The Third Street Promenade will soon be home to a Russian doll of food halls.
The Gallery is opening several restaurants on its ground floor this summer in a space called SocialEats — a food hall within a food hall. Fuku, a fried chicken restaurant from celebrity chef David Chang, will anchor the lineup, which also includes Supertoro, a build-your-own bento concept, Adelaide, a daytime cafe and nighttime wine bar, Street Noods, an Asian street noodles restaurant, and Cada Vez, a tapas counter. Another farmers market-driven restaurant will be announced soon, said K2 Restaurants founder John Kolaski.
Fuku will mark Chang’s third restaurant in Los Angeles. Known for his Momofuku restaurant group and Netflix series “Ugly Delicious,” Chang opened upscale eatery Majordomo in downtown Los Angeles in January 2018 and is planning to open a Momofuku Noodle Bar location in West Hollywood this year.
“Momofuku restaurants bring a big following and are reliably exciting and delicious,” said Andrea Korb, economic development manager at Downtown Santa Monica, Inc (DTSM). “We think it will attract both locals and visitors.”
The quick-serve fried chicken joint is the most affordable of Chang’s restaurants and has four locations in New York and Boston. In Santa Monica, Fuku will serve spicy fried chicken sandwiches, chicken fingers and slushies.
“We’re honored to bring the very first Fuku to the West Coast market within our flagship location and provide food enthusiasts with a variety of other exciting concepts to experience,” Kolaski said.
K2 Restaurants, which owns half of the current restaurants in The Gallery, is launching a second SocialEats in Las Vegas and plans to expand across the United States, Kolaski said. The group is exploring locations near universities.
“It’s a small-format food hall world where a family of four or a couple on a date night can have completely different experiences,” he said.
The new suite of offerings will be centered around Adelaide, which will transition from a daytime coffee shop that serves the Australian brand Vittoria’s Coffee into a wine and beer bar, Kolaski said. From there, customers can make their way to Cada Vez for jamón ibérico, cheese plates and croquetas.
“We see as very communal and interactive,” Kolaski said. “It’s meant to be the central meeting point when you come to SocialEats.”
Korb said DTSM wants more nightlife options like Adelaide and Cada Vez on the Promenade.
“We want this to be a place that is exciting all day and can go from day to night,” she said. “We have a lot of tech companies here, young people working here and new residential units being built, and we want people working and living here to stay and have fun at night.”
For those who want a quicker meal, Street Noods will offer hearty, Southeast Asian fare and Supertoro will provide lighter, customizable bento boxes.
“What we’re looking to do is recreate the food we’ve had at late night street markets in Singapore,” Kolaski said. “They’re meant to be noodles in a box you can grab at lunch or pick up late at night with a cold beer.”
SocialEats will bring the total number of eateries in The Gallery to 10 following the recent departure of Sumo Dog and Everytable. Michelin-starred restaurant Dialogue sits on the second floor along with fast-casual offerings Azulé Taqueria, Paperboy Pizza and STRFSH. Sloan’s Ice Cream is currently the only tenant on the first floor.
“The Gallery has taken a lot of care to curate their tenants,” Korb said. “Now that they’re pulling in five new spots which will make the space feel more filled, they’ll see a lot more people coming in.”
madeleine@smdp.com
