As a French native, I am very excited that I can finally say that the
highly anticipated opening of the restaurant that will be taking
place in the former lobby of the Stillwell Hotel, AKA, The El Dorado Lofts is about to open this month. Friends and Family and soft
opening to the public will take place prior to a big Grand Opening event early October.
LE PETIT PARIS “The Little Paris” will be an outstanding place
where Downtown Resident and patrons from all over the world
will enjoy the best French owned venue in Los Angeles. After 2
years in the Making my dear friends David and Fanny Rolland,
who own successful LE PETIT PARIS & MIRAMAR PLAGE (Beach)
in Cannes on the French Riviera since more than a decade are
pleased to open their American dream.
While both Fanny and David were born in Northern France, the
two relocated to Cannes with their families when they were young.
Shortly after meeting, the husband and wife duo decided to turn
their dreams into reality by opening Miramar Plage on La Croisette and the original Le Petit Paris, both located in Cannes. It
was second nature for the Rolland, both having spent many years
in the restaurant industry. Los Angeles’ Le Petit Paris is located in
the El Dorado Building, originally built in 1913. The restaurant,
designed by the Rollands, features multiple skylights, two bars, a
mezzanine level and a large outdoor patio.
I have been eating and having so much fun for more than 15 years
at their French venues when every year I attend the most glamorous event on the planet, The Cannes Film Festival. Their venues
are highly rated as some of the best places to go in Cannes. The
international crowd and celebrities are raving about the food, the
staff, the ambiance that will be recreated in the Los Angeles version.
David and Fanny visited me on vacation a few years ago, and we
were joking about opening a “PETIT PARIS” in LA. When they
returned to France, I received a call from David and told me that
he will return to Los Angeles to seriously look at locations to open
a small restaurant. The first place I show them was the lobby of
the El Dorado Lofts thinking that it was way bigger that what they
were looking for but what the hell, we were just a few block and
figured worse seeing. We started scouting a few available spaces in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and Santa Monica, David
stopped me and said. Let’s cancel the rest of the showings and I
want LE PETIT PARIS to be in Downtown in the El Dorado Lofts.
We discussed that it would be twice or 3 times the budget that we
discussed and the first word of David’s mouth was “We will have
to figure it out, but This is IT!”
After long negotiations, the move of the family from France and
all the difficulty of acclimating, the excruciating permitting process, the hiccups during construction and being 2 Millions overbudget and almost 1 and a half year delays, I am so grateful that I
can say that I have made this happen in some ways and that David