Little Pine was a fine-dining

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

bistro A bistro or bistrot , is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant, serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. French home-style cooking, and slow-cooked foods ...

located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California. It was founded by electronic musician and animal rights activist

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

. In July 2020, local plant-based investors took over operations of the restaurant. The restaurant served

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

, vegan,

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

-inspired dishes and has a retail section with art and books, curated by Moby himself. Moby's vision was to create a space that includes various aspects of society that he cares about. The restaurant closed down in December 2022.

Overview

Little Pine opened on November 19, 2015 and was located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Original plans for the restaurant to open in the summer of 2015 were delayed. Moby opened the restaurant to create a space that encompasses various matters that he cares about, such as

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

organic food Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...

, community, architecture and design. Moby has stated that Little Pine was created to provide a "... compelling representation of veganism" and to provide a space as "... an extension of our neighborhood and community." The restaurant's decor had chandeliers and artistic murals created by various local artists, and photographic works of nature created by

. The general decor was designed by interior designer Tatum Kendrick. Little Pine was located in an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

-style building that was built in the 1940s. The restaurant has 58 seats. Moby did not allow his own music to be played in the restaurant, and had been a vegan for 28 years when the restaurant opened. In April 2020, Little Pine announced an indefinite hiatus amid

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Shortly after, local news outlets began reporting grievances by former employees. Moby addressed the controversy around the restaurant's closing by saying, "I fully accept that the shut down could’ve been handled much better, and for that I take responsibility, and again apologize.” Little Pine announced plans in March 2022 to reopen in the near future as a for-profit restaurant.

Fare

Little Pine purveyed all plant-based, vegan dishes influenced by

Mediterranean cuisine Mediterranean cuisine is the food and methods of preparation used by the people of the Mediterranean Basin. The idea of a Mediterranean cuisine originates with the cookery writer Elizabeth David's book, ''A Book of Mediterranean Food'' (1950) ...

and influences of the cuisine, such as Italian, Spanish and French cuisines, as well as minor aspects of North African cuisine. Brunch dishes included French toast, lemon pancakes and biscuits and gravy. Entrée dishes included stuffed pasta shells, panko crusted piccata, and a Parmesan spinach crêpe, among others.

Organic wine Organic wine is wine made from grapes grown in accordance with the principles of organic farming, which excludes the use of artificial chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides. The consumption of organic wine grew at a r ...

, various beers, tea and coffee were are also served, as well as

almond milk Almond milk is a plant-based milk with a watery texture and nutty flavor manufactured from almonds, although some types or brands are flavored in imitation of cow's milk. It does not contain cholesterol or lactose and is low in saturated fat. ...

. Food ingredients were sourced

locally In mathematics, a mathematical object is said to satisfy a property locally, if the property is satisfied on some limited, immediate portions of the object (e.g., on some ''sufficiently small'' or ''arbitrarily small'' neighborhoods of points). P ...

whenever possible.

Reception

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

named it one of the top 20 vegan restaurants in the United States. In 2016 Little Pine was awarded the ''Restaurant of the Year'' by VegNews.

References

External links

* {{portalbar, Companies, Food, Los Angeles Fine dining Moby Organic food Restaurants in Los Angeles Vegan restaurants in California

Overview

Fare

Reception

See also

References

External links