Iconic Hollywood restaurant Musso & Frank Grill has unveiled four brand new private dining rooms with special access entrances today, November 1, 2021. The growth marks the first time since 1955 that the restaurant has added new dining space to its historic Hollywood Boulevard footprint!
“For many years, our customers have been asking for specific types of dining experiences, which inspired us to add new space consistent with the ‘Old Hollywood’ experience Musso’s has perfected. We are thrilled that now, with these new dining rooms, we are able to accommodate those specific requests,” said Mark Echeverria, Musso & Frank’s COO/CFO, and a fourth-generation member of the family of owners.
“Two years ago, we enjoyed our best year ever,” Echeverria commented, “And then we had to deal with a 14-month shutdown due to the COVID pandemic. We are so thrilled to have reopened our two longtime rooms on May 6th, and we’ve received such a warm welcome from our returning patrons. And now, it’s even more amazing that we’ve added such a beautiful new space too! When we’re asked, ‘What is the secret to surviving for 102 years? – we answer that it’s all about the people – our customers and our team. We’re here to serve this very special community. It’s what we’ve always done and what we will continue to do for the next 102 years and beyond!”
In truly historic fashion, Musso & Frank, in 2019, became the only restaurant ever to have earned its own “Star” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
To view a promotional video, on Vimeo, of the new rooms hosted by Mr. Echeverria, please CLICK HERE
About THE NEW DINING ROOMS
The ideas for the new space started around 2010 when the community began asking Musso’s management for specific new dining experience at the restaurant. The design for the elegant rooms began in 2017 and it has taken several years to develop the perfect experience and get approvals from the city. The unveiling of the three private dining rooms (one room can be subdivided into two, creating four distinct new dining experiences) marks a major new milestone in the long history of Musso & Frank.
The new dining rooms were designed by the Los Angeles office of global design firm Gensler and constructed by J. Baer Construction.
“The new rooms have an old-school Hollywood feel, as befits a restaurant known as the place where Hollywood deals are made. When you are in our new space, you will feel like it has been there since the beginning,” says Echeverria.
The new private dining rooms include one intimate room that offers a 6-8 person dining experience. The three other new rooms can be converted for larger receptions accommodating up to 50 people – ideal for entertainment industry wrap parties, wedding celebrations, and larger events. A red-carpet entrance to the new rooms will also be available via Hollywood Blvd.
“Keeping in mind the specific requests we’ve received from over the years, for some events held in our new dining rooms we have the capability of an even more discreet entrance through the rear of the restaurant,” Echeverria adds.
Diners in the “New Room” (which opened in 1955, joining the “Old Room,” which opened in 1934, following the first extension of the site from its original 1919 location,) will notice a double-doorway/portal leading to the eastern side of the building, where the private rooms are located. The site of the new dining rooms was formerly occupied by two retail shops, for which the family-run restaurant has long served as landlord.
The foyer of the private new dining rooms features a display case showing Musso & Frank memorabilia, including classic original menus and wine lists, along with other artifacts from the venue’s long and remarkable history. Along the hallway connecting the new dining rooms, original artwork from the restaurant’s centennial book entitled “The Musso & Frank Grill” is on display.
How To Book The New Rooms
To book Musso’s new private dining rooms, please contact Andrea Scuto, General Manager, and Tara Thomas, Events Coordinator, via email: Events@mussoandfrank.com
Reservations for the new dining rooms can also be made via the restaurant’s website: www.mussoandfrank.com/private-dining/
About The Design Features of The New Rooms
The design of the new dining rooms is a continuation of the aesthetic that Musso’s is known for: wood paneled-walls, rich colors and soft lighting, much like the menu, favoring tradition over trend. The scale and configuration of the new rooms allows for a more intimate and exclusive dining experience, with the private table in the wine room being the most refined space in the restaurant.
Gensler Principal Guy Williams, a longtime resident of Hollywood, said, “While our F&B studio works with an array of global and local projects, having the opportunity to work in our backyard on this institution that originated in Hollywood and has long remained a fixture on the LA dining scene is a rare treat. Considering the staying power of Musso & Frank, we know this restaurant will continue to thrive for generations, and we’re honored to have played a part.”
Perhaps the most striking feature of the design is the custom artwork that wraps each of the new rooms. Designer and artist Irwin Miller, formerly a partner and a Design Director with Gensler, was commissioned to conceive, design and install a series of original artwork/murals depicting Italian scenes, which would appear along the upper walls of the new Musso & Frank dining rooms. “Amazing projects come along every once in a great while, if you’re fortunate,” Miller said. “And this was one of those projects. When I was still with Gensler, we were tasked with designing the new dining spaces for this legendary restaurant, and we were thrilled to do so. Additionally, I was also hired to create a series of four murals which would appear along the upper walls of the new banquet room and four murals seen along the upper walls of the new Palio Wine Room. The concept of the artwork seen in the new banquet room was built around depicting the hillsides of Tuscany, while the theme of the art in the new wine room focused on the annual Palio di Siena – a famous horse race which has been occurring in Siena, Italy, since 1590. Both themes were conceived to pay tribute to the Italian heritage of the long-standing owners of Musso’s.”
Adds Miller, “The paintings were created with Procreate on an iPad, and each was then printed full-scale onto canvas with archival inks. These murals were then installed much like wallcoverings and framed in place within each of the two rooms. The banquet room features an immersive panorama of Tuscany hillsides which wrap around the large space. The Palio Wine Room, a more intimate VIP room, offers diners a front row seat to Siena’s historic horse race. Interesting side notes: My wife and I lived in Italy for many years – plus I was a chef before I was an architect, and all through design school I cooked in restaurants in Boston and Providence, RI. So my expertise in Italian cooking, my studies, having lived in Italy, and my artistic background all combined to make this a truly unique project for me. I am delighted with the results and I hope future Musso & Frank diners will be as well!”
Abour MUSSO & FRANK GRILL
If you were watching “Musso & Frank: The Motion Picture,” this is when the images would turn black and white, the soundtrack would play either late Ragtime or early jazz and the crawl on the screen would read: Hollywood – 1919. Because that’s the time and place we would meet the first hero of our story, Frank Toulet, who three years later would form a fateful partnership with our second hero, Joseph Musso.
Forward-looking restaurateurs who envisioned what Hollywood could become with an anchor destination to serve locals and visitors alike, the two men in 1922 hired French chef Jean Rue – a culinary master who would wind up showcasing his artistry at Musso & Frank for 53 years, and creating a menu that remains amazingly intact to this day.
In 1927, Mr. Musso and Mr. Toulet sold their restaurant to a duo of Italian immigrants named Joseph Carissimi and John Mosso (a coincidentally similar name), and today Musso & Frank is owned and operated by the families of Mr. Mosso’s three granddaughters: John and Cathy Echeverria and their son Mark Echeverria (the restaurant’s current COO), Steve and Anne Jones, and Richard and Kristen Kohlmeyer.
The Place To Be For Over 100 Years
From the day its doors first opened 102 years ago, Musso & Frank has been hailed as a bastion of flawless service and exquisite cuisine (including the restaurant’s signature martinis. But what’s on the actual menu is only the beginning of the Musso & Frank experience.
Settle into one of the restaurant’s classic red leather booths, amble over to its famed mahogany bar, gaze around in awe at the classic architecture or peer into what was the city’s very first public phone booth, and you will find yourself transported to another time and place where every meal is a work of art, every patron is a cherished guest, and every moment is an instantly priceless memory.
Offering a combination of old world sophistication and contemporary warmth unavailable anywhere else under one roof, Musso & Frank (and its renowned, even mysterious, Back Room), has been a home away from home over the years for such artistic luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Monroe, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Steve McQueen, Jack Nicholson, Johnny Depp, and even The Rolling Stones. The restaurant has also been a source of inspiration for such literary giants as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Chandler, T.S. Elliot, John Steinbeck, Dorothy Parker and William Faulkner.
Over the years, Musso & Frank has also become synonymous with entertainment industry power lunches. Indeed, it’s safe to say that the deals made here over the years have mirrored the history of Hollywood itself – all the way from silent films to talkies, from Technical to television, from VHS tapes to DVDs, and from cable TV networks to streaming media platforms.
Best of all, while Musso & Frank is obviously steeped in living history, it’s actually more vibrant and retro-hip today than ever, attracting multiple generations of Hollywood denizens who prefer elegance over garishness, career servers over indifferent order-takers, and classic cuisine over passing food fads.
Given its timeless appeal, Musso & Frank not surprisingly has become something of an on-screen celebrity itself, “co-starring” in dozens of films and TV shows over the years, including “The Kominsky Method,” “Bosch,” “Swingers,” the 2001 version of “Ocean’s 11,” “Ed Wood,” “Mad Men,” “Ray Donovan,” and Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 feature film, “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood,” to name just a few. For a fun look at some film clips from various movies and TV shows shot over the years at Musso’s…
Video source: see: https://vimeo.com/367798731
Dinner Is Served!
While nothing is hard to swallow at Musso & Frank, there’s one stunning fact that definitely would be – that is, if it didn’t happen to be true! Current Executive Chef J. P. Amateau is only the third person to serve in that position in the restaurant’s entire, 102-year history (following the tenures of Jean Rue and his successor, Michel Bourger)!
Seamlessly bridging the past, present and future, Chef Amateau’s menu honors the genius of his two predecessors while being imbued with his very own distinct culinary sensibilities – many derived from traveling the world in search of the finest ingredients and inspirations, along with his rich history of coming to Musso’s as a child with his father, noted film and TV writer, director and producer Rod Amateau.
Musso & Frank’s acclaimed service is in the hands of accomplished restaurateur Andrea Scuto, Musso’s General Manager, who immigrated from Italy in 2006 and is carrying on the beloved restaurant’s longstanding tradition of European-style hospitality.
Home to countless classic dishes, Musso & Frank Grill is hailed worldwide for its masterfully-prepared steaks – all cooked on a seasoned grill that dates all the way back to 1934. Other mainstays include Fettucine Alfredo (featuring a recipe from the original Alfredo’s restaurant in Italy brought to Chef Rue by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks), Corned Beef & Cabbage, Homemade Chicken Pot Pie and Braised Short Ribs, each as delectable as always, but today featuring mouth-watering new tweaks by Chef Amateau to further appeal to contemporary palates.
And then, of course, there’s Musso & Frank’s Perfect Martini – stirred not shaken (James Bond got it wrong!) – a true classic that’s delighted patrons since the days of Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.
Today, Mark Echeverria, his family, and the entire Musso’s team remain laser focused on the future – a key reason why the Musso & Frank Grill has been, and remains, the most successful restaurant in the long history of Hollywood.
