Now Open: Pitchoun! Brings Authentic French Bakery to DTLA

DTLA Rising Blog | by Brigham Yen

Opening this past Friday, Pitchoun! is an exciting new French bakery cafe that brings freshly baked baguettes and croissants to Downtown LA’s Pershing Square.

Located along Olive Street at the wonderfully restored PacMutual Building, customers are first greeted by an eye-catching outdoor patio filled with bright orange tables and chairs beckoning customers to sit outside. Upon entering the eatery, you are immediately transported to an intimate space somewhere in Paris.

Founded by French couple Frederic and Fabienne Soulies, Pitchoun! means “kiddo” in the Provençal dialect from Southern France. Frederic trained under several prominent bakers and pastry chefs in both Paris and the French Riviera and now brings a full boulangerie to this side of the world in Downtown LA. In addition, you’ll find other delectable items on the menu including croque monsieur, kouign-amann, and of course an array of soups and salads.

The restaurant, with its French imported chairs and wine barrels repurposed into tables, is designed to look vintage with a splash of modern elements. Although the ceiling height is cavernous, the space still manages to feel surprisingly cozy due to the use of dark colors, brick walls, and wood paneling. There’s even a large fireplace to sit next to that’s perfect for enjoying a cup of cappuccino. To top things off, there are over a hundred French books that adorn the shelves available to peruse.     

Pitchoun! is hoping to get its beer and wine license in late June of this year, which will prompt possibly later hours. For now, the hours are as follows with weekdays open from 7 am to 5 pm and weekends from 8 am to 4 pm.

Pitchoun activates Olive Street across from Pershing Square providing a glimpse into what the future can be like if the entire area surrounding the square is activated the same way

Quick grab and go meals are offered

Eat “pain” (bread) at Pitchoun!

Large windows allow for a peek inside the kitchen

Enjoy live music while dining

Enjoy a French book or a cup of cappuccino sitting by the fireplace

The same fireplace is double sided so it faces the outside patio as well

Dine outside underneath an 80-foot tall vertical garden

Law Firm Gets Creative - Space at PacMutual

Los Angeles Business Journal | Hannah Miet | April 6, 2015

Downtown L.A.’s PacMutual, which has been repositioned to appeal to creative office tenants, last month signed its second-largest lease with an unexpected tenant: a new law firm.

Trial lawyers John Hueston and Brian Hennigan formed Hueston Hennigan in January after splitting from Century City firm Irell & Manella, taking four other Irell partners and more than 20 associates with them. The new firm signed a lease late last month for 21,000 square feet in the 446,023-square-foot Class A office complex at 523 W. Sixth St. The property is now 95 percent leased.

“This demonstrates that well-executed creative office space is the new Class A in downtown Los Angeles, and Hueston’s lease is further evidence of its broad appeal,” said Carle Pierose, a partner at Santa Monica’s Industry Partners, who represented landlord Rising Realty Partners in the transaction.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but industry sources said it was a five- to seven-year lease valued at about $9 million.

The firm has occupied 6,000 square feet of temporary office space in the building since January, and about 30 people will work in the space when construction is complete.

Rising bought the building for $60 million in 2012 and has spent about $25 million to upgrade and reposition it as a creative office complex.

Asking rents at PacMutual, near Pershing Square in the Central Business District, are as high $4 a square foot, according to CoStar Group Inc., surpassing the $3.29 fourth-quarter market average for downtown, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. There have been 58 lease deals signed in the building over the last two years.

Hueston Hennigan, a white-collar criminal defense practice, chose the location because it was close to the courthouses. The office is being built out to include lawyer offices around the perimeter and group stations at the center.

“We want to emphasize people coming together to share ideas,” said Moez Kaba, a founding partner. “It’s not a hierarchical space with the senior partners locked in their offices, so it is going to be more like what you’d imagine for a Silicon Beach startup space.”

Mike McKeever, a senior vice president at the downtown office of Jones Lang LaSalle, represented Hueston Hennigan in the deal. He said creative office space is in short supply downtown, especially in the Central Business District.

Source: Los Angeles Business Journal

Long Awaited Tender Greens Officially Opens Downtown LA Location (Dinner Served)

Downtown LA Rising | by Brigham Yen

Wow! First announced in February 2013 almost two years ago, the very much anticipated Tender Greens is now finally open in Downtown LA! Although it soft opened this past Friday, the first official opening day will be tomorrow on Monday, October 20. Due to the historic nature of the space inside the 1908 PacMutual Building at 6th/Olive, many construction delays postponed the opening of the restaurant by almost 10 months. Downtown residents and office workers have been waiting eagerly for Tender Greens — known for their simple, healthy and delicious menu — to open, helping to activate once sleepy 6th Street in the Financial District into the next eatery hotspot. The great news everyone who lives and works downtown should know is that the new downtown location will be open for dinner. I repeat, Tender Greens in Downtown LA will be open for dinner!

Tender Greens opens next to also-relatively-new Le Pain Quotidien and shares an outdoor dining courtyard with the Belgian bakery cafe that opened in April of this year. If you haven’t been following the very interesting backstory of the courtyard, it was just recently restored after being covered up since WWII.

Another unique aspect about the new downtown Tender Greens is its pedestrian-oriented Pickup To-Go window that will allow you to order online and bypass the usual line for faster service perfect for the office worker in a rush.

Tender Greens will be open every day for lunch and dinner. If you need a recommendation, my favorite item on the menu is the albacore hot plate with kale salad and a house-made mint lemonade to wash your food down.

Here's the New-Old Courtyard at DTLA's PacMutual Complex

Curbed | By Neal Broverman

The historic, century-old PacMutual office/retail campus recently debuted its outdoor courtyard, which was created in the 1920s but covered up sometime after World War II with a one-story building. Now, with that stumpy building out—it housed a cell phone store, so don't shed too many tears—the outdoor area is now open for customers of the just-opened Le Pain Quotidien. A Tender Greens is also moving into the courtyard space, while the tallest planted vertical wall in the city opens on the Olive Street side this summer (other restaurants like Earth Bar are opening at the campus soon). Office interiors were also gutted and modernized and 56 new leases have been signed, according to the building's owner, pushing the occupancy rate above 90 percent.

Water Grill Downtown Reopens January 24 at 5PM

Eater LA | Kat Odell

Five weeks after halting service for a massive $1.5 million dollar facelift, reps for Water Grill downtown say the staple seafood haunt will be ready to display its new self on January 24. Doors open at 4PM, dinner service begins at 5PM, secure a resy here.

Plywood photos from a week and a half ago hinted at the new, more modern space which includes oversized Pullman and horseshoe style booths, white subway tile columns, inlaid antique mirrors, and a marble slab Raw Bar. The central bar is composed of dark wrap-around oak, serves 10 craft beers on tap, and offers television viewing. Stay tuned for the new menu which is a mix of old standbys and new additions like Mediterranean Loup de Mer and Atlantic True Cod Fish and Chips.