THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN
By Leslee Komaiko
For dineLA.com
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Joachim Splichal |
Chef and restaurateur Joachim Splichal has come a long way since his boyhood days in Spaichingen, a small village in southwest Germany. After spending half a dozen years honing his craft in France, he arrived in Los Angeles in 1981 and assumed executive chef duties at the Regency Club. Today Splichal and his wife, Christine, operate more than a dozen restaurants and cafes in Los Angeles, including the highly celebrated Patina, located at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown LA.
Can you talk about your newest restaurant, Paperfish? Why a seafood concept?
I looked at the area and saw that there are many steak houses and steak-oriented restaurants. I thought it would be great that Beverly Hills has a great seafood place.
Maple Drive was so well known. Is it hard getting people to accept a new concept/restaurant at this address?
We have done this in the past many times. I think it’s good from a location standpoint. Everyone is like, “Oh, I remember where Maple Drive was.” We don’t do anymore meatloaf or chili so that’s totally different, but the concept has been very well received and people love the décor.
Patina, which opened nearly 20 years ago, is your LA flagship restaurant. Why did you decide to move it from Melrose to Downtown five years ago?
We saw an opportunity Downtown with Staples Center starting in 2000 and Disney Hall in 2003. We felt it was a very good move for us being part of a cultural institution. Also from an architectural standpoint, I love Frank Gehry’s work. I’m definitely proud to be in his building.
Did you leave any of your heart on Melrose?
Definitely. It was a very sad evening when we closed that night. I had dinner with my boys and my wife. That’s really where everything started 17 years ago. I am glad Providence took it over and he’s successful there. It was a very good spot for us and brought us a lot of luck.
You opened several restaurants Downtown well before the Downtown resurgence, making you something of a pioneer. Tell me about that.
I came Downtown in 1995. It was Café Pinot. At that point, Downtown was totally depressed. I looked at it and said the risk was pretty high. I opened and I remember the first two nights we did four covers. I was sweating. I thought I made the biggest mistake in my life. Now we do 50 or 60,000 covers a year and we have about eight different locations Downtown.
So obviously you’re a believer in Downtown.
I’m definitely a believer. Now I’m doubting myself a little bit. I really believe that people think this has become Manhattan because of the condo boom. In my opinion now there will be an overbuilding of restaurants in the next three to five years because there’s so many in the planning stages. So there will be tough competition because Downtown is still really an event-driven market.
Nick & Stef’s, your Downtown steakhouse, is named after your boys. Are they foodies?
They love everything. They eat 12-course meals, everything from scallops to snails to frog legs to venison.
How much time do you spend at your restaurants? Or do you just get to sign the checks?
I gave that up a couple years ago, the signing checks part. I spend a fair amount of time [at the restaurants]. I’ve been every day at Paperfish. I just came from Nick & Stef’s.
Do you ever cook?
I don’t go to the line and cook. I just can’t do it. There are too many other things. I cook for catered parties. Once in a while at Patina I help out or I cook at home for the kids or I give cooking classes. I’m still very much involved in the menu selection and who we hire.
It seems like every museum and cultural center in the city has a Patina Group restaurant. How did that start?
Like Café Pinot, it started with a client, Mr. [Richard] Koshalek, who ran MOCA for many years. They had this café at MOCA which was closed. They tried a couple operators and it never worked. He came to the restaurant and said, “Do you want to take it over?” I said, “Okay.”
An impolitic question: you have more serious restaurants in this town than anyone else. But most Angelenos aren’t familiar with your name. Have you not sought the limelight?
If you become a household name you have to be on TV. I was always the guy behind the curtain a little bit.
By choice?
Yes. Even at Patina, I said hello to some people. But I didn’t make my rounds. It’s not my style, not that I don’t appreciate people coming to us to eat.
Where do you like to eat out?
I live in the San Marino area. I go to 750 ml on Mission. It’s like a Parisian neighborhood bistro. They have good wines. I like Pie ‘n Burger on California, an old fashioned place where you can have great eggs in the morning at the counter. It’s a little oriented towards kids. I like Europane on Colorado. I like Craft. That was very nice. I eat at Watergrill once in a while Downtown.
What would you say about the state of Los Angeles restaurants at the moment?
There is a huge amount of restaurants opening. It’s just amazing. I wish them all luck, especially now with the economy being affected and also the writers strike. Especially on the west side of town. It has to be hard. It’s a very challenging time for the restaurant business. I wish everyone luck and to hang in there and we will get over it.
Lastly, a lot of people aren’t sure how to pronounce your first name. Once and for all, can you tell us the proper pronunciation?
Normally in Germany it’s Yo-awk-him.
But you gave up on that?
A long time ago. They say “Joe Chin,” so I’m Chinese all of a sudden. It comes many ways.
