When her parents retired and closed their last business - which she says was Orange County’s first Sichuan restaurant - Hjelmeseth felt a calling to continue their legacy. “It’s a business that I’m very familiar with behind the scenes.” “My family has been in the restaurant business all my life,” she says. Meanwhile, Hjelmeseth has culinary connections that might surprise the 115,000 Instagram followers who obsess over her impossibly stylish feed. Nguyễn attended culinary school and worked at Spago before kick-starting her content creator career. Real-life restaurant experience - not just behind the camera - also helps. We had endless long hours in the space, tastings, and now she’s in there every night running the kitchen and engaging with customers.” “That’s not a passion all creators have to sustain a successful business. “With Tuệ, we really saw her genuine excitement about creating something together at ĐiĐi,” says Terzian. with an all-day menu of pre-packaged offerings prepared with organic produce, sustainable meats and high-quality ingredients, all rooted in traditional recipes and powered by Fly by Jing’s flavor-charged condiments.īut not all culinary creators have the ability to manage a restaurant and lure crowds. Conceived by Jing Gao, founder of modern Chinese food brand Fly by Jing, and Stephanie Liu Hjelmeseth, an established fashion and beauty content creator, Suá Superette is a Sichuan grab-and-go marketplace that’s bringing Chinese flavors to central L.A. Influencer-owned restaurants thrive when they appeal to the creators’ niche markets and carve out distinct identities. “People are coming back again and again not just for the vibe, but for the food,” says Toll. Some of ĐiĐi’s most memorable items - like the honey-glazed prawns with Vietnamese fish sauce or bánh-xèo-inspired coconut tacos that nod to L.A.’s taco culture - are nontraditional, but made with Vietnamese ingredients. Along the way, Nguyễn documented some of the menu research and development and posted mouthwatering previews, creating content that channeled her passion and ultimately resonated with diners. Recognizing that ĐiĐi couldn’t rely solely on her fans to fill its tables, Nguyễn worked on delivering a distinctive dining experience that filled a gap for modern Vietnamese cuisine. After that, we decided to rebrand and come up with a new restaurant concept together with Tuệ.” “People were begging us for tickets on social media - the demand really blew our minds. “We did two nights at Petit Taqueria that sold out both nights,” explains Toll. More recently, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Tatel and Evan Ross and Ryan Philippe’s The Hideaway have opened in Beverly Hills. institution Crossroads Kitchen a decade ago, while Ryan Gosling has been the quiet co-owner of Tagine for 15 years. These setbacks haven’t deterred the rich and famous from backing restaurants, and a handful have experienced success. But when the food and service weren’t up to par, many of these restaurants, including the aforementioned, eventually went under. Remember Ashton Kutcher’s Ketchup and Dolce Enoteca e Ristorante? In the heyday of these venues, crowds flocked in, drawn by the celebrity connection and the chance to glimpse their favorite stars in the flesh. in the early aughts.įor years, Hollywood A-listers have leveraged their capital and influence to open restaurants - a tradition that stretches back to once-hotspots like Eva Longoria’s Beso and Jennifer Lopez’s Madre’s. Now they’re entering the culinary domain, riding the wave of celebrity-backed establishments that proliferated in L.A. In fashion, beauty, interior design and other industries, creators have parlayed their digital presence into physical spaces. Despite the allegations, Doughbrik’s continues to command crowds nearly a year later - whether the restaurant owes its popularity to the pizza or its founder’s celebrity (he counts over 26 million followers on TikTok alone), the restaurant shows the power that creators wield. But their foray into the restaurant industry was preceded by controversy, including accusations of sexual misconduct and bullying involving Dobrik’s squad of content creators (Dobrik has denied all accusations). Together with his friend and fellow social media star Ilya Fedorovich, they founded Doughbrik’s Pizza as an homage to the Chicago-style pan pizza they grew up eating. More renowned for his comedic skits than culinary chops, Dobrik is an internet personality who rose to fame on platforms like Vine and YouTube. They were hungry - not for pizza, but for a sighting of David Dobrik. Throngs of customers lined up on Sunset Boulevard, snaking around multiple blocks and threatening to disrupt traffic. Last November, one of L.A.’s most eagerly anticipated pizzerias opened its doors on a prime patch of West Hollywood real estate.
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