Soft Opening at Bottega Louie

Bottega Louie
700 S Grand Avenue (In the Brockman Building)
Los Angeles, CA 90014
http://www.bottegalouie.com/


Wednesday evening we were strolling around downtown, starting with a taxi drop off and some food in Fleming's at LA Live, and ending up in the Golden Gopher for drinks and plans to conquer the universe. On the way we passed, in true Odyssean style, Bottega Louie and were drawn in by the siren-like call of its bright lights and soft opening.

I strolled the perimeter, peeking in the window and snapping pics with my iPhone. Then we walked right in despite the big sign on the door that said, "CLOSED-IN TRAINING".

A member of the floor staff, noting me snapping away or maybe noting D's snake charming personality and good looks, greeted us kindly and gave us a tour of the entire facility. It is gorgeous.

Naturally, I was quickly drawn to the macarons. Gorgeous specimen, if maybe a hair on the too perfect side. I can only compare them to my own macarons and that of the canonical La Duree. The La Duree seem equally as perfect, but somehow a little more rustic. Mine of course were so rustic they were better eaten with one's eyes closed.

However, due to the "friends and family only" nature of the soft opening, I was denied macarons last night. They were squirreled away behind a glass counter so I couldn't even steal any while D distracted the tour guide. Denied.

There are several sections in Bottega Louie. The front as you walk through the doors is a deli & prepared foods store. It is incredibly reminiscent (on a much lesser scale) of the high end food halls of such store as Harrod's and Selfridges.

These are not to be mistaken for Ragu Spaghetti sauce. They are Bottega Louie jarred soups. If our guide weren't watching me and my thieving nature so carefully, I would have emptied one of these into my clutch for tasting later on the street.


The deli serves all kinds of beautiful items, including this duck confit.

Roasted market carrots.

And then there are the other sweets. Cupcakes...

and an array of beautiful tarts on the cold marble shelf of the fridge.

Against the west wall is a drinks & cheese, fruit & spreads fridge. Lovely.

They also offer these simple sandwiches, reminiscent of the simple filled baguettes one buys from a bakery window on the streets of Paris. D ate a couple of those daily while walking back from the Aquaboulevard on the Avenue Victor Hugo. It would take us more than 2 hours to walk back to the center of town from the Aquaboulevard, and a boy that tall needs sustenance.


When you walk in, immediately to your right is the bar/breakfast area. I love the cafe feel of this. The bar was definitely calling us last night. But not only was I denied macarons, I was denied booze. Oh, the humanity.

People hard at work pouring and serving drinks. Everything seems to be humming smoothly, everyone is all smiles, very friendly to the obnoxious woman taking pics with her phone. I just changed to the word "woman" from the word "girl". Ruh roh.

The dining room. I cannot wait to experience this. Their menu is pretty vast with lots of price points. I can see this being a place to go for a very formal occasion, or in true California style, stopping by on the way home from the beach in jeans and a tee shirt.

The uber clean kitchen. You pass this on your right as you turn to the left and into the dining room.

I licked the window with the macarons on display. I am a window licker.