with char siu seitan and a glossy hoisin sauce, as well as deep-fried sesame balls formed with carrot-infused mochi and filled with crushed black sesame paste. The restaurant's adjoining tea room has a separate entrance offering a convivial space for socializing sans alcohol. 'In 2025, we find that people are not drinking much alcohol anymore for health reasons, mostly, but we wanted to do something for our clientele that would still create a vibe,' says Falco. Patrons are encouraged to linger over elaborate tea ceremonies paired with snacks from Men & Beast's main menu. The emphasis on shaping a welcoming environment echoes at Jade Rabbit, with its well-stocked steam table buffet, fast-casual service, and affordable pricing. 'We wanted to make sure that we had something that, from a price point perspective, was very approachable,' says Ng, who runs the business alongside his wife, Kim Luu-Ng. 'We don't come from generational wealth. We don't come from privilege. We wanted a restaurant that was accessible to everyday people like ourselves, especially right now.' The meals at Jade Rabbit are priced with affordability in mind (from $12 to $20) and formatted for convenience, but Ng does not compromise on quality ingredients and creativity. The fast-casual set up may seem familiar to anyone who's dined at a Panda Express, while the food pushes the definition of Chinese American cuisine in more expansive ways. The restaurant's beef and broccoli, a quintessential Chinese American dish, takes cues from Chinese Peruvian lomo saltado. A smattering of beef, broccoli, tomatoes, onions, and fried potatoes gets wok-fired in a savory green bird's eye chile sauce. 'It's an ode to our brethren's diaspora culture in Peru. A celebration of all the diaspora together in one dish. What could be more American than that?' says Ng. Jade Rabbit's kale salad is visually reminiscent of tabbouleh but tastes distinctly Chinese American. A combination of kale, cabbage, scallions, quinoa, and roasted cashews gets chopped finely enough to be eaten with a spoon before cashew dressing spins in. Fine print on the menu reminds diners that the salad may look like it came from a 'California-Mediterranean spread, but dishes like this show how Chinese American cuisine keeps evolving.' Meeting diners where they are is a core tenet of the Chinese American culinary tradition, with flexibility and adaptation baked into the cuisine — first by need, then by choice. Los Angeles's latest newcomers push these age-old foodways in thrilling directions by embracing change and harnessing their personal journeys as a raison d'être. 'I look at other chefs opening restaurants that are Chinese influenced, or Chinese American influenced, and it says a lot about where we are as Asian Americans and Chinese Americans,' says Ng. 'It's heartening to see now, in this particular moment, that we are very much taking pride in who we are and accepting — acknowledging — our cross-cultural identities.' See More:
Eater
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
The Most Anticipated Los Angeles Restaurant Openings, Summer 2025
The first half of 2025 has been a challenging time for Los Angeles, its rich dining scene battered by wildfires in January and continued strain from the impact of the 2023 writers' and actors' strikes. In recent weeks, the city has also contended with ICE raids, protests, and curfews, primarily concentrated Downtown. However, Los Angeles remains one of the country's most exciting restaurant cities, with new openings taking place weekly from several big names: Daisy Margarita Bar opened to crowds in Sherman Oaks, Firstborn has become a critical darling in Chinatown, Lucia brightened Fairfax with one of the most stunning interiors in recent memory, and Cannonball arrived in South Pasadena with approachable comfort fare. The summer promises plenty of other exciting openings — here are the ones to look forward to most. Projected Opening: Mid-summer Major Players: Bryant Ng, Kim Luu-Ng Chef Bryant Ng (Cassia) and his wife Kim Luu-Ng are gearing up to open a fast-casual Chinese American restaurant called Jade Rabbit in Santa Monica this summer. The restaurant will draw on Bryant's family history of cooking Chinese American food and take inspiration from the Hong Kong-style cafes and Cantonese barbecue restaurants that opened in the 1980s and 1990s. Meals will be formatted as combination plates with two side dishes, two vegetables, and a main like beef and broccoli, honey walnut shrimp, and an orange mango chicken that nods to sweet-and-tangy Korean fried chicken. — Rebecca Roland, Eater Southern California/Southwest Editor Projected Opening: Summer 2025 Major Players: Phil Rosenthal, Nancy Silverton Television writer and host Phil Rosenthal ( Somebody Feed Phil, Everybody Loves Raymond) is teaming up with chef Nancy Silverton to open Max & Helen's, a classic diner, in the former Le Petit Greek Larchmont space. The restaurant is inspired by the Palace Diner in Biddeford, Maine, which was featured in the Maine episode of Somebody Feed Phil . Expect approachable classics like Silverton and Rosenthal's take on a diner breakfast with eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, and a cup of coffee. Rosenthal tells Eater that he wants Max & Helen's to look like he just happened to find a 100-year-old diner, complete with antique fixtures. — Rebecca Roland, Eater Southern California/Southwest Editor Projected opening: Early to mid-July Major Players: Rose Previte, Alfonso 'Poncho' Martinez, Deau Arpapornnopparat, Tongkamal 'Joy' Yuon, Maria Elena Lorenzo Maydan Market was first announced in late 2023 as an East Coast expansion from D.C. restaurateur Rose Previte, who earned a Michelin star for Lebanese-inflected restaurant Maydan. The market will host a branch of Maydan, Previte's travel-influenced restaurant Compass Rose (which recently closed in D.C.), LA Oaxacan specialist Poncho's Tlayudas, and a grill-oriented eatery by Holy Basil Thai called Yhing Yhang. The market also recently announced a stall called Club 104 that will host a rotating mix of vendors and operators for a month or two at a time. When it opens, Maléna by Tamales Elena will serve pozoles, banana leaf tamales, and antojitos from the family behind the famed Watts food trailer. Then the stall will host chef Melissa Cottingham and Meymuna Hussein-Cattan of Flavors From Afar, followed by Eater YouTube host and chef Nyesha Arrington in early 2026. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Projected opening: July 2025 Veteran fine dining chef Brian Baik is almost ready to unveil his first-ever permanent restaurant after roving around Los Angeles for the last couple of years. Baik, whose family owns Koreatown's respected Kobawoo restaurant, trained at Eleven Madison Park, Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare, and Sushi Noz before coming to Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic. He opened Corridor 109 as an ode to the former Paris two-Michelin-star restaurant Passage 53 (109 is the suite number for Kobawoo) inside his parents' Koreatown restaurant serving Japanese and Korean seafood in elegant, no-fuss presentations. He moved to a space in Chinatown with just four tables, developing a following. Corridor 109 will now occupy a standalone building in Melrose Hill with a neighborhood-friendly bar and lounge up front, with an intimate tasting counter in the rear. The bar will open a few weeks before the tasting counter with a top-tier cocktail program and small bites. At the full tasting counter, expect Baik's prowess with high-quality seafood to be on full display, and while the place is not overtly Korean influenced, he folds in flavors from his upbringing. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Projected opening: July 2025 Major players: Alvin Cailan, Tuệ Nguy?n, Einat Admony, Proposition Chicken Local Kitchens is making another foray into Southern California when it opens in early July in Studio City. Similar to the recently opened Neighborly in Westlake Village, Local Kitchens partners with established chefs and restaurants to combine various menus and dishes under a single roof. At Local Kitchens, customers can come in and encounter multiple menus, like Sweet Onion Burger by chef Alvin Cailan (who owns Amboy in Chinatown) and Tấm Tấm Rice by chef Tuệ Nguy?n (who helms Đi Đi in West Hollywood and is known by her social media handle TwayDaBae). Local Kitchens in Studio City will offer a more complete dining experience, featuring 13 tables, communal seating, patio seating, ceramic plateware, and murals painted by Los Angeles artists. In addition, expect more staff to greet customers, take orders, and facilitate service, which will stand in contrast to the 'digital-first' and kiosk-oriented approach of Local Kitchens' Bay Area outlets. Fans won't be disappointed: Tấm Tấm riffs on Vietnamese broken rice dishes, with charbroiled chicken and braised pork belly over rice. Sweet Onion Burger has Cailan's Oklahoma-style shaved onion burgers with quarter-pound patties. Yalla Falafel makes stuffed falafel and amba chicken pita sandwiches, while Proposition Chicken does Southern-style fried chicken tenders and sandwiches. Expect this food hall-in-one to be a strong addition to the Valley dining scene. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Projected opening: Late June 2025 Major players: Dani García, Katsuya Uechi, Sam Nazarian Originally opened inside New York City's Citizens food hall in Midtown West in December 2021, Casa Dani earned a Michelin star but quietly closed earlier this year. Alongside Casa Dani in Century City, Los Angeles's own Katsuya will open a flagship restaurant with a revitalized 20-year-anniversary menu and add to the Westfield mall's ever-improving slate of dining options. Dani García is one of Spain's most acclaimed fine dining chefs, with two-Michelin-starred Smoked Room in Madrid and its Michelin-starred sibling in Dubai. The chef also held three Michelin stars at his eponymous restaurant in Marbella's luxe Puente Romano hotel, though it closed in 2019. Assuming it reflects its New York menu, Casa Dani in Los Angeles should distill García's modern takes on Spanish fare, like croquetas de jamón ibérico, Andalusian-style tuna preparations, paella, and grilled proteins like whole turbot and ibérico pork loin. Katsuya's Japanese lounge menu of sushi, rolls, and izakaya-inflected dishes will gather some of chef Katsuya Uechi's greatest hits from over the past 20 years. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Projected opening: August 2025 Celebrated Southern chef Sean Brock is opening his first West Coast restaurant, called Darling, featuring seasonal ingredients prepared over a live-fire grill in the former Soulmate space on Robertson Boulevard. The Nashville-based chef will also open Bar Darling, an adjoining cocktail bar that will serve cocktails while vinyls play over a hi-fi sound system. Brock is a high-profile chef whose career has focused on showcasing Southern cuisine. He grew up in Virginia's Appalachian mountains before finishing culinary school and becoming executive chef at Charleston, South Carolina's Husk from 2010 until 2018; he then became a partner at McCrady's Restaurant. Brock won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2010, and became a New York Times bestseller with his first cookbook Heritage , which also garnered a James Beard Award. Brock splits time between Nashville and Los Angeles. Darling will open across the street from Lisa Vanderpump's Sur and the trendy sandwich shop from three Vanderpump Rules stars, Something About Her. — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest See More:
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cassia, the Santa Monica restaurant 'colonizing the colonizers,' set to close in February
Next month, one of the most singular Asian restaurants in Los Angeles will close after nearly a decade in operation. Cassia — home of 'sunbathing prawns,' bowls of creamy laksa and clay-oven flatbreads from chef Bryant Ng — will serve its blend of Chinese, Singaporean and Vietnamese dishes with French-brasserie flair until its final night on Feb. 22. In a statement sent to The Times, owners Ng, Kim Luu-Ng, Zoe Nathan, Josh Loeb and Colby Goff cited a range of industry difficulties and occurrences that led to their decision: rising operational costs, sustained diminished business from the 2023 entertainment-industry strikes and, most recently, the city's wildfires that destroyed thousands of lives, homes and businesses. 'We are not unique, but it's been a challenge for sure,' the statement read. 'While we've done our best to adapt, these circumstances have rendered us unable to continue to operate. Regarding the fires, we want to extend our deepest sympathies to everyone who has lost their homes or been affected by the recent destruction. It's an unprecedented event that will reshape our city and the lives of so many people we know and care about for years to come.' The closure of Cassia, a long-celebrated concept from the Rustic Canyon Family restaurant group, is one among a growing list in the last year. More than 100 notable restaurants and bars closed in the L.A. area in 2024, including the Santa Monica location of Sweet Rose Creamery, another Rustic Canyon Family operation (the original Brentwood outpost remains open). Multiple other restaurants such as Guerrilla Tacos, Lustig and Bar Monette announced their closures this month too. Read more: Jonatha Gold Review: Bryant Ng's Cassia in Santa Monica stars a brilliant pot-au-feu A multigenerational chef-restaurateur, Ng drew from his haute culinary experience as well as those of his family and the Vietnamese heritage of his wife, Luu-Ng. After emigrating from China, his grandparents operated a Westside Cantonese-Polynesian restaurant, while his parents ran a Chinese restaurant in Northridge. Ng wove all of this and more into his white pepper crab, curries, lemongrass-glazed chicken, Sichuan-chile fried rice and satay. That flavorful cultural melting pot, as well as Ng's California background and perspective, is just one of a few reasons that L.A. Times Food's general manager, Lauria Ochoa, tapped Cassia as the 2019 Gold Award winner. 'I love that Cassia's food isn't just Vietnamese or Asian, but Southern Californian,' she said at the time. 'It embodies one of the big ideas behind the award — 'expanding the notion of Southern California cooking.' Fish sauce can be as important to the cuisine of Los Angeles as olive oil.' In 2015, former L.A. Times Food critic Jonathan Gold wrote that 'Ng, trained at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, is claiming the essence of French cooking as his own; colonizing the colonizers.' Cassia appeared on the L.A. Times 101 Best Restaurants list many times, including the most recent 2024 guide, where Times Food columnist Jenn Harris wrote that 'Ng has perfected his syncretic style of cooking, and every plate feels immensely personal.' It was named a best new restaurant by Bon Appétit, GQ and LA Weekly. Before opening Cassia, Ng served as an opening chef at Pizzeria Mozza and helmed downtown Southeast Asian restaurant the Spice Table. In 2012, he was named one of Food & Wine's best new chefs in the country. Ng and Luu-Ng plan to open a new Chinese American restaurant called Jade Rabbit in Santa Monica that will feature more of a quick-and-casual format. Read more: Bryant Ng and Kim Luu-Ng of Cassia receive The Times' third Gold Award 'We will celebrate Chinese-American food,' Ng previously told The Times, 'which is a unique cross-pollination of Chinese and American cuisines built out of necessity, hard work, creativity, perseverance and entrepreneurship of Chinese American immigrants.' Meanwhile, the Rustic Canyon Family will continue to operate its restaurants across L.A. and in Ojai, including Birdie G's, Rustic Canyon, Sweet Rose Creamery, Milo + Olive, Huckleberry Bakery & Cafe, the Dutchess and the Cassia-adjacent Ester's Wine Shop & Bar. Sign up for our Tasting Notes newsletter for restaurant reviews, Los Angeles food-related news and more. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Cassia, the Santa Monica restaurant ‘colonizing the colonizers,' set to close in February
Next month, one of the most singular Asian restaurants in Los Angeles will close after nearly a decade in operation. Cassia — home of 'sunbathing prawns,' bowls of creamy laksa and clay-oven flatbreads from chef Bryant Ng — will serve its blend of Chinese, Singaporean and Vietnamese dishes with French-brasserie flair until its final night on Feb. 22. In a statement sent to The Times, owners Ng, Kim Luu-Ng, Zoe Nathan, Josh Loeb and Colby Goff cited a range of industry difficulties and occurrences that led to their decision: rising operational costs, sustained diminished business from the 2023 entertainment-industry strikes and, most recently, the city's wildfires that destroyed thousands of lives, homes and businesses. 'We are not unique, but it's been a challenge for sure,' the statement read. 'While we've done our best to adapt, these circumstances have rendered us unable to continue to operate. Regarding the fires, we want to extend our deepest sympathies to everyone who has lost their homes or been affected by the recent destruction. It's an unprecedented event that will reshape our city and the lives of so many people we know and care about for years to come.' The closure of Cassia, a long-celebrated concept from the Rustic Canyon Family restaurant group, is one among a growing list in the last year. More than 100 notable restaurants and bars closed in the L.A. area in 2024, including the Santa Monica location of Sweet Rose Creamery, another Rustic Canyon Family operation (the original Brentwood outpost remains open). Multiple other restaurants such as Guerrilla Tacos, Lustig and Bar Monette announced their closures this month too. A multigenerational chef-restaurateur, Ng drew from his haute culinary experience as well as those of his family and the Vietnamese heritage of his wife, Luu-Ng. After emigrating from China, his grandparents operated a Westside Cantonese-Polynesian restaurant, while his parents ran a Chinese restaurant in Northridge. Ng wove all of this and more into his white pepper crab, curries, lemongrass-glazed chicken, Sichuan-chile fried rice and satay. That flavorful cultural melting pot, as well as Ng's California background and perspective, is just one of a few reasons that L.A. Times Food's general manager, Lauria Ochoa, tapped Cassia as the 2019 Gold Award winner. 'I love that Cassia's food isn't just Vietnamese or Asian, but Southern Californian,' she said at the time. 'It embodies one of the big ideas behind the award — 'expanding the notion of Southern California cooking.' Fish sauce can be as important to the cuisine of Los Angeles as olive oil.' In 2015, former L.A. Times Food critic Jonathan Gold wrote that 'Ng, trained at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, is claiming the essence of French cooking as his own; colonizing the colonizers.' Cassia appeared on the L.A. Times 101 Best Restaurants list many times, including the most recent 2024 guide, where Times Food columnist Jenn Harris wrote that 'Ng has perfected his syncretic style of cooking, and every plate feels immensely personal.' It was named a best new restaurant by Bon Appétit, GQ and LA Weekly. Before opening Cassia, Ng served as an opening chef at Pizzeria Mozza and helmed downtown Southeast Asian restaurant the Spice Table. In 2012, he was named one of Food & Wine's best new chefs in the country. Ng and Luu-Ng plan to open a new Chinese American restaurant called Jade Rabbit in Santa Monica that will feature more of a quick-and-casual format. 'We will celebrate Chinese-American food,' Ng previously told The Times, 'which is a unique cross-pollination of Chinese and American cuisines built out of necessity, hard work, creativity, perseverance and entrepreneurship of Chinese American immigrants.' Meanwhile, the Rustic Canyon Family will continue to operate its restaurants across L.A. and in Ojai, including Birdie G's, Rustic Canyon, Sweet Rose Creamery, Milo + Olive, Huckleberry Bakery & Cafe, the Dutchess and the Cassia-adjacent Ester's Wine Shop & Bar.
