Stirring the Pot

GUSTO GREEN INFUSES HEART AND HEMP INTO L.A.’S FOOD SCENE

BY HEATHER PLATT

GUSTO GREEN opened downtown in January to a fair bit of buzz. Its chef, Michael Magliano, had worked under some of the country’s top toques at a succession of A-list eateries from the French Laundry to Craft to Animal on Fairfax, and the plant-forward menu at the expansive new space reflected his eclectic egalitarian cuisine, catering to herbivores and carnivores alike and assiduously avoiding allergens for all. But there was one plant he seemed particularly fond of: a hemp leaf at the top of the menu, served in a crispy, chickpea-flour, gluten-free crust.

Though hemp-positive principles took center stage under Magliano, the other food and drinks were the stars. Standouts included his hamachi crudo and stinging-nettle agnolotti. Alongside the substantial list of nonalcoholic cocktails, boozier drinks like the Trampoline, a tropical mix of mezcal, green chartreuse, lime, and pineapple, tasted like the Riviera Maya.

But even cannabis-inspired eateries aren’t immune to a little bad buzz. A month into opening, Magliano left the venture over creative di erences with founder Janet Zuccarini (of Venice hotspot Felix Trattoria fame). Zuccarini says Gusto Green will retain the seeds of the star chef’s vision but will o er a “broader and more accessible selection of menu items and choices”—a selection less “chef-y,” and more suited to the eatery’s 200seat size.

“I wanted to create this restaurant that is focused on health and is plant-forward,” says Zuccarini. “And giving you an option to eat in a way that is like the Mediterranean diet.”

Zuccarini will keep the drink menu, plant focus, and the pasture-raised chicken and sustainably raised or wild salmon, as well as expanded o erings from salads to seafood crudo to pizzas made with locally milled, gluten-free grains. The allergen-free menu stays too. “We’re taking care of your health, and you’re not going to know it,” she says.

Though Gusto Green is in search of a new chef, the hemp leaf and its ability to raise awareness will stay. Located in the Green Street Building, where 50 of the top cannabis brands coexist, the restaurant donates $1 of every leaf sold to the People’s Pottery Project, which employs formerly incarcerated people in the LGBTQ community.

718 S. Hill St., 323-218-0294, gusto.green.