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NEWS Volume 42, Number 17
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April 29, 2013
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BIRTH OF A REPUBLIC Veteran Italian Restaurateurs Plant Their Flag in an Unlikely Space on Broadway
photo by Gary Leonard
Jean Louis De Mori (in front) and Antonio Tommasi transformed a former Korean fast food joint on Broadway into Maccheroni Republic. It opened in January and has been drawing up to 200 customers a day. by RichaRd Guzmán city editoR
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hen Jean Louis De Mori and Antonio Tommasi began looking for a place for their next Italian restaurant, they knew they wanted to be in Downtown. From there, they were flexible. De Mori, who was born in France to Italian parents, said the exact location didn’t matter as long as the size was right and the space included a patio. The business partners didn’t even mind if it was a spot where
other restaurants had failed. That is how De Mori, who oversees the business end of their restaurants, and the Italian-born chef Tommasi settled in a once drab spot at 332 S. Broadway next to a fast food eatery. Their Maccheroni Republic, which focuses on homemade pasta and Italian dishes priced at less than $15 a plate, opened in January. “We always had an idea of what we wanted it to look like,” said De Mori, who was sporting a fedora and a shortly cropped white beard on a recent day just before the lunch
rush. “We wanted a place that looks like a real osteria in Italy, very simple, great food.” De Mori and Tommassi were not alone or even early in coming to Broadway. They join eateries that have arrived on the street in the last two years such as the former pop-up gem Alma, the massive French restaurant Figaro, the quirky but popular Umamicatessen and the beer and burgers joint Los Angeles Brewing Company. see Maccheroni, page 10
Hotel Clark Snared in Labor Dispute Councilman, Project Officials Trade Accusations as Development Faces Delays by Ryan VaillancouRt staff wRiteR
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fter a string of missteps and construction delays, the long vacant Hotel Clark was finally nearing an opening as a spiffy boutique hotel when it hit its latest and maybe sharpest snag: a labor dispute. Hotel representatives say that construction on the 347-room venture at 426 S. Hill St. is done and the business could open within six months. The project needs one more land-use approval from the city in order to proceed. Standing in its way is Unite Here Local 11,
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the politically connected hotel workers union. The hotel has plans for three on-site restaurants, a banquet center, a lobby bar and an outdoor pool, all of which were approved last year by Zoning Administrator Charlie Rausch. At a meeting this month, Rausch echoed the take of Downtown stakeholders who say the project would revitalize a dead zone between destinations such as Pershing Square and Grand Central Market. “There’s absolutely nothing to provide for pedestrian activity on these streets, so I believe the Hotel Clark coming back is an important
addition to this area,” Rausch told the Central Area Planning Commission on April 9. Although Unite Here normally focuses on labor issues, it appealed Rausch’s decision, citing inadequate mitigation measures for the project’s environmental impacts. That has sent the project into a state of political purgatory. The Central Area Planning Commission was slated to consider the appeal on April 9. A vote was postponed at the recommendation of 14th District City Councilman José Huizar. A Huizar representative told the commission that the council member wants hotel develop-
er Jake Chetrit to meet with Unite Here before the panel decides on the matter. Land-use consultant Elizabeth Peterson, who represents the hotel, said Chetrit has resisted meeting with the union because he feels that hotel operations and land-use issues should be separate. Technically, they are. Whether the hotel opts to contract with a unionized workforce is not a condition of the land-use approvals it needs to operate. Huizar, who characterized his position on the hotel as “neutral,” said his reluctance to support the project is not singularly rooted in a labor issue. He pointed to his ardent support of the Ace Hotel, an under construction Broadway project that is not slated to be a union operation upon opening. Rather, Huizar see Hotel, page 14
The BEST is Coming! CHECK PagEs 6 & 7 FOR a list OF nOminEEs.
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