Coming Soon

Towne Opening Soon in Downtown

Towne's pastrami pork belly sliders
Towne’s pastrami pork belly sliders Photo: Towne via Facebook

A new restaurant named Towne is preparing for an opening this summer in a 7,000-square-foot space in the ground floor of Downtown’s Watermarke Tower at 9th and Flower Streets. The project comes from Armen Shirvanian, owner of Pasadena’s Mi Piace, and PR passes along news that its New American menus will be a group effort under Eric Hara of New York’s davidburke & donatella, Pier 9, and The Oak Room at The Plaza, along with Ryan Morrison, Scarpetta chef Scott Conant’s former director of culinary development. The restaurant plans breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as “all-American” desserts from Tamara Davis, formerly of Boule, Aquavit, and Bottega Louie. So, yeah, not a bad team, eh? Now, what will you be eating at Towne?

Hara and Morrison, who worked together thrice in the past moving from a job in Canada to NYC for stints at davidburke & donatella and Chez Josephone, will double-team diners using a wood-burning oven and grill for a menu of whole fish, roasts, handmade pasta, flat breads, and a slew of homemade products like yogurt, jellies, pastries, and ketchup.

Dinner, a press release promises, could include bone marrow matzo ball soup, razor clam ceviche with piquillos, pastrami pork belly sliders with the kitchen’s own Thousand Island dressing, wood-grilled dry-aged prime meats in a beef cheek pot roast or crispy pork shank, and additional salads and sandwiches on the lunch menu, with plans for a salmon cubano and a burger made with ground brisket with tallegio on a pretzel bun. A growing gallery of food images is already up on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Davis will finish guests off with such sweets as peanut butter candy bars, raspberry thyme sorbet and ginger caramel ice cream push-up pops (aw, remember those, fellow fogies?), and ice cream sandwiches, in addition to a retail component offering her take on Twinkies, cupcakes, and peanut butter and jelly and cherry pie macaroons which will go home with guests in French hat boxes.

Drinks will be the provenance of Jason Bran, who will focus on U.S. nostalgia through a patriotic lens that leans on North American spirits in classic cocktails, in addition to U.S. wine and craft beer.

Meanwhile, Mercado di Vetro designer Mark Zeff is detailing this jumbo joint with its own coffee bar, an open-air terrace, and a central red-and-white dining area, with a wood-paneled lounge, chandeliers, and a brown-leather ceiling. The project will debut with lunch and dinner, followed soon by breakfast.

Towne, coming soon to 705 W. 9th St. Downtown. 213-623-2366.

Towne Opening Soon in Downtown