Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel has been a staple of the city since 1927, attracting the industry elitist, fashionable tourists, and native Angelinos alike to its crossroad between timeless glamour and contemporary entertainment. Last week, Public Kitchen & Bar, which Thompson Hotel Group co-owner Jason Pomeranc has called “The restaurant that always should have been in the Hollywood Roosevelt,” opened ahead of its Oscar Night deadline, replacing the steakhouse Dakota with a more casual menu within the still classy setting.

The restaurant is the creation of Tim Goodell, the president and executive chef of Domaine Restaurants and the brain behind The Roosevelt’s popular 25 Degrees. He’s designed Public Kitchen’s menu to be lighter and more American in style, replacing the traditional steak with dishes like Chicken Liver Terrine with kumquat marmalade. It’s a carte du jour of farm sourced, comfort food that Goodell would make in his home kitchen when cooking for friends. The menu is diverse, offering something for everyone within The Roosevelt’s international clientele.

Yet the food is not the only breath of fresh air at Public. Studio Collective, the company that also designed The Spare Room, located in the hotel’s upstairs, renovated the entire space that once belonged to Dakota, restoring the ornate ceiling art from the ‘20’s and knocking out walls so that the restaurant opens up to the lobby. The goal is to encourage hotel patrons and locals to frequent the bar when they enter, and the restaurant’s cured meat and cheese bar (with oysters and shared plates) covers the lobby area as well. With a modern menu and time-honored renovation, Public Kitchen & Bar is just the latest addition at The Roosevelt but will surely help to sustain the hotel’s continued Hollywood legacy.

[Sources: 1, 2, 3]

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