Live entertainment venue and cafe The Showroom is moving forward, at 1036 S Grand Avenue. This week, the project was discussed at the DTLA Neighborhood Council Special Planning and Land Use Committee Meeting. The owner, Bill Bryan, also submitted a Conditional Use Permit to allow the sale and dispensing of a full line of alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption. Plans call for the 7,150-square-foot space to include 220 total seats and a large, approximately 12-foot-by-24-foot video display.
Bryan told What Now Los Angeles that the exact date of opening is still up in the air due to the pandemic, but his hope is to open in 2021.
The upscale neighborhood seemed like the right fit for The Showroom because of the high population density and the demographics, according to Bryan. He added that the “intimate” setting will have “no bad seats in the house.”
“This isn’t a nightclub,” clarified Bryan. “The residents, certainly, are not going to be disappointed by that.” He said that it is instead a live entertainment venue, something that will be “crazy eclectic.”
LA is “amazingly bereft of live entertainment venues … To me, the intimacy and connection and spontaneity is what it’s all about,” he said.
Chef D. Brandon Walker will oversee the restaurant. Walker is a Los Angeles-based chef who has served as personal chef to hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and Academy Award winner Helen Hunt. He served as the Executive Chef at Bread & Roses Café and Executive Chef at The MV Grab & Go. The menu for the site’s cafe includes small plates of pork belly and avocado toast, salad bowls, hibachi grilled skewers, and sandwiches.
In a planning document, the venue claims to be “the world’s first hospitality venue purpose-built to block the spread of infectious diseases.” The venue promises a state-of-the-art ventilation, filtration, and upper-air UV disinfecting system as well as transparent plexiglass barriers that will separate guest tables. All staff and patrons will be required to wear face masks and disposable foot coverings in common areas. To prevent interaction with staff, a mobile app will be developed for patrons to order their menu items and pay for their meal. No cash will be accepted alongside a no-tipping policy.
To maintain a minimum amount of noise, patrons will be offered a Bluetooth headphone system incorporated into the venue’s app for full volume control.
