Melanie and Tim Hogan during the grand opening VIP party for Eureka! Tasting Kitchen at Hawthorne Airport on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Eureka!, the gourmet burger and craft beer trendsetter, opened its first Los Angeles location at the airfield. The company also moved their headquarters above the eatery.
(Jeff Gritchen/Staff Photographer)
The first new full-service restaurant to open in Hawthorne in a decade takes itself very seriously. Eureka! opened its doors last week inside Hawthorne Municipal Airport's Jet Center, offering gourmet burgers, crafted beer and artisan whiskey. And its menu boasts of dishes made with farm-to-table ingredients that could be found at a highbrow steakhouse or downtown bistro.
"That was the best hamburger I've had in years," longtime Hawthorne airport supporter, pilot and local businessman Pat Carey said after eating dinner at Eureka! "The layout is really modern and up-to-date. As airports go, it's gonna be the best one in Los Angeles, I can assure you of that. Nothing's gonna compare to this."
Carey, director of operations for Advanced Air Charter's corporate and private jet service, said the shiny new eatery - which has just enough deconstructed design features to make it hip - is a reflection of the years of hard work and millions of dollars that have been poured into the 80-acre airport just three miles southeast of Los Angeles International.
"Back in 2000, when they were trying to close the airport because they said it was blighted and they wanted to build a mall there ... we vowed to make sure it was a very good place to have in the city," Carey said. "We've been working since 2002 to get to where we're at today. It's been a long, hard 10 years but there are the final little pieces."
The airport has been through extensive renovations in the last decade, since it was nearly razed to make way for an entertainment and retail complex. A group of community members, including Carey, rallied to save it, and they succeeded after the city's leadership put the issue on a ballot for residents to decide in 2000.
In 2005, a trio of real estate investors came together to refurbish dozens of old hangars and install a luxury lounge in the terminal building at Crenshaw Boulevard and 120th Street. Federal and city funds were combined to install new runway lights and signs, and repave the asphalt runway to make it strong enough for corporate jets to land.
Recently, the city has put in a new emergency generator for runway lighting that allows pilots to remotely turn on lights after hours. The city also is overseeing a noise study at the airport, and installing a new water main to the air traffic control tower, airport manager Arnie Shadbehr said.
"The airport has always been a jewel in Hawthorne, we've always loved it," Shadbehr said. "Even in this economy, it is thriving. We're trying to pump fresh blood in it, hoping that we see a real change in traffic when the economy gets better."
This is the eighth Eureka! restaurant to open in California since 2008. The owners have targeted "under served areas" such as Hawthorne, Claremont and Redlands, co-owner Justin Nedelman said. "We're bringing the Los Feliz and Echo Park feel," Nedelman said. "There are a lot of people here who crave quality but can't get it.
"The Hawthorne location includes company offices upstairs, which share a view with the restaurant of aircraft taking off and landing on the adjacent tarmac. The company also will use the restaurant as a test kitchen for new menu items at all of its locations.
Eureka! replaces Nat's Airport Cafe, a diner of the sort found in many small airports. Nedelman said he expects business from surrounding offices to keep the 88-seat eatery busy.
Space Exploration Technologies, Lithographix printing, and Triumph Aerostructures - Vought Commercial Division are large, world-class operations adjacent the airport. An 86-acre manufacturing site just south of the airport was redesigned into the Century Business Center in 2005. New offices and manufacturing businesses, including the SpaceX headquarters and design studios for Tesla Motors, have since opened there.
"All the developments along the airport are doing gang buster business now," Carey said. "The whole community in northeast Hawthorne has benefited from this."
Read more here: http://www.dailybreeze.com
No comments:
Post a Comment