Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne to close Lucques restaurant after two decades

Jenn Harris
·3 min read
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. -- SUND
Patrons dine during a Sunday Supper dinner at Lucques. The restaurant will close in May. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

After 21 years, one of the city’s most celebrated restaurants is closing.

Lucques, the Californian-Mediterranean restaurant co-owned by chef Suzanne Goin and restaurateur Caroline Styne, will close May 6.

“Lucques has lived a long and wonderful life and become far more than the sum of its parts,” Goin and Styne said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “We could not have anticipated the immeasurable love and dedication that grew over time for a place that we both just wanted to feel like the restaurant we always wanted to go to.”

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It is with tremendous sadness and emotion that we announce today that after almost 21 years we will be closing our beloved restaurant Lucques. Lucques has lived a long and wonderful life and become far more than the sum of its parts. We are so proud of what we have accomplished which was way beyond our wildest imagination when we opened our doors at 8474 Melrose Avenue on September 25, 1998. We could not have anticipated the immeasurable love and dedication that grew over time for a place that we both just wanted to feel like the restaurant WE always wanted to go to. From the hundreds of cherished employees past and present to the relationships we developed with farmers, vintners, chefs and purveyors locally and around the globe to the magical, unexpected and multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, we could never have dreamed it. Through our two decades at Lucques, we have seen many engagements, marriages, family celebrations and children born. We have seen our own families form and grow. The highlight of it all has been beyond food, wine, service and atmosphere---it has been the relationships we have built with so many people who have come through our doors and lived their lives within the four walls of our first-born restaurant. We cherish those memories and they will live forever in our hearts. Our last day of service to the public will be Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Until then Lucques will continue to offer lunch, dinner and bar service as well as Sunday Suppers, Easter Dinner and the upcoming Chi Spacca Cookbook Dinner with Nancy Silverton on April 26, 2020. During that time, we will be featuring old favorites and Lucques classics like bluefish wrapped in pancetta, suckling pig, chorizo-stuffed lamb leg and churros y chocolat in addition to Suzanne’s latest spring menu which begins today. We’re looking forward to the coming weeks as a chance to celebrate Lucques and we hope that you will come in and see us---to enjoy a meal and raise a glass to the incredible years we have had with our staff, friends and family. Yours Sincerely, Caroline and Suzanne

A post shared by Suzanne Goin (@suzannegoin) on Mar 11, 2020 at 3:00pm PDT

The duo, who also co-own Tavern, A.O.C. and the Larder Baking Company, opened Lucques on Melrose Avenue in September 1998. The restaurant has been a fixture of the Los Angeles dining scene since opening, introducing many Angelenos to a constantly changing, market-driven menu.

Lucques is best known for its Sunday Suppers, three-course prix fixe meals that currently go for $52. Through the years, famed chefs including Alice Waters and Chris Bianco also joined Goin in the kitchen for special collaboration dinners.

Over the years, the duo have won numerous James Beard Foundation awards, including outstanding chef for Goin in 2016 and outstanding restaurateur for Styne in 2018. The restaurant also has held a regular spot on The Times’ 101 Best Restaurants list.

In its final weeks, the West Hollywood restaurant will continue to be open for lunch and dinner and will continue its Sunday Suppers.

Goin plans to bring back some classic Lucques dishes, including bluefish wrapped in pancetta and suckling pig. The restaurant will also host an Easter dinner and a dinner with Nancy Silverton on April 26 to celebrate the Mozzaplex chef’s upcoming Chi Spacca cookbook.