Modern Home + Living

Along with the reinvention of downtown Los Angeles comes Rivera, rich in design and steeped in decadent Latin-fare

Downtown, in the cityscape of new high-rises and shops reigniting the City of Angels, is the nouvelle Latin restaurant, Rivera. Shiny-spirited chef John Rivera Sedlar, whose restaurants have included both Bikini and Encounter in the LAX icon building, views his latest creation as the holistic evolution of Latin culture, from Spain to Mexico. The concept is echoed wonderfully throughout the space, from architecture and atmosphere to menus and décor. 

DESIGN The steel signage of Rivera on Flower Street is a contemporary version of the stacked cinderblock-shaped treatment used in 1960s architecture. Rivera’s interiors are dark, masculine and sexy, complete with gleaming bamboo marble floors you could eat off (but shouldn’t). 

Italian architect Osvaldo Maiozzi, whose work can be seen everywhere from Valentino at the Venetian to San Francisco’s Posto, constructed a modern triumph with Rivera.  Eddie Sotto, of Sotto Studios, created “tequila chairs” for the lounge, at once contemporary and visually striking. Stainless steel trays brandish the sleekly made chairs, designed to hold sexy cocktails or glass vials of caviar for an intimate nosh.

FOOD The moment you sit down, you’re greeted with handmade tortillas imbued with edible flowers and a heaping dish of Indian butter guacamole to slather all over them. The banana leaf braised pork is perfectly succulent, the smoky chocolate pork mole to die for, and the short rib with seasonal mushroom tamale expertly topped with tasty guajillo sauce. Sedlar’s dishes are seriously artful: He commissions local underground artists to create different cultural and political statements in the form of spice-dusted stencils (friskets) on each entrée plate. 

DRINKS Cocktails by mixologist Julian Cox are headlined by a dizzying selection of seasonal tequilas (on tap), and a sincerely unique pan-Latin wine list that includes an array of tempranillos (a variety of black grape widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its native Spain). Cox’s menu pours fourth many an inventive cocktail; most of the elixirs are completely iconoclastic, sourced from boutique distilleries. The fruits and vegetables are juiced in-house and hand selected from the local farmers market. Cox also features absinthe and mescal, chipotle peppers and orange blossoms in his cocktails, and offers an ancient Oaxacan drink originally made to commemorate the death of a Zapotec princess. 

VIP Rivera features a members-only tequila lounge, called the Sangre Room. Hidden behind the wine cellar, and lit by a blood red chandelier, the tequila bottles that line the walls remain sheathed, locked and monogrammed in private stashes. Hosting events in the Sangre Room means you take home a specially handcrafted bottle of tequila that Sedlar personally secures from a venerable group of agave growers in Mexico. 

It’s no secret that Sedlar’s menu creations at Rivera are rico—richly delicious. Located near the gleaming Staples Center and LA Live complex, it’s especially vibrant after a Lakers game when luxury suite-holders stream across the street for late night bites and cocktailing.

The food and atmosphere at Rivera is definitely a dining highlight of Los Angeles—a global Latin experience not to be missed. 

¡Qué bueno!

www.riverarestaurant.com