The Mirate Team Is Bringing La Morocha From Ensenada to the Arts District

Matt Egan, the restaurateur behind Mirate in Los Feliz, is opening La Morocha on South Mateo Street in the Arts District with chef David Castro Hussong.

The chef

Castro Hussong is known for Fauna, his restaurant in the Valle de Guadalupe, and for La Morocha in Ensenada, which gives the Los Angeles project its name. Baja has been quietly supplying Los Angeles with ideas for a decade, usually through visiting dinners rather than permanent rooms, so a Valle de Guadalupe kitchen taking a long lease here is a meaningful step.

The building is the variable

La Morocha is slated for a ground floor space in a 35 story mixed use building that is still under construction. Published previews place the opening in the fall. A tower that has not topped out is a reason to hold any date loosely, and we will update this post when the restaurant confirms one.

What we have our eye on

Ensenada cooking is built on the cold water right off that coast, and the version that usually travels is the seafood. Whether the Los Angeles menu leans that way or follows the more vegetable driven, live fire direction of Fauna is the thing worth watching.

The Arts District keeps earning it

The neighborhood has been collecting ambitious kitchens. Brick Lane put wood fired modern Indian cooking in a 1920s warehouse. Elsewhere in the city, San Damian brought Enrique Olvera's mariscos to Venice, and Ray Garcia brought Broken Spanish back in the old A-frame on Washington.

Visiting

La Morocha is planned for 530 South Mateo Street in the Arts District of Los Angeles. No opening date has been announced.