A new chef is coming to Beechwood, weeks after we learned that owner-chef Brooke Williamson had split, leaving partner David Reiss as the sole proprietor of this Venice gastropub. Reiss announces via press release that Jamie Lauren, formerly of San Francisco’s Absinthe Brasserie and Bar, has been named the new executive chef here and will commence her service on October 11th. Lauren was a Top Chef contestant who nabbed one of the S.F. Chronicle’s “Rising Star Chef” nods in 2005 and was named “Rising Star Chef” by Restaurant Hospitality Magazine in 2008. Reiss lets us know that Lauren will take a brief hiatus before entering Beechwood’s kitchens in the fall and giving the aging menu a swift kick in the seat and probably tidying up their walk-in in the process.
Beechwood, 822 Washington Blvd, Venice.
