Beverly Hills Decries 'Speakeasy' Dinner At Italian Restaurant

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Beverly Hills city officials reportedly stepped in to foil plans for a "discreet" New Years' Eve dinner at an upscale Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills this week.

Hosting an indoor event would be in violation of the county's health orders amid a massive uptick in coronavirus cases in the Southland.

"Welcome back to the 20's Prohibition," invitations read. "We are currently taking reservations for New Year's Eve dinner. Inside."

La Scala, a famed Italian eatery, reportedly tucked the cursive scripted invitations to the event in take-out bags to weigh whether enough guests would be willing to come to the indoor event.

Los Angeles County currently prohibits in-person dining and is under Gov. Gavin Newsom's Regional Stay-At-Home order amid the recent case surge. Indoor dining has also been prohibited in the county for months as the area has remained suspended in the widespread-purple tier on the state's coronavirus assessing blueprint.

"Please keep this discreet," the invitation reads, adding this paradoxical bit, "but tell all your friends."

And they did — word got around quickly and the eatery received backlash from the public after invitations to the "speakeasy"-style party began circulating on social media.

Amid local chatter of the invitations, the city also weighed in.

"The City has made direct contact with representatives of La Scala (on Dec. 24) to confirm the conditions of the County's Health Order," Beverly Hills Public Information Officer Keith Sterling said. "We understand this is an incredibly difficult time for all of our businesses, however the County Order does currently prohibit indoor and outdoor dining, including in the City of Beverly Hills."

The city's police department also said it was aware of the plans.

"Thank you for tagging the BHPD. Beverly Hills Code Enforcement is aware and will be handling this matter," the department tweeted on Friday.

Enforcement of coronavirus health orders in California have largely been reliant on education with some counties issuing citations and fines. Some law enforcement agencies have declined to give citations to those who break curfew or violate health orders. So, it remains to be seen whether state and local officials will attempt to ramp up penalties for businesses.

In Los Angeles County, dozens of businesses have been slapped with citations and fines over the last two weeks for defying health orders. The Euro Caffe in Beverly Hills was issued a citation on Dec. 15.

A similar situation unravled up north in Rohnert Park where Graton Resort and Casino announced plans for a private New Year's Eve Party. That event would have drawn up to 4,000 people, but after Sonoma County officials expressed concern, casino officials canceled the party.

La Scala has not publicly stated whether it will cancel its event.

The county had a total of 677,299 coronavirus cases and a 7-day positivity rate of nearly 17 percent, according to data recorded on Dec. 24.

City News Service and Patch editor Kat Schuster contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on the Beverly Hills Patch