Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone attended the opening of his new restaurant, Gwen, in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The 42-year-old star wore his chef whites at the event, posing for photos with his two children Hudson, six, and Emerson, four, who sweetly cut the ribbon.
Gwen, now open for business and housed in a 1928 building on Sunset Boulevard, is a collaboration between the recurring MasterChef guest judge and his brother Luke.
He’s open for business! Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone celebrates the opening of his second restaurant in Los Angeles… with his sons Hudson, six, and Emerson, four, adorably cutting the ribbon
It serves a seasonal menu focused on making the best use of the whole animal to a vaulted 62-seat dining room, and includes a European-style butcher shop in its entryway.
First stop is the welcome mat, a hand-laid mosaic made from a mixture of newly made and salvaged tiles found as far as Ohio and New York City.
The 6,500 square metre interior begins with the butcher shop, selling pâtés, terrines, rillettes, charcuterie, rabbits, grass-fed lamb, ducks, and Wagyu beef.
Yum: The 42-year-old Award-winning chef posed for photos during the ribbon ceremony with his two children Hudson, six, and Emerson, four, along with fellow hosts The Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce
Ready to cook! Gwen, which is housed in a 1928 building on Sunset Boulevard, is a collaboration between the recurring MasterChef guest judge and his brother Luke
These complicated specialities are complemented by simple salami, chorizo and other favourite deli meats.
‘We have beautiful produce, but we struggle a little to find excellent meat,’ Curtis explained to the Wall Street Journal about why it was included back in 2016.
Beyond that is an open kitchen featuring its own custom-made fire pit, followed by a staircase to the mezzanine wine room with 2,000 bottles of wine, a bar and 24 of the restaurant’s 86 seats.
New business venture: It serves a seasonal menu focused on making the best use of the whole animal to a vaulted 62-seat dining room, and includes a European-style butcher shop in its entryway
On the second floor, is the huge shining new test kitchen, dominated by six Jenn-Air stoves, that will serve as the research and development space for both Gwen and Curtis’ other LA eatery, Maude.
Curtis paid tribute to his brother and business partner the day before their project opened, posting a snap of the pair leaning over a bench in the restaurant laughing.
‘Ten years ago we had a dream to open a restaurant together, and on Tuesday this dream becomes a reality,’ he wrote on the Instagram post.
First stop is the welcome mat, a hand-laid mosaic made from a mixture of newly made and salvaged tiles found as far as Ohio and New York City
Spectacular: It serves a seasonal menu focused on making the best use of the whole animal to a vaulted 62-seat dining room
Curtis runs the restaurant with his brother Luke: ‘Ten years ago we had a dream to open a restaurant together, and on Tuesday this dream becomes a reality’ (Pictured: Curtis and brother Luke)
Family is a recurring theme, as Gwen is named after their maternal grandmother who fed them hand-cut lamb chops from the family livestock during their rural childhood.
‘[Our] maternal grandma spent her whole life on a rustic farm in Victoria, Australia where she and her husband lived off the land growing produce and farming animals,’ Curtis wrote next to an old photo of his grandparents.
‘What they raised, they ate, and she cooked for her family over an old wood-burning stove.’
Trendy: ‘We have beautiful produce, but we struggle a little to find excellent meat,’ Curtis explained to the Wall Street Journal about why it was included
Family inspiration: Gwen is named after their maternal grandmother (right) who fed them hand-cut lamb chops from the family livestock during their rural childhood
The meat focus is a contrast to the more vegetable-leaning Maude in Beverley Hills, named after Stone’s paternal grandmother, who taught him to cook.
‘The menu is centric food, but it will be a multi cross degustation menu, which will be a lot of fun,’ Stone said.
Meat isn’t the only highlight on the menu, however, as Curtis showed by taking a picture of one of the restuarant’s signature desserts on his Instagram.
‘Something sweet to close out the week: crème fraîche panna cotta, apricot sorbet, lemon verbena meringue, macerated cherries & elderflower gelée,’ he wrote.
Curtis shares a dessert sample: ‘Something sweet to close out the week: crème fraîche panna cotta, apricot sorbet, lemon verbena meringue, macerated cherries & elderflower gelée’