Chef Suzanne Goin and restaurateur Caroline Styne, partners in The Luques Group of Los Angeles restaurants, are crafting menus and concepts for the Hollywood Bowl for the eighth time this season.
Hollywood Bowl Food + Wine offers three restaurants, three marketplaces, wine experiences, picnic boxes, craft cocktails, catered dinners and more for concert-goers. (The Hollywood Bowl is the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.)
New for 2023 are a number of concepts and menu items, including:
• Suzanne’s Fried Chicken, a kiosk that serves the chef’s Spanish-accented chicken recipe in two bucket sizes with sides of cornbread, coleslaw, housemade ranch, honey and hot sauce
Spanish Fried Chicken, a Suzanne Goin signature, is on offer at several concepts.
• Bar West, which is pouring batched craft cocktails made with soju and other wine-based spirits that are created by Ignacio Murillo, head barman at A.O.C, one of the partners’ L.A. restaurants
• South LA Cafe, a community-focused, family-owned breakfast-and-lunch concept that offers a full range of coffee drinks and healthy options
• Supper in Your Seats, which serves curated, three-course dinners or a la carte meals delivered to box seats. New on the menu are Braised Short Ribs with shell bean ragout, rapini and whole-grain mustard; diver scallops with saffron risotto, young spinach and Meyer lemon salsa; tortiglioni pasta with heirloom tomatoes, pancetta and Parmigiano-Reggiano-garlic breadcrumbs; and several salads featuring Leonora goat cheese, jamon, candied pecans, wild mushrooms and other chef-inspired ingredients.
• The Backyard, an al fresco dining area that serves up wood-grilled meats and fish and market-driven salads. New this season are whole sea bream with couscous, golden raisins, pistachios, kumquat and chermoula; grilled lobster with toasted cornbread, succotash salad and smoked tomato butter; and chicken paillard with pecorino pudding, haricots verts, spring onions and mustard breadcrumbs.
A selection of grilled flatbreads are served at Ann's Wine Bar by A.O.C.
On the wine side, there’s Ann’s Wine Bar by A.O.C., showcasing a wine list curated by Styne, along with artisanal cheeses and charcuterie, farmers’ plates, grilled flatbreads and market salads. New for 2023 are:
• Grilled Flatbread with summer squash, taleggio and sun-dried tomato pesto
• Apricots and Pickled Cherries with soft ricotta, jamon and coriander hazelnuts
• Cumin Lamb Chops with black beans, cucumber, roasted poblano, urfa and pistachios
• Quinoa Dumplings with spiced tomato, sugar snaps, pea shoots and feta
• Milk Chocolate Torta with rum caramel and coffee cream
Additional venues offer street food and snacks, soft-serve ice cream, picnic boxes and made-to-order beef and veggie burgers. For well-heeled Pool Circle subscribers, Goin offers a made-to-order menu paired with wines. Highlights include Ricotta Gnocchi, Grilled Ribeye Steak Frites, Spanish Stuffed Chicken and soups, salads and desserts.
Tech upgrades are also in place this year, designed to ease ordering and checkout. New beer pads offer grab-and-go drinks with self-checkout, and ordering stations are available at many food kiosks. Guests can also order from the Hollywood Bowl app or with a QR code. At one of the Marketplace locations, they can have their entire purchase of up to 12 items scanned at once.
Hollywood Bowl Food + Wine is presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in partnership with The Lucques Group and Sodexo Live!