Cedd Moses is extending the 213
Downtown L.A.’s revitalized bar scene owes more to Cedd Moses’ 213 Nightlife operation than perhaps any other business in the game. The company boasts nine venues between the 110 Freeway and the L.A. River, including mainstays Cole’s P.E. Buffet, Golden Gopher and Seven Grand. A decade after 213 began, the famously seedy city center has become an upscale booze hound’s Disneyland.
But 213’s next three ventures are far from its namesake area code. With a satellite version of Seven Grand now open in San Diego and plans for versions of that bar and Cole’s inside LAX terminals, the most influential firm in downtown L.A.’s night life comeback is casting a wider net. The move could mean a new national scope for 213 -- but risks diluting one of the most potent brands in SoCal bar-going.
“Ten years ago, 213 started with an idea for 10 bars in downtown L.A.,” Moses said. “Now the next phase is to find new grounds to test those brands.”
The first brand to test, Seven Grand, is the safest bet of the lot. The original’s space at 7th Street and Grand Avenue opened in 2007, and its hunting-lodge decor crystallized the burgeoning artisan cocktail and whiskey scene. Moses claims it’s the most successful of his 213 bars.
The North Park area of San Diego, a city already known as a hub for craft beer brewing in America, seemed a close-enough corollary to the downtown L.A. that Moses built his reputation in. “I like the scene down there,” Moses said. “The Gaslamp District is like what Hollywood is now; it’s too saturated with nightclubs, so we looked for neighborhoods focused on product. Thirtieth and University is a natural fit for us -- it’s ground zero for beer and more similar to what Echo Park is in L.A.”
More curious are the LAX plans for Seven Grand and Cole’s, the century-old French dip dive that 213 renovated and reopened in 2008. Cole’s is slotted for the American Airlines terminal, Seven Grand for United and Continental’s. It’s easy to see the upside -- a captive audience of an estimated 60 million annual visitors, many of whom desperately need a drink. But is there any place less edgy to open a bar than an airport?
“I first chose downtown because it was a clean slate and we wanted to build new institutions,” Moses said. “There’s nothing more timeless than LAX -- it’s going to be here for a long time. You go to Heathrow in London, and its bars and restaurants reflect the city, and it’s about time we had an airport that did the same.”
213 worked with established hospitality-biz fixers such as Camacho’s Inc. to help navigate the politics of LAX, and Moses again brought chef Neal Fraser to oversee a new sausage-heavy menu at Cole’s LAX.
Moses is eyeing future Seven Grands and other 213 brands in cities such as San Francisco, Austin, Texas, and New Orleans .
But downtown lifers shouldn’t panic, Moses said. Seven Grand won’t become the new Pinkberry. It’s just that the rest of the country might start to look a little more like downtown L.A.
“It’s not going to be Starbucks,” Moses said. “We don’t want to over-extend ourselves, and there won’t be any new Seven Grands in L.A. outside the airport. But we are looking at some of the great hospitality cities in America.”
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