BlackBook Magazine

Helmed by Manhattan stalwarts Jonathan Morr and Steven Durbahn, BondST Beverly Hills is finally open. The Sushi Empire better get ready for battle. This one is on!

Last year, BlackBook provided a sneak peek to its readers of the master blueprint for BondST, Jonathan Morr’s Los Angeles satellite of his NoHo classic sushi emporium, now celebrating its tenth anniversary.

The plan was ambitious: a multi-level, 5,300-square-foot configuration with an eclectic library lounge (with hearth), a 12-seat sushi bar (of course), and an indoor-outdoor patio, all contained within Jason Pomeranc’s just-opened Thompson Beverly Hills luxury hotel. The location at Wilshire and Crescent Drive begs the participation of Hollywood agents and their pampered clients. Already, CAA, Harper’s Bazaar, and socialites Alexandra von Furstenberg and Jacqui Getty have thrown pre-opening parties there.

One month in, we asked Morr—right up there beside Pearl’s Rebecca Charles as one of our favorite, funniest, and most talented restaurateurs—to let us know how it’s all shaping up.

BLACKBOOK: What’s the outside patio like now, and will there be smoking now that the City of Beverly Hills has banned it entirely?
JONATHAN MORR: The patio is versatile, in that it has more of this indoor-outdoor feel. By that I mean that it can be shut off from, or totally open to the dining room, so it’s not this separate entity. Planters and ivy create an intimate outdoor setting that is secluded from Wilshire Boulevard, with signature graphic furniture by India Mahdavi. As far as smoking goes, unfortunately, as we are law-abiding people, smoking cannot be permitted.

BB: How will BondST and the lounge blend in with the hotel? Is there a common ground of sorts?
JM: The challenge with conceptualizing this project was to seamlessly blend in with the hotel, while staying true to the BondST design—and perhaps more importantly, maintaining the feel that BondST is known for. As you walk into the building, the lobby also acts as a holding area for BondST’s bar, which lends to the hotel’s ambience. Gradually, as you enter the main dining room and sushi bar, there is a flow and transitional quality, as it definitely becomes a distinctive BondST situation.

BB: You moved from NoHo to L.A. this past year. Have you gotten all granola-y on us?
JM: Life is just as good here in L.A. as it was in New York. As much as I thought that I’d be able to lead a leisurely life, playing tennis everyday and so on, I realize that you have to actually work in L.A. as well. Have I turned granola? Not yet, but it’s coming.

BB: Do you have a wider bounty of fresh seafood to choose from, and include on your menu, now?
JM: Certain items that actually come from the East Coast—like live Maine lobster, fluke, soft-shell crab—are more expensive here in L.A. The opposite can be said of items from Japan, which is obviously closer to L.A. So there’s definitely a balance there. In terms of quality and freshness, it is the same; if anything changes, it’s the prices. A lot of items are seasonal, so what you can count on depends on the time of year, and accordingly, we’re still playing and toying with different items here on the West Coast. As Los Angeles is the Mecca of sushi in America, they do have amazing stuff. You have to remember that the whole trend of sushi really started in California in the mid- to late-’60s, and we are certainly planning on capitalizing on that.