Say Hello to Sous Sous, the Buzzy New Restaurant Inside Silver Lake’s Hotel Lucile
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New hotels in Silver Lake only come along once in a decade (if that), and rarer still are hotels located inside former churches. Enter Hotel Lucile: the brand-new boutique hotel inside a restored 1930s-era church debuted last month after six years of renovations, and with it, comes a new restaurant called Sous Sous located inside the church’s former nave.
Casetta Group is behind the entire project, the same hospitality team who brought you hotels like Malibu’s Surfrider and Palm Springs’ Casa Cody. For Sous Sous, they tapped veteran chef Patrick Costa, chef/owner of Downtown’s focaccia-pizza joint, De La Nonna. Here, he departs from Italian food, instead diving into his roots in both the American Southeast and Southern France, using seafood to connect the culinary dots. Here are five things you need to know before dining at Sous Sous.
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The space is meant to be a “living art gallery.”
Set inside a 1931-era Romanesque church, the building was restored and updated by Venice-based architects and designers Electric Bowery. They sought to maintain original details like the soaring beamed ceilings and original stained glass windows while adding modern touches like art curated by Rhett Baruch Gallery and Uprise.
Upon entering into the restaurant, a bar greets you with dramatic wooden arches that mirror the beams above them, as well as 25-foot curtains, which allow the restaurant to cordon off the bar space as needed. In the main area, a few bar seats spill past the curtains and mossy green semi-circular banquettes line both walls for maximum intimacy. The design team drew its overall inspiration from the European influences of the authors after which the surrounding streets in Silver Lake were named. (FYI: Lucile Avenue was named after a narrative poem by British author Meredith Owen circa 1860; and nearby streets like Rowena, Ben Lomond, and Kenilworth were inspired by Scottish author Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe.) Two hand-painted textural murals by Erin Lynn Welsh of Uprise Art anchor the space, which depict landscapes of Los Angeles’ East Side.
The original stage at the far end of the restaurant will serve as an optional private dining space and features works of art by Thai Mainhard, Harlan Hue, and Thomas Linder. The art program is intentionally meant to evolve rather than function as static hotel décor, with rotating installations, artist talks, literary gatherings and live music planned for the property. Even smaller details tie back to the building’s history, including stained-glass coasters by L.A. artist Janel Foo, which appear throughout Sous Sous and the guest rooms.
The menu marries the American South and Southern France.
Costa and beverage director Lee Zaremba (also of De La Nonna), came up with the restaurant’s concept, which was inspired by the space: “There was something about dining in a former church that just reminded us of the South,” says Zaremba. Turns out, Costa has roots there as well. “[Patrick] has history and family in the Southeast so we pulled from that region. And on my end, I have such a deep love for New Orleans,” he adds.
Costa, who trained in French cuisine and previously worked at Michelin-starred restaurant L20 in Chicago, wanted to move beyond the rich, heavy stereotypes often associated with northern French cooking. “In California, we have beautiful produce, fresh fish, and sunshine every day,” he says. “We wanted something more bright, more fun”—while maintaining the technical refinement of French cuisine and the energy of the American South. The marriage of two “southern” coastal regions is also the inspiration behind the name: Sous Sous, which means “below” in French.
Seafood is the throughline that connects it all to Southern California.
The menu opens with a raw bar that features classics like shrimp cocktail, oysters on the half shell, pickled mussels, and hamachi crudo, highlighting local purveyors. “We’re working with Four Star Seafood and I think they do a really lovely job of curating what’s seasonal,” says Costa, noting that most of their fish is coming from North America. “In Southern France they might use a fish like branzino but we’re keeping it more local and using something like trout,” he adds, for their polenta-crusted blackened fish. Hushpuppies in particular take Costa back to his childhood on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, along with the espelette-crusted oysters. “There’s not a lot of good ones out there,” he jokes about the fried cornmeal nuggets. At Sous Sous, they’re side is served with serrano chile and honey butter.
But the star of the menu is his take on bouillabaisse, served here in a portion large enough for two. Costa’s version combines ingredients from a classic Southern shrimp boil — shrimp, chorizo, and the new potatoes — with the halibut, mussels, and clams you’d expect from the latter, all served in a saffron-scented broth. The soup is made from a homemade fish fumet infused with tarragon, fennel, orange, and anise, poured tableside and presented alongside crusty bread topped with rouille, a traditional saffron-infused aioli.
Not into seafood? No problem. Costa also makes a very good burger, dubbed “Le Burg,” topped with cheddar, caramelized onions, and dijonnaise and served on a toasted potato bun; a roasted chicken; and a seasonal pasta dish (recently a Parisian gnocchi tossed with with fresh corn, fresno chile, and Parmigiano Reggiano).
Playful drinks are inspired by the cocktail traditions of New Orleans.
Zaremba spent years living and working in Chicago for the lauded Boka Group (Girl & The Goat, Momotaro), but has long shared a passion for New Orleans cocktail culture. “It’s the American hub of modern cocktailing,” he says. So it seemed like a natural fit for a Southern-inspired concept to pull from those drinking traditions. You’ll find a toasted coconut-infused whiskey Sazerac called the Sazerac-ish, a take on NOLA’s most iconic cocktail.
The Georgia Peach is inspired by the forgotten classic, the Brandy Crusta, which predates the Sidecar, also originating in New Orleans in the 1850s. Traditionally it’s made with brandy, lemon, and Cointreau, but Zaremba’s take sees the addition of Cognac for a more aged flavor. The Cognac is combined with a malted peach liqueur and lemon juice, and then the entire thing (including the coup) is encrusted in sugar for a showstopping presentation. “We were joking that we should serve this one with a wet wipe,” says Zaremba, as the drink can get a bit messy. There’s a fried green tomato-inspired margarita made with green tomato, Libéllula tequila, and Old Bay for a hint of smoke akin to what you’d find in the traditional Southern appetizer. There’s also a small zero-proof cocktail list and draft beers from local brewers like Skyduster.
Don’t sleep on dessert, either.
End on a sweet note with Costa’s nostalgic hot fudge sundae (made with McConnell’s ice cream); market fruit topped with Prosecco and a seasonal sabayon; or a chocolate creameux that’s like a chocolate pudding steeped in chicory and coffee (another nod to New Orleans), and topped with brûléed marshmallow and a shortbread crumble for crunch.
