{"id":185851,"date":"2025-05-08T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sunset.com\/?p=185851"},"modified":"2025-05-08T10:54:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T17:54:21","slug":"chez-mia-los-angeles-recipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sunset.com\/food-wine\/restaurants\/chez-mia-los-angeles-recipes","title":{"rendered":"This West Hollywood Restaurant Will Transport You to the South of France"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even though it rarely rains in Los Angeles, it\u2019s a bold move to open a restaurant with 70 percent of its tables outside. But if restaurateur Marissa Hermer is anything, it\u2019s bold. The former hospitality publicist, Bravo Ladies of London<\/em> star, and successful restaurateur whisks us through her newest creation, Chez Mia<\/a>, designed by Tom Parker of trans-Atlantic design firm Fettle<\/a>. It’s a Provence-inspired indoor-outdoor fantasia that channels all that\u2019s to love about refined coastal dining in the Mediterranean in summer: Clusters of tables dot a sprawling patio of vivid tile, plush banquettes, lush plantings, a bubbling fountain, an array of tufted umbrellas to break up the sun by day and help contain the glow of candles and murmur of diners by night, and in the center of it all, a grand marble-topped bar that invites guests to linger over glasses of ros\u00e9 and cocktails. She points out the art that\u2019s everywhere you look, taking inspiration from Matisse\u2019s paintings and stained glass and the Calder sculpture at hotel La Colombe d\u2019Or in Southeastern France. There\u2019s an abstracted nude in the style of Matisse, and Marissa is happy to point out that she was the model. Marissa has frequently visited the south of France, as has investor Kurt Seidensticker. The Mediterranean summer playground\u2019s influence is everywhere\u2014even the bathroom is an homage to the yellow-and-white striped chaises longues of the Hotel Il Pellicano.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a> <\/span>\"Marissa<\/div>
Marissa Hermer at Chez Mia\u00a0<\/figcaption>

Thomas J. Story<\/p><\/figure>\n\n\n

Restaurant history buffs will know Chez Mia sits on a storied stretch of Los Angeles<\/a>: It\u2019s on the northern portion of West Hollywood\u2019s <\/a>restaurant row on La Cienega, which stretches up from Beverly Hills, anchored by Matsuhisa to the south up to this location that formerly housed Hollywood power-player hangout Ago. In scale and vibe, it ranks up there with L.A.\u2019s most impressive outdoor dining spots: the patios at the Polo Lounge and Spago. The menu is a something-for-everyone range of L.A.-Mediterranean classics: Branzino is simply grilled<\/a>, delicious without a sauce, thanks to perfect sourcing and technique. A green salad<\/a> is just that: piled high with delicate lettuces and dressed just so. You can have steak frites, and it will be Wagyu<\/a>. Carpaccio<\/a> is ennobled with discs of truffle. And the cocktails range from textbook classics<\/a> to creative originals<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a> <\/span>\"Chez<\/div>

Thomas J. Story<\/p><\/figure>\n\n\n

But Chez Mia is more than a gorgeous place to linger over ros\u00e9\u2014it\u2019s also, in a way, a relief center<\/a> in disguise, which even in the best of times is what hospitality is all about. Restaurants are by definition places where strangers are welcome for respite and sustenance. When the devastating L.A. fires swept through neighborhoods, forcing families to evacuate and displacing entire communities<\/a>, Marissa reignited a program she\u2019d first started during the pandemic called \u201cYou Give. We Cook. They Eat<\/a>,\u201d transforming her restaurants into lifelines. Within days, she mobilized staff, volunteers, and a network of donors to deliver thousands of nourishing meals\u2014not just to first responders but also to families who had lost everything, and even to a goat named Coco who became a kind of four-legged symbol of survival. \u201cWe\u2019re here to make people happy,\u201d Marissa says. \u201cBut in times like these, that mission goes deeper\u2014it\u2019s about comfort, dignity, hope.\u201d That\u2019s what Chez Mia offers now: not just elegance and escapism, but a gathering place to feel human again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try Chez Mia Recipes Chez Vous<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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