A diner for the neighborhood
The building at 5th and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles was once part of an opera house, next a burlesque theater and then a series of restaurants. Now, two women are turning it into the Nickel Diner. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Monica May, above, and Kristen Trattner decided to turn the dilapidated storefront into a restaurant that would serve downtowners of all stripes and upgrade the neighborhood, where homeless people beg for coins and drug deals are conducted in the open. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
May, right, accepts one of the many deliveries as the Nickel begins to take shape. She also runs Banquette, a small cafe near the corner of 4th and Main, where she and Trattner met. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Pastry chef Sharlena Fong, who trained under noted chef Thomas Keller, hands out samples to passersby. She was lured to the diner in part by the idea that its opening seemed “like a big community effort.” (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Trattner, left, and May dance around the restaurant they refurbished. They dismantled a dropped ceiling and stripped 1970s-era wooden paneling. Burgundy booths were brought in and matching brass-studded leather was installed above them along the long walls. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Ricardo Tingle peeks into Nickel Diner on its opening day in late August. After a year and a half in the making, the eatery was ready to serve the public.
May, the diner’s chef, works in the kitchen to develop the menu about a month before the opening. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Customers read the menu under a restored mural from the 1920s or ‘30s. The current menu pokes fun at the neighborhoods reputation, offering Smac and cheese” and a list of pastries divided into a.m. and p.m. fixes. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
