Andrew Meieran is about to reopen the doorways of one in every of L.A.’s legendary eating places in a bid to as soon as once more make it an offbeat eating and leisure vacation spot.
Meieran is the proprietor of Clifton’s Republic, the kitschy, forest-themed restaurant on Broadway in downtown’s Historic Core that for almost a century served up consolation meals akin to pot roast, mashed potatoes and Jell-O. The five-story restaurant and bar advanced has been closed for the final yr after a burst water pipe precipitated a flood that destroyed the kitchen and collapsed the ceilings on three flooring.
Clifton’s is scheduled to reopen subsequent month after in depth repairs and renovations. Among the many modifications patrons will discover is a basement venue a number of years within the making that Meieran stated is “devoted to innovation and the magic of experiences” with “leisure, cocktails and culinary choices.”
Meieran is holding particulars underneath wraps for now, however he has demonstrated a knack for creating provocative leisure and eating venues via an obsessive consideration to offbeat particulars, in addition to a willingness to spend extra money than most actual property builders to appreciate his imaginative and prescient and protect the historic integrity of his initiatives.
A Bay Space transplant with a background in actual property improvement and filmmaking, Meieran emerged on the L.A. scene in 2007 when he opened the Edison, a subterranean nightclub he created in a former energy plant deep underneath a century-old constructing on 2nd Road.
In 2010 he took over Clifton’s from the household that had operated it for the reason that Thirties, when founder Clifford Clinton bought the lease of the previous Boos Bros. cafeteria on Broadway and got down to create an area that will evoke the coastal redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the place Clinton spent summers rising up. After taking on, Meieran closed the restaurant for almost 4 years for renovations and upgrades and once more in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Occasions spoke with Meieran to debate his plans for reviving Clifton’s after the present shutdown, in addition to his ideas in regards to the evolving nature of the bar and restaurant enterprise throughout a time of change downtown. The interview has been edited for brevity and readability.
Because the pandemic started, the restaurant enterprise has been battered and put via modifications which have made it onerous for house owners to function profitably. How do you propose to make a go of it?
Individuals want, and I emphasize “NEED” in capital letters, to have the ability to disengage from their gadgets and steadiness their life with bodily and social interplay with people who find themselves there and current round them. We’re catering to people who find themselves searching for a way more interactive way of life and are craving bodily experiences to steadiness the ever present on-line presence.
A view of the inside of Clifton’s Republic.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Occasions)
Clifton’s exists in L.A.’s collective reminiscence as an enormous cafeteria in a whimsical woodland setting, however we don’t see cafeterias a lot anymore. Why is that? Will we get again Clifton’s as we bear in mind it?
Cafeterias was once the dominant type of meals supply and meals service and now, with only a few exceptions, it’s not. There are clear causes for that which can be comprehensible and affordable — you want tons of individuals in a captive viewers to make a cafeteria work. You want quantity and also you want steady, affordable meals costs you could cross on to your visitors. That’s fully absent on this period.
So what is going to Clifton’s embrace when it reopens?
Will probably be totally working as a restaurant, lounge and nightlife vacation spot that can embrace the Brookdale historic eating corridor individuals bear in mind as Forest Glen, Walt Disney’s authentic inspiration for Disneyland. We’ll additionally reopen the Monarch Bar on the second ground and the Pacific Seas “journey bar” on the third ground. The basement will open in midsummer.
Clearly downtown has modified lots from Clifton’s heyday within the twentieth century when Broadway was L.A.’s premier buying and leisure district. Occupancy in workplace buildings, which used to offer a gentle supply of lunchtime clients, has dwindled considerably for the reason that COVID-19 lockdown. What are the prospects for downtown companies like Clifton’s?
It’s clearly a really completely different atmosphere from what it was earlier than the pandemic. Individuals have altered their habits and patterns and companies have responded accordingly, with some closing and others shifting their focuses. It’s a tectonic degree shift, one thing that hasn’t occurred in generations, and it’s occurring very quickly now. It was triggered initially by the pandemic however adopted up by technological shifts which have altered the eating expertise akin to app-based ordering, touchscreens and the doubtless revolutionary influence of synthetic intelligence.
It’s onerous for individuals to essentially acknowledge what’s coming subsequent and the place that is all going. Clearly that makes it tough for a enterprise to reply and for different individuals to make investments and to find out the place we’re going to be in 18 months, three years or 5 years down the highway, which is what you want in enterprise.
Downtown, due to the extent of the influence and its density, is slower to reply to change than another, extra nimble communities. It’s like turning a tanker ship that doesn’t activate a dime. It’s taking much more effort and and concerted focus to shift its path.
What are the percentages that the Historic Core can mount a comeback?
Broadway, specifically, has all the components that make for extraordinary initiatives and extraordinary communities sitting right here ready for the precise catalyst. It has density, historic infrastructure and buildings which have an intrinsic magnificence and an intrinsic connection to visitors, residents,and guests. And it’s received the situation by way of accessibility with loads of parking and repair by transit.
