Bowers Eatery Reopens This Week With New Name

It will be a familiar site with a different flair.

The cafe at Bowers Museum of Cultural Art has a new life and a new name, Tangata.

Scheduled to open Thursday, the museum cafe is a partnership with the Patina Group, a Los Angeles restaurateur that runs the top-rated Patina restaurant in L.A.

Tangata is a term used by the Maori, a Polynesian population in New Zealand, that means “people.”

That name was chosen because “the museum is about different people and cultures of the world,” museum spokeswoman Karen Sirmenis said.

Tangata, which is inside the museum and features an open courtyard bistro, replaces Topaz restaurant, which vacated the site over Labor Day weekend after its lease contract expired.

The new cafe seats 160 and features table service and a full bar. Sandwiches and main courses are priced from $5.50 to $14.

The lunch-only menu will be selected by executive chef Otto Guerra and will feature international tapas-style cuisine. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

The restaurant is undergoing minor remodeling to achieve a Mediterranean motif.

Patina Group founders Joachim and Christine Splichal also operate restaurants at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art.