Australian DJ Grant Smillie is opening an Aussie-influenced restaurant named EP in West Hollywood at 603 N. La Cienega Blvd. at Melrose.
The restaurant, on the second floor of the building, also will feature an outdoor dining area above that will be dubbed Long Play. Among the owners are David Combes, a real estate executive from Melbourne, and Ashley Hart, the Australian model. The chef will be Louis Tikaram of Sydney’s Longrain restaurant.
Smillie and his partners in Botanical Hospitality Group are seeking the West Hollywood Community Development Department’s permission to offer alcoholic beverages at the restaurant. While Botanical has asked for permission to serve alcohol from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, a Community Development staff report recommends that such service end at 1:30 a.m.
The building where the restaurant it will be located, currently under construction, will have 8,590 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. The second-floor restaurant would contain 3,226 square feet with an additional 3,000 square feet of dining space on the roof.
The request for permission to serve alcoholic beverages will be considered at a public hearing on Tuesday before John Keho, the city’s assistant community development director.
Also on the public hearing agenda is a proposal by Beach Nation, which opened in May at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Sweetzer Avenue,.to serve alcoholic beverages. Beach Nation is seeking permission to serve alcohol from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays and from 7 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. In its application, Beach Nation says that it intends to use the kitchen associated with the former Irv’s Burgers stand next door to expand its food offerings. It suggests that the Irv’s location may be reopened at some time in the future.
City community development staff members have recommend its request be granted, with the provision that alcoholic beverage sales be limited to 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Beach Nation will be allowed to offer ambient music to those in its outdoor dining area so long as it is not audible at nearby residences from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Beach Nation’s owners include Thomas Schoos, a noted restaurant designer, whose offices are nearby on Santa Monica Boulevard. Since it opened in May it has attracted few customers.
Finally, Keho will hear a proposal by Skynny Kitchen, a restaurant under construction at 8928 Santa Monica Blvd. west of San Vicente, to serve alcoholic beverages within the restaurant and on a small patio outside from 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. daily. The restaurant will focus on healthy and casual dining, with breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and smoothies that are 500 calories or less and priced under $11. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays through Tuesdays and from 10 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.
The public hearings will begin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in Rooms 5 and 6 of the Plummer Park Community Center at 7377 Santa Monica Blvd.
