Award-Winning Patina Announces Its New Home at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Move to Prestigious Location Celebrates Master Chef Joachim Splichal's Vision to Provide Downtown With Exquisite Dining Experiences

Patina, one of the world's most celebrated restaurants and the flagship restaurant of The Patina Group, will move from its current location on Melrose Avenue to the prestigious Walt Disney Concert Hall in October 2003, master chef and founder Joachim Splichal announced today.

After serious consideration and careful thought, we have decided to relocate our flagship restaurant Patina to Walt Disney Concert Hall," said Splichal. "The new Concert Hall is a world class design that will provide extraordinary entertainment. Patina's guests can expect the same world-class experience."

Acclaimed Patina will retain its signature service, award-winning cuisine and impressive 1500-bottle wine selection. Patina will serve lunch, dinner and late suppers, as well as provide a special pre-performance prix fixe menu for concert and theater attendees. The new location will also include a private dining room for 20, as well as a private Chef's Table with a special tasting menu and interaction with the kitchen for up to eight guests.

Joachim and his wife Christine originally opened Patina in August 1989. An unsurpassed fine dining experience, punctuated by its high quality of food and service, Patina quickly became a Los Angeles landmark institution. Patina has been honored with an abundance of awards including The Relais & Chateaux Association, one of the world's most prestigious hospitality organizations.

Operations at the Melrose location will continue through October as the space transforms into Patina Prive, an exclusive private party venue set to redefine events and entertaining in Los Angeles. The elegant, newly defined space will accommodate up to 200 guests for any occasion. Patina Prive will be available seven days a week.

"We are delighted that Joachim Splichal will be moving the landmark restaurant Patina to the new Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles," said Stephen D. Rountree, President and COO of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. "Joachim will put his creative signature on the dining experience at the Concert Hall in the same way Frank Gehry has put his signature on the building."

Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by acclaimed architect Frank O. Gehry, is the new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the newest venue of the Music Center of Los Angeles County in downtown Los Angeles. Santa Monica- based Hagy Belzberg, architect of the flagship Patina on Melrose, designed the restaurant's new space in Walt Disney Concert Hall, creating an open, welcoming dining environment that complements the hall's design.

Splichal was recently named "a legend" in Bon Appetit's September 2003 10th Annual Restaurant Issue, citing Patina's "sophisticated, satisfying brand of Franco-California cuisine," among other examples. Splichal also garnered the title of Bon Appetit/Food Network "Restaurateur of the Year" in 2002, and Nation's Restaurant News lauded him as one of the nation's "Top 50 Culinarians" the same year. Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and the Central City Association have named him a "Treasure of Los Angeles" and he was also voted "Restaurateur of the Year" by both the California Restaurant Writers Association in 1997 and the Southern California Restaurant Writers in 1999. In 1995, he was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America.

--Posted September 25, 2003
Source: The Patina Group