TESSA

Tesse Is Closing This Month After Six Years in West Hollywood | Eater LA

"When it debuted in June 2018 on the Sunset Strip I regarded it as one of the most significant openings in years: a sleek modern French bistro from partners Jordan Ogron and Bill Chait with chef Raphael Francois and dessert chef Sally Camacho, housed in a midcentury-modern dining room with high ceilings and the lively energy of spots like Bavel or Republique. Early on its wide menu of cheese, charcuterie, pasta (including standout pastas), roast chicken, crudo and even beer-battered onion rings drew crowds, and LA Times critic Bill Addison gave it a sparkling review, highlighting dishes that showed Francois’s Gallic soul—most memorably the simplissime, a white bowl of puréed potatoes concealing blue crab with tarragon and finished with a Cognac sauce. The restaurant pivoted during the COVID shutdowns to ample al fresco seating along the sidewalk, and its well-curated vintage wine bottles (which customers could take home) helped it survive difficult months. After just over six years, the partners say mounting post-pandemic costs—insurance that has risen to roughly four times pre-pandemic levels, high local minimum wages, and an environment that makes running midrange, a la carte restaurants difficult—have forced the decision to close, with the last day of service on October 26; they’ve not announced the closure on social media because their Instagram was hacked and deleted, but will notify nearly 11,000 email subscribers and point people to updates via the adjacent wine shop account Boutellier. Ogron and Chait hope to retain the lease and develop a new concept for the space, but insist it won’t sit in the middle between casual daytime spots and high-end tasting rooms as Tesse often did." - Matthew Kang