Scope The Menu For ‘Violet’ Before French Bistro, School, and Boutique Debuts in Westwood Village

Westwood Village before the end of 2019 will be home to Violet, a French bistro, cooking school, and retail store from Dana Slatkin, a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef, cookbook author, food blogger, and cooking class instructor in Los Angeles.

The “Cali-French bistro and bar” could open the week of Christmas, at 1121 Glendon Avenue, Slatkin in an email Wednesday told What Now Los Angeles.

Lunch will be served from the space Monday through Friday with dinner and cocktails every night, and brunch on the weekends.

On the menu (shown below) is California cuisine inspired by French fare and the cocktails offer “little fuss but plenty of flair.”

Slatkin’s Violet team is rounded-out by Executive Chef Camden Hershberger from Bouchon Bistro Beverly Hills, Tallula’s, and Tartine Bianco at The Manufactory L.A., General Manager David Kianmahd straight from Jon & Vinny’s Italian, and Michael’s Restaurant and Bestia vet Bar Manager Meredith Hayman.

Violet’s multi-functional space is also home to Violet Cooking School, a cooking school for all ages, as well as a kitchen boutique called Violet Shop.

“Lively, charming, and unpretentious, Violet brings the best of European living to the heart of Los Angeles,” Slatkin said in a prepared statement.

The Violet Shop will be outfitted with the cooking tools and utensils, serving pieces, and specialty ingredients employed both in class and at the Bistro.

Just upstairs is the private open-air 12-seat dining area and 30-seat cooking school, where Violet’s mission is “creating community through cooking.”

Directed by the former pastry chef for Wolfgang Puck and co-founder of Chefwear, Rochelle Huppin, the Viking-sponsored kitchen will host a series of signature courses taught by professional chefs and instructors, in addition to community seminars and special events with celebrity chefs (like Nancy Silverton, Sherry Yard, Josiah Citrin, and Jonathan Waxman.)

It is an “evolutionary progression” from Slatkin’s home-based cooking school of more than a decade.

All courses will combine demonstration and hands-on teaching over the course of a two-hour class, during and after which cocktails will be served, along with a made-from-scratch-meal.

A standard curriculum of courses from $160 per student.

Discounts will be offered to anyone with a Museum or Geffen ticket, and once a month, Violet Cooking School will offer a $20 per person educational talk and “nosh for the community. “

Private and corporate classes for up to 30 guests and special occasion buy-outs are offered, as are private parties and events up to 100 guests.

Violet’s interior was inspired by the “mood of 1920s Paris and infused with today’s relaxed California lifestyle.”

Wendy Haworth Design Studio partnered with Lewis Schoeplein Architects, Ramland Construction, and lighting designer Ramona Pratt to realize Slatkin’s vision playing off the bones of the 1938 building, featuring original brickwork, vaulted ceilings, and iron windows.

And no, the color violet is not used in the décor.

“Haworth has moved on from the rustic-industrial fad she practically ignited in this town to create a fresh aesthetic grounded in artisanal details and old-world charm,” according to a press release.

Details include oak floors, Calacatta Viola marble tables, ebonized Bentwood chairs, and leather and velvet banquets, enveloped in an oversized floral print, all balanced with hits of graphic black and white stripes.

There is House of Hackney wallpaper in the restrooms, wood paneling and marble mosaic at the bar, and a muted palette throughout “that allows the food to shine.”

Violet will be open for lunch Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., dinner Sunday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and brunch Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Valet parking will be offered.