Plans to open The Art Room in DTLA are moving forward. As first reported by What Now Los Angeles in 2020, the hybrid restaurant and art gallery is coming to the corner of 9th and Olive, at 908 S. Olive Street.
The Art Room will debut in March 2022, reps for the downtown café tell What Now Los Angeles, operating alongside the AUX Architecture’s studio and Seasons LA art gallery. Chef D. Brandon Walker, the co-founder of The Mar Vista and The MV Grab and Go, is behind the new venue.
Like the menu at The MV Grab and Go, The Art Room will offer “quick and easy” options for breakfast and lunch inspired by Chef D.’s old-school dinner approach of putting his favorites on the menu regardless of “fit,” the spokesperson said. So, anything from his signature tacos to fried okra, mac and cheese, lasagna, fish cakes and spinach fritters.
The Art Room will also serve breakfast items like their breakfast burrito and egg sandwich all day long. Additionally, Chef D. will be serving a wide variety of salads and plenty of plant-based vegetarian and vegan options.
With The Art Room and each of his concepts, Chef D. looks to provide “a realistic solution to the current labor shortage by creating an employment experience that champions a positive restaurant culture by providing fair pay and work-life balance for its employees.” With this model, The Art Room staff will have the opportunity to work a rotation of positions and have a limit of six hours in a single shift.
The majority of the culinary team has been working with Chef D. since graduating from his culinary training program at the St. Joseph Center — a free program focused on providing training to those who have experienced homelessness, addiction rehabilitation, and more.
Housed in a brick building from 1915, the 3,500 square-foot café was designed by AUX architecture and received a 2021 Restaurant Design Award from the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles.
