Yesterday, I popped through the secret door to meet with Elizabeth Schrieber, the Co-Owner of Noble Ace in the Heisler Building across from Hotel Laguna.
The two partners behind Noble Ace (Schrieber and former Mastro’s Ocean Club Chef Magellan Moore) are opening this Monday, June 29th.
Feel free to share this news!
And WOW! What a difference a few months makes from my first announcement on March 6th!
Yes, yes – the restaurant is still topsy-turvy with a veritable army of minions cleaning, hauling, stocking and directing each other around amidst leaning towers of stacked chairs, clumped tables and a shrouded baby grand. They’re scurrying. I mean really scurrying.
But even in all the clutter finding its home, this is a significant style and atmospheric shift from what we saw in the previous concepts, Tommy Bahama, Laguna Fish Co. and Bodega.
Noble Ace truly IS old-school Hollywood, with swank, plush chairs, ’20s-styled fringed lights interspersed with golden domes, brass tabletops and more. I can easily see women in pencil skirts, and men in fedoras and cardigans lounging about.
You can thank designer Ralitsa Rallou (Studio Rallou), Schreiber and Chef Magellan’s wife, Lyndsey Moore, for what Schreiber has titled as “Old Hollywood Coastal Leisure.”
Notables at Noble Ace
You’ll find the bar in the same location, this time with a gorgeous baby grand piano addition in the cocktail area. Noble Ace will be featuring a piano player there every evening.
Bar Manager Michael Moore, formerly Hook & Anchor, has collected key craft cocktail masters from the area (you’ll recognize more than a few familiar faces). “Aside from our large wine list, we’re doing high-level craft here, starting with all of our hand-squeezed fresh juices,” Moore told me.
The team has created a 10-seater separate Chef’s Table room with a walled glass view into the kitchen
In the main dining, the team has added plush banquettes, brass table tops and Laguna’s first-ever wine lockers for regular patrons.
The front of the restaurant (where Bodega and Tommy Bahama used to have apparel) is now called “The Cave,” a sublime little nook that seats about 25 or so. Were it still the glorious Hollywood days, this is where “the” meetings would be taking place.
And at the very front (where Bodega’s ice cream shop used to be), the team has created a private dining room that will also serve as general public dining when not in use for events. “We’ve already had several events book with us, which definitely gives us more incentive to get our doors open,” Schreiber told me.
Assembling the Dream Team
Meanwhile, Chef Magellan’s kitchen team is in high gear in the newly refurbished kitchen. While Chef will be regularly onsite, he’s also hired in stellar talent in Chef de Cuisine and Sous from neighboring Montage and Waldorf Astoria resorts.
Yet another familiar face – Hillari Galindo – has moved into the General Manager position after two decades with Mastro’s Ocean Club and then Red O of Newport Beach.
And, wonder of all wonders, one of Laguna’s own Restaurant legends has returned as Assistant GM. Many of us old timers remember Danny Reyes, who first started in Laguna Beach at Odessa (now, who out there remembers THAT restaurant?)
Odessa was the nightclub/supper club sensation owned by actress Debbie Allen, her husband, former Laker Norm Nixon and actor Denzel Washington. The French-New Orleans cuisine and private upstairs club was a celebrity hot spot from 1997 through early 1999.
On its (very sad) closure, Mosun moved into the space and Danny moved to working with Mark de Palma in both Laguna (Mark’s and Hush) and in de Palma’s L.A. establishments. From there, Danny bounced from restaurant empire to empire, moving all over the country to open restaurants and train staffs. Years ago, he first met Schreiber when he landed at Newport’s Red O and, when the call came for Noble Ace, the Laguna-loving gent figured he’d been called home.
“We got everyone on our wish list,” noted Schreiber. “It’s more like The Miracle Team.”
Noble Ace officially opens this Monday, June 29th
If my preview is any indication, Laguna Beach is about to welcome one of its most thoughtfully designed and carefully curated dining experiences in years.
I wish Elizabeth, Chef Magellan and the entire Noble Ace team every success as they begin this new chapter.
One more thing...
During my visit, I also had a conversation with Elizabeth that has stayed with me long after I left the restaurant. It has less to do with food ... and everything to do with how we – as self-avowed residents – welcome people who choose to invest their dreams, their savings and their futures in Laguna Beach.
I’ll share those thoughts in my next article shortly.
For now, let’s simply welcome Noble Ace to town and wish them the very best as they open their doors.
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