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  • Erewhon and others shut by fire set to reopen in Pacific Palisades mall

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    Fancy grocer Erewhon will return to Pacific Palisades in an entirely rebuilt store, as the neighborhood’s luxury mall, owned by developer Rick Caruso, undergoes renovations for a reopening next August.

    Palisades Village has been closed since the Jan. 7 wildfire destroyed much of the neighborhood. The outdoor mall survived the blaze but needed to be refurbished to eliminate contaminants that the fire could have spread, Caruso said.

    The developer is spending $60 million to bring back Palisades Village, removing and replacing drywall from stores and restaurants. Dirt from the outdoor areas is also being replaced.

    Demolition is complete and the tenants’ spaces are now being restored, Caruso said.

    “It was not a requirement to do that from a scientific standpoint,” he said. “But it was important to me to be able to tell guests that the property is safe and clean.”

    Erewhon’s store was taken down to the studs and is being reconfigured with a larger outdoor seating area for dining and events.

    When it opens its doors sometime next year, it will be the only grocer in the heart of the fire-ravaged neighborhood.

    The announcement of Erewhon’s comeback marks a milestone in the recovery of Pacific Palisades and signals renewed investment in restoring essential neighborhood services and supporting the community’s long-term economic health, Caruso said.

    A photograph of the exterior of Erewhon in Pacific Palisades in 2024.

    (Kailyn Brown/Los Angeles Times)

    “They are one of the sexiest supermarkets in the world now and they are in high demand,” he said. “Their committing to reopening is a big statement on the future of the Palisades and their belief that it’s going to be back stronger than ever.”

    Caruso previously attributed the mall’s survival to the hard work of private firefighters and the fire-resistant materials used in the mall’s construction. The $200-million shopping and dining center opened in 2018 with a movie theater and a roster of upmarket tenants, including Erewhon.

    “We’re honored to join the incredible effort underway at Palisades Village,” Erewhon Chief Executive Tony Antoci said in a statement. “Reopening is a meaningful way for us to contribute to the healing and renewal of this neighborhood.”

    Erewhon has cultivated a following of shoppers who visit daily to grab a prepared meal or one of its celebrity-backed $20 smoothies.

    The privately held company doesn’t share financial figures, but has said its all-day cafes occupy roughly 30% of its floor space and serve 100,000 customers each week.

    Erewhon has also branched out beyond selling groceries.

    Its fast-growing private-label line now includes Erewhon-branded apparel, bags, candles, nutritional supplements and bath and body products.

    Erewhon will also open new stores in West Hollywood in February, in Glendale in May and at Caruso’s The Lakes at Thousand Oaks mall in July 2026.

    About 90% of the tenants are expected to return to the mall when it reopens, Caruso said, including restaurants Angelini Ristorante & Bar and Hank’s. Local chef Nancy Silverton has agreed to move in with a new Italian steakhouse called Spacca Tutto.

    In May, Pacific Palisades-based fashion designer Elyse Walker said she would reopen her eponymous store in Palisades Village after losing her 25-year flagship location on Antioch Street in the inferno.

    Fashion designer Elyse Walker announced the reopening of her flagship store

    Fashion designer Elyse Walker announced the reopening of her flagship store at the Palisades Village in May.

    (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

    “People who live in the Palisades don’t want to leave,” Walker said at the time. “It’s a magical place.”

    Caruso carried on annual holiday traditions at Palisades Village this year, including the lighting of a 50-foot Christmas tree for hundreds of celebrants Dec. 5. On Sunday evening, leaders from the Chabad Jewish Community Center of Pacific Palisades gathered at the mall to light a towering menorah.

    A total of 6,822 structures were destroyed in the Palisades fire, including more than 5,500 residences and 100 commercial businesses, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

    Caruso said he hopes the shopping center’s revival will inspire residents to return. His investment “shows my belief that the community is coming back,” he said. “Next year is going to be huge.”

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    Roger Vincent

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  • Nancy Silverton Will Anchor Reopened Palisades Village – Los Angeles Business Journal

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    When restaurateur Nancy Silverton opens a new dining venue, Los Angeles takes notice. When the four-time James Beard Award-winning chef teams up with billionaire developer Rick Caruso, the city’s culinary and business scenes pay even closer attention.

    In partnership with Newport Beach-based River Jetty Restaurant Group, Silverton and Caruso are launching Spacca Tutto, a new Italian American steakhouse set to open in August at Caruso’s Palisades Village. Their new project coincides with Caruso’s broader revitalization plan announced earlier this summer for the reopening of his upscale shopping and dining enclave. Also set to open in August, the Village sustained just minor damage from the January wildfires, thanks to Caruso’s private firefighter team.

    “When we were talking about the rebirth and the reopening of the (Palisades) Village, I couldn’t think of anyone better,” Caruso said of Silverton, whom he’s wanted to work with for “many, many years.”

    He added: “She’s an L.A. icon.”

    Silverton, who helped redefine Italian dining in the city and beyond, co-owns eight restaurants in the U.S. and internationally under Mozza Restaurant Group. For Silverton, this venture isn’t about shifting the culinary focus. It’s not even about food – it’s about rebuilding a community. 

    “After the devastation, my first response for myself was, ‘What can I do to help? Do I feed the fire people? Do I invite people in for dinner? What can I do?’,” said Silverton, a San Fernando Valley native.

    The answer came after her call with Caruso offering the opportunity to open a restaurant that’s part steakhouse and part Italian trattoria.

    “My instinct was, ‘Absolutely, that’s how I can help by giving people hope, something to return to,’” Silverton said, adding that L.A. has always had “such a strong community, and the restaurant industry has always been a big part of that.”

    Joseph “McG” Nichol, River Jetty’s co-founder and partner, echoed that sentiment. “We believe in California, we believe in the Los Angeles Basin,” said Nichol, also a film director and producer behind the 2003 movie “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.” “We want to rebuild. And it’s cool to also hitch your wagon to someone like Rick, who leads by example.”

    Caruso, whose flagship developments include The Grove LA in Fairfax and The Americana at Brand in Glendale, founded the civic nonprofit SteadfastLA in February to accelerate the rebuilding efforts in Palisades and Altadena. Both communities saw more than 16,000 homes and businesses destroyed. A recent report from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. found that the total economic impact from the disruption could be as high as $10 billion.

    SteadfastLA was Caruso’s way of bringing together a coalition of private-sector leaders in real estate, finance and construction. 

    “There are a lot of people out there that are all hat, no cattle, and that’s not Rick,” said Nichol, who co-founded River Jetty with Jordan Otterbein in 2007.

    The two own and operate a collection of restaurants in Orange County, including A Restaurant in Newport Beach, A Crystal Cove in Newport Coast and CdM Restaurant in Corona Del Mar. They also have A PCH in Long Beach.

    Construction will start soon on the new restaurant, the trio announced at a gathering last week at the Palisades Village site – an anchor spot in the mall covering about 3 acres.

    French-inspired brasserie The Draycott was a notable tenant at that location for six years before closing in December. It was among many L.A. restaurants to shut last year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

    Cassia in Santa Monica shuttered in February after about a decade of service. Downtown upscale restaurant Otium, which was located next to the Broad Museum, also closed in September, citing the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Chef Timothy Hollingsworth, who opened the spot in 2015, wrote on Instagram: “We never would have thought we would have to shut our doors for 18 months during a pandemic, putting us in a position that was a constant climb to get out of.”

    Such turmoil for local restaurants has persisted into the new year. Michelin-starred Shibumi, Mid-Wilshire’s Southern dining spot My 2 Cents and chef Michael Mina’s Mother Tongue all closed over the summer. 

    Caruso is still optimistic. He noted that more than 1.5 million patrons visited Palisades Village last year.

    “For such a relatively small property, it has a huge draw,” he said of his 125,000-square-foot shopping center featuring more than 40 luxury businesses and boutiques like Bottega Veneta and Aesop.

    In May, he announced that fashion designer Elyse Walker will open a boutique at the Village once it reopens next year. 

    While Spacca Tutto’s doors won’t open until late summer 2026, the trio revealed early renderings and the conceptual details of the new dining location – from overall architectural designs to the menu and live music options. Designed by New York-based Avroko, the restaurant covers 3,500 square feet, with plans for a largescale patio and bar featuring a grand piano.

    “Everything is very intentional to make it feel authentic, to make it feel real, to make it feel like it’s been here for a while,” said Caruso, adding that the space was prime for an American Italian steakhouse concept. Also, “people want to be reconnected.”  

    Even the name has meaning. Spacca Tutto translates loosely as “go for it” or “give it your all,” and speaks to the “resilience, creativity and courage” within the Palisades community, Caruso said.  

    Nichols considers the name a “call to action. What could be more appropriate for what we’re going through?”

    Silverton added that the new moniker “really kind of flows off the tongue. I love the ring, the sound to it.” While Silverton wanted the name to exude “the familiarity and the reputation of Spacca” from her Chi Spacca restaurant in Hancock Park, she wanted to change things up a bit for her Palisades venture.

    Silverton’s marquee dining spots in L.A. include Michelin-starred Osteria Mozza in Hollywood, Pizzeria Mozza, Mozza2Go and Chi Spacca – all of which are in Hancock Park. She also recently opened a classic diner in Larchmont – named Max and Helen’s – with television producer Phil Rosenthal, the Times reported. (He also hosts the Netflix show “Somebody Feed Phil.”) 

    Spacca Tutto will serve as a more casual offshoot of Chi Spacca – which Mozza touts to be a “meat speakeasy” featuring house-cured salumi and grilled meats such as the 50-ounce, dry-aged Porterhouse steak. 

    “(Chi Spacca has) one of the best steaks and one of the best meals in the city,” Caruso said. “So that sort of cemented the direction and the idea, and then it developed from there.”

    What sets Spacca Tutto apart from Chi Spacca is that it will be open for lunch and dinner service and will offer lighter options on its menu. These include salads, seafood and seasonal vegetable dishes. The menu will also feature nearly 250 Italian and domestic wines, along with a “fast craft” cocktail menu.  

     “I didn’t want it to just be Chi Spacca in the sense that people thought they were getting the exact same menu,” said Silverton. “So, we wanted to give a little bit of a hint that it might be a little bit different, a little bit zestier, a little bit more fun.”

    Still, it was crucial for Silverton to have a dining spot that made patrons feel at home. 

    “I know for myself, when I’m looking for a restaurant, all I ever think about is something that’s familiar, comforting and a place that I want to be in,” she said. “And I think that’s what we are creating here.”

    Managing Editor Monée Fields-White contributed to this report.

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    staff-author

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  • Top tickets for first Biden Hollywood fundraiser since end of strikes approach $1 million

    Top tickets for first Biden Hollywood fundraiser since end of strikes approach $1 million

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    Next week’s Hollywood fundraiser for President Biden, his first in-person soiree here since the end of the entertainment-industry strikes dried up the traditional wellspring of campaign money, is expected to draw big-names donors spending as much as nearly $930,000 each in support of the Democratic leader’s bid for reelection.

    Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi will address the gathering of the glitterati whose hosts include directors Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner, producers Shonda Rhimes and Peter Chernin and former studio chief Jim Gianopulos on the evening of Dec. 8, according to an invitation obtained by The Times.

    In addition to Hollywood elites, other luminaries who are leading the effort includes billionaire businessman and unsuccessful Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, former ambassadors, tech leaders, corporate honchos and prominent attorneys.

    “No one’s leaving anything to chance in this election cycle,” said veteran Democratic consultant Sue Burnside. “People were trying to be respectful to the workers and not undermine their efforts to get a living wage. … But now that the strikes have been resolved, they see an opportunity to put some of that studio money to good use getting Democrats elected.”

    California and the entertainment industry have been a financial bedrock for both parties, but more so for Democrats, who received nearly two-thirds of the $43.7 million that television, movie and music industry employees donated to presidential campaigns and outside groups in 2020, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data conducted for The Times by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Open Secrets, which tracks electoral finances.

    The Hollywood work stoppage hobbled one of Los Angeles’ premier industries and left thousands without work, and had ripple effects that hurt businesses throughout the region, from dry cleaners and florists to restaurants and newspapers. Writers struck for 148 days and actors for 118 days this year over disputes about pay, benefits, streaming revenue and the use of artificial intelligence.

    The strikes also had a major effect on political fundraising. Donors in these industries contributed $5.4 million to federal campaigns in the first nine months of 2023, according to Open Secrets’ analysis. Four years prior, in the same time period in a presidential election cycle, they had contributed $24.6 million.

    Democrats including Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other party leaders avoided raising money from their longtime Hollywood boosters for multiple reasons. They would have almost certainly had to cross a picket line, anathema to liberal voters. Also the big-dollar donors couldn’t be seen writing large checks during negotiations with the unions.

    Next Friday’s event is taking place at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles, part of a multi-day Biden swing in Southern California. It may be reminiscent of the star-studded fundraiser where then-President Obama raised nearly $15 million at a Wolfgang Puck-catered reception at actor George Clooney’s house in 2012.

    Donors can contribute up to $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that metes out contributions to the president’s reelection campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties, according to the invitation.

    One bit of political intrigue at the event is Caruso’s role as a co-host. The longtime Republican-turned independent-turned Democrat unsuccessfully ran for Los Angeles mayor last year, losing to Karen Bass.

    While wealthy media mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is not listed as a host of Biden’s fundraiser on the invitation, he is a co-chair of the president’s reelection campaign and deeply involved in his Los Angeles visit as well as his broader effort to win another term in the White House.

    Katzenberg spent $2 million supporting Bass in the mayoral race. The animosity between the media mogul and Caruso is palpable — after Caruso lost, Katzenberg was quoted in Vanity Fair bristling at the businessman continuing to give tours of homeless encampments to reporters.

    “Caruso, you have $5 billion, why do you keep taking people to Skid Row?” Katzenberg said, according to the magazine. “You just pissed away $104 million on a failed campaign, why don’t you put that toward the homeless on Skid Row?”

    So their shared support of Biden is notable. It also helps Caruso burnish his relatively new Democratic credentials.

    “I think this is a smart move on Caruso’s part to show in his political journey, he is landing firmly in the camp of being a Democrat and proving that with how he spends his money is the best way to do it,” said Bill Burton, a Democratic strategist who worked on Bass’ campaign. He also said men uniting in their support of Biden is prompted by the “existential threat” former President Trump poses if he wins the White House next year.

    Other hosts of the fundraiser include Bob Tuttle, a Republican who served as then-President George W. Bush’s ambassador to the United Kingdom; John Emerson, Obama’s ambassador to Germany; James Costas, Obama’s ambassador to Spain and Andorra, and his partner Michael Smith, who redecorated the White House for the Obamas; Wendy Schmidt, the wife of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt; StubHub cofounder Eric Baker; former City National Bank CEO Russell Goldsmith; Hyatt hotel heir Matthew Pritzker; and Bui Simon, 1998’s Miss Universe.

    Times staff writer Courtney Subramanian contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

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    Seema Mehta

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