Today, owners Robert and Danny Kronfli, and Executive Chef/Owner Lior Hillel debut the third and newest outpost of the Venetian tavern concept, Bacari GDL, joining Bacaro LA near DTLA and Bacari PDR in Playa Del Rey. Located at The Americana at Brand, Caruso’s premier shopping, dining, and lifestyle destination in Glendale, the Italian-inspired restaurant focuses on fire-roasted dishes made in the new wood stone oven, and incorporates Mediterranean influences from Executive Chef Hillel’s Israeli heritage.
“With the third iteration of Bacari, we want to continue to expand our reach throughout greater Los Angeles, and since we’d already ventured west with Bacari PDR, moving north seemed like the next logical step,” says Robert Kronfli, age 29.
“Inspired by our travels to Italy, our overarching goal is to offer guests hospitable service and respite from everyday life by providing comforting food, well-executed drinks, and a warm atmosphere,” adds Danny Kronfli, age 33.
Menu
Executive Chef Hillel’s extensive menu features a new collection of Bacari’s “cicchetti,” or Italian small plates, including Oxtail with doah spice, toasted buckwheat, and shaved radish salad; Banana Prawns with pipel chuma, farro, and parsley salad; and Braised Fennel with poached cranberry, toasted pine nuts, and whipped goat cheese.
While the menu is almost entirely different from its sister restaurants, Bacari GDL keeps favorites such as the open-faced Bacari Burger and the Mac & Cheese. Unique to this location is a large wood stone oven, which is used to cook hand-crafted pastas and pizzas, including Foie Gras Cresto de Gallo Pasta with shaved terrine, onion jam, housemade ricotta, and chervil, and Bacon and Double Cream Brie Pizza with organic tomato sauce and fresh jalapeño.
“At Bacari GDL, we are fortunate to have a massive 10-foot wood stone oven, which takes up about one-fourth of our kitchen,” says Executive Chef Hillel, age 36. “It was such a great find that it inspired us, and we actually built our menu around the oven, so the majority of our hot items are fire-roasted alongside our pizzas.”
Bar
Additionally, the Glendale restaurant offers a full bar and straightforward craft cocktails, alongside a curated selection of beer and wine, including a Brown Butter Sour with house-infused brown butter whiskey, dry curacao, egg white, simple, and lemon; and the Holy Mole with añejo tequila, agave, lime essence, mole bitters, lime twist, and cherry. Bacari GDL will also offer the “GDL Special,” a take on their 90-minute open bar, which includes house red and white wine, champagne, sangria, and a select beer for $25 per person. For $30 per person, guests can now add well cocktails to the deal.
Design
The 68-seat restaurant retains Bacari’s warm, neighborhood wine bar feel, with chalkboard walls and signature wine bottle-lined ceilings, though enhanced to reflect the upscale atmosphere of The Americana at Brand. The garage door-style façade creates an indoor/outdoor feel, revealing the front patio and opening up the space. Robert Kronfli was integrally involved in the construction, crafting components by hand, including the wooden bathroom doors, a c
ork board bearing the restaurant’s logo, and a wall lined with wine crates.
The restaurant opens for dinner service at 5pm on Wednesday, February 15, with lunch service launching Monday, February 20 at 11am, and eventually brunch and happy hour. Guests can find hours, menus, and more information about Bacari GDL at www.bacarigdl.com.
Caruso continues to energize Glendale with new curated dining options. On South Brand Boulevard, four exciting new eateries and restaurants emerged this fall across the street from The Americana at Brand including Shake Shack, Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop, Philz, Mainland Poke and the forthcoming Egglsut. This collection of eateries, along with Bacari GDL, further transforms this walkable street into a burgeoning dining, shopping, and entertainment destination.
About Bacari GDL
Located at 757 Americana Way at The Americana at Brand in Glendale, CA, Bacari GDL serves lunch and dinner every day from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Reservations are not required, but can be made by calling the restaurant at (818) 696-1460. Follow Bacari GDL on Facebook and Instagram.
About The Americana at Brand
In its ninth year, The Americana at Brand fuses world-class retail, dining, and entertainment experiences, luxury housing and stunning landscaping to create one of Southern California’s most distinctive urban destinations. The iconic Caruso property is built around a grand, two-acre green, replete with a choreographed dancing water fountain and a historic red trolley transporting guests around the property. This dynamic setting attracts the world’s finest and most successful retailers including Nordstrom, Tory Burch, Barneys New York, David Yurman, J.Crew, Topshop Topman, Tiffany & Co., Apple, and Under Armour Brand House, whose locations at The Americana at Brand are often among the best-performing in their portfolios. Famed international dumpling house, Din Tai Fung, joined the property in November 2013, Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak arrived in March 2014, in November 2016 The Tsujita, one of Jonathan Gold’s “101 Best Restaurants 2016,” joined the property’s acclaimed dining offerings. Sophisticated living defines The Americana at Brand Luxury Apartments, where nearly 350 apartment and condominium homes are poised atop the retail spaces, and residents enjoy unparalleled amenities, services from a world-class concierge team, and access to the best offerings from The Americana at Brand and beyond. The property serves the Greater Los Angeles area from its prime location in the heart of Glendale, which Curbed named as its 2013 Los Angeles Neighborhood of the Year, and has become a central catalyst for accelerating revitalization in the local and surrounding community. Shopping Centers Today featured the property on its list of the top shopping centers in the world based on sales per square foot. Get the latest news and events for The Americana at Brand at www.americanatbrand.com; on Twitter at twitter.com/AmericanaBrand; on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AmericanaBrand; on Instagram at @AmericanaBrand or download the Caruso app in the Apple or Google stores.
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