My husband Dave and I had the pleasure of working at the Lowenbrau Keller restaurant about a year ago. The Lowenbrau Keller had previously been owned by a set director and his wife. Located near downtown Los Angeles this restaurant was a masterpiece.
Wan a Korean gentleman who owned several restaurants had recently taken over the restaurant and was fixing it up before reopening under the name Medusa.
We had never been in the restaurant and was really in awe when we did. The place was a replica of an old Bavarian beer house. Everywhere you looked you saw the work of the set director. Amazing in every detail. From arched ceilings with stucco and brick showing through, to large plaster hand crafted barrels. A wine maker from the 1900's greeted you as you walked through the front door. Deer heads, beer steins galore, lamps, horse tack and plaster casts built in everywhere.
It was something like being in a Disney movie, everything had the feel of a scene you would find associated with the seven dwarfs or something like that. Your eyes went everywhere there was so much stuff!
Sadly the set director George Eder had died some years before and his wife was the one holding the fort. There was a lot of decay and the beautiful wine barrels that graced one of the walls had seen days of drunken fists.
Wan had wanted to buy the restaurant since he was a young kid. He had visited often and when the restaurant was available he jumped on the chance.
Since we are artists, Wan had received one of our postcards and asked us to come by and see the place. He wanted us to freshen up areas, recreate the barrels and other statues. Fix the enormous amount of wood with faux techniques, and fix the bare stucco and recreate the brick to name just a few of the items needed restored.
After several weeks of being up to our ears in plaster, paint, glazes and new casts we finally finished and the place looked brand spanking new. There wasn't an inch that we didn't touch.
We then worked on this incredibly old antique iron awning. Cleaning it of the years of rust and weathered patina's which actually looked perfect in my eyes. We used stains and protectors to bring it back to life and it was hung in the front of the building. Along side of the entrance stood 2 cement lions. We gave these monster statues a couple of coats of glaze and fauxed in their coats that really made them stand out. Topped with a clear coat of anti graffiti they looked like they were inviting you in.
The neighbors came by and many stopped to admire the work. They were very happy that we were upgrading the place and thanked us. Some of the local children would stop and watch us work.
During this time we built up a great relationship with Wan and his family and learned some very interesting Korean cultural facts. One being that when you work for a Korean they feed you. You become family and we were definitely treat as such. So everyday we enjoyed many different dishes from his restaurants.
The Lowenbrau Keller now Medusa was ready for it's soft opening. A soft opening we learned was so that they could work out any problems before they actually opened for business.
We arrived and were pleasantly surprised at the final touches of extra large candles at the door and the addition of a seating area where a rather large grand piano blocked the area from the door to the bar. It was all very magical and very ambient. The soft music in the background really helped set the mood.
People were flocked around the bar, sat at the cozy seating in the big king like chairs sipping a red wine and sitting at the booths devouring their selections.
We enjoyed the wonderful creations that Yoshi the Japanese chef had created. We had sampled his abilities before but nothing like what we were about to encounter.
The imagination of creativity can go to incredible heights.
Being a sushi lover and dining in some of the best restaurants I can guarantee I had not tasted anything like this.
Yoshi provided an extensive celebration of some of the finest and freshest petite plate, creme de la creme sushi.
I have to say we both enjoyed the "cell" very much. I think that was one of our favorites. Besides the sushi we were served various french and Italian petite cuizine.
There are future plans to expand some of the parking lot into patio style dining and the back room where most of the casts, extra tables, chairs and artifacts were kept is going to be turned into a nightclub. It is a great old room that still remains virgin to the buildings original meat packing description. It has large brick walls and beamed ceiling with a huge 2 story style wooden door.
The restaurant in case you would like to try it out is located at 3211 Beverly Blvd, 213-382-5723
It's opem Tuesday through Sunday 5:30pm -2:00am and dinner is served till 10pm.
If you love sushi and fine food, a warm friendly unusual environment, then this is the place to go! You won't be sorry and you can check out our work too!
