James Beard Award-Winning Southern Chef Sean Brock Is Opening a Restaurant in West Hollywood
One of South Carolina's most celebrated chefs will open his first Los Angeles restaurant in West Hollywood later this summer. Sean Brock, best known for his Southern restaurants in Charleston and Nashville, will introduce Darling, a new restaurant featuring seasonal ingredients prepared over a live-fire grill in the former Soulmate space on Robertson Boulevard. The Charleston-based chef will also introduce Bar Darling, an adjoining cocktail bar that will serve cocktails while vinyls play over a hi-fi sound system.
As one of the South's most notable chefs, Brock is a high-profile figure dedicated to showcasing Southern Cuisine. He grew up in Virginia's Appalachian mountains before finishing culinary school and becoming executive chef at Charleston, South Carolina's Husk from 2010 until 2018; he then became a partner at McCrady's Restaurant. Brock won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Southeast in 2010, and became a New York Times bestseller with his first cookbook Heritage , which also garnered a James Beard Award.
After opening (and stepping away from) multiple Husk locations throughout the South, Brock opened Atlanta's Minero in 2015, then debuted Joyland in 2020. Joyland was his first solo restaurant, followed by a stream of openings, including a duo of Nashville restaurants centered around Appalachian food.
Brock joins a handful of recent non-California-based chefs bringing their experience to Los Angeles, including the Jamaican-born Adrian Forte for Lucia in Fairfax, and chef Eyal Shani's Miznon. Darling will open in July or August across the street from Lisa Vanderpump's Sur and the trendy spinoff from Vanderpump Rules reality TV stars' sandwich shop, Something About Her.
Related How Sean Brock Reinvented Himself (and His Restaurants)
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