Hollywood Roosevelt Opens New Main Restaurant Gable Ahead of Its 100th Anniversary

The historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles has added a new main restaurant to its food and beverage portfolio ahead of its 100th anniversary celebration in 2027.

Gable opened on August 18, 2026, in the hotel's historic building on Hollywood Boulevard. The culinary leadership of the restaurant is held by Culinary Director Chris Flint, who has previously worked at restaurants like Maude and Eleven Madison Park, and Chef de Cuisine Will Kelly. Chad Austin leads the bar program.

The hotel describes Gable as a "Contemporary California" restaurant. Time Out's opening review indicates that the menu combines Los Angeles's multicultural culinary landscape with live fire and modern techniques.

Live fire at the center of the menu

In Gable's kitchen, the hearth and wood fire are not just visual elements but fundamental tools of the menu design.

Dishes reported by Time Out include maitake mushroom tempura with yuzu aioli, pizza dough sticks served with Époisses puree, wood-fired pizza with bulgogi and kimchi, dry-aged cheeseburger, and whole grilled branzino served bossam style.

These examples show that the restaurant does not define "California cuisine" solely through local ingredients or light dishes.

The presence of Korean, Mexican, Japanese, and European influences in the same menu utilizes Los Angeles's immigrant culinary culture as a product language.

From a hotel perspective, this has significant commercial implications: preserving the history of the historic building while not confining the restaurant to a "heritage dining" format that looks only to the past.

History is in the name, but the menu does not turn nostalgic

The name Gable refers to one of Hollywood Roosevelt's most famous past guests, Clark Gable.

On the hotel's official history page, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard are listed among the names who stayed in the hotel's two-story penthouse. This room is still operated today under the name Gable & Lombard Penthouse.

However, the concept of the new restaurant does not turn into a film star-themed entertainment venue.

This distinction is important for historic hotels.

Reiterating brand history through dish names, portraits, and heavy nostalgia may create tourist interest in the short term; however, it is not sufficient on its own to create a contemporary restaurant that local customers will revisit.

Gable, at least at the conceptual level, prefers to keep the hotel's history in the name and memory of the place while connecting the product to today's Los Angeles food culture.

The bar program is not designed independently from the kitchen

The bar menu under Chad Austin also progresses in parallel with the restaurant's product language.

Time Out reports that cocktails are organized under three different moods: Spirited, Whimsical, and Bright. Examples include a dirty martini interpretation with koji-infused vodka and aquavit, and a mezcal and Oaxacan rum cocktail inspired by elote.

This approach addresses a common issue in hotel restaurants: the bar remaining a standard cocktail list added next to the restaurant.

While the kitchen narrates Los Angeles's multicultural structure, the bar working entirely with classic international recipes could weaken the conceptual integrity.

At Gable, however, the beverage program continues the same narrative through different ingredients.

The hotel is not just operating a restaurant

The true significance of Gable emerges when viewed within the broader F&B structure of the Hollywood Roosevelt.

In the hotel's current dining portfolio, alongside Gable, there are Tropicana Pool, Lobby Bar, The Spare Room, Library Bar, Cinegrill Theater, and Teddy’s. The hotel defines this structure through different dining and entertainment usage scenarios from morning until midnight.

This model prevents each area from selling the same product to the same customer.

Pool customers can be at Tropicana during the day, walk-in guests at the Lobby Bar, more serious cocktail customers at the Library Bar, entertainment-seeking customers at The Spare Room or Cinegrill, and dinner customers at Gable.

From the hotel's perspective, F&B thus transforms into an independent source of demand that brings external visitors to the facility, not just an additional expense for accommodation guests.

Private event revenue has also been thoughtfully considered

Although Gable operates as a daily restaurant, the hotel's venue page indicates that the space is designed for full buyouts and semi-private use.

Official information states that Gable can accommodate approximately 100 seated guests and 150 in a cocktail arrangement for a full restaurant buyout. There is a full kitchen and a separable semi-private dining area in approximately 1,890 square feet.

This feature does not limit the restaurant's revenue model solely to table reservations.

Organizational events such as rehearsal dinners, corporate meals, brand events, or private invitations can generate high-value F&B revenue, especially for hotels.

However, the use of private events needs to be balanced with daily restaurant operations. Frequent buyouts could weaken the local customer's perception of "when will I find the restaurant open?"

Why is F&B strategic in historic hotels?

The Hollywood Roosevelt is a historic hotel with over 300 independently operated rooms. The building, opened in 1927, also hosted the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929.

In such a facility, merely renovating rooms is not enough to transform the hotel's history into a contemporary hospitality product.

The lobby, pool, restaurant, bar, and event spaces also need to be reconnected to the hotel's story.

In this regard, Gable can be seen as part of a broader "heritage activation" effort as the hotel approaches its 100th anniversary.

According to the hotel, the approach is based more on "revival" than "renovation": creating new usage reasons without erasing historical identity.

What can Turkey learn from historic hotels?

There are many hotels operating in historic buildings in Turkey, especially in Istanbul.

Some of these businesses keep F&B only within the triangle of breakfast, lobby lounge, and main restaurant aimed at hotel guests.

However, developing different F&B products that are also open to urban customers can provide several advantages for a historic hotel:

• It brings non-staying local customers to the facility.

• It generates income at different times of the day.

• It transforms the hotel into a living city space that embodies its history.

• It can increase revenue from special events and buyouts.

• It allows the restaurant brand to gain recognition independent of the hotel.

However, for this, the "historic building" should not be seen as a concept on its own.

The kitchen and bar program must create a reason for repeat visits on their own.

Stafflink’s Opinion

In our view, the most interesting aspect of Gable is not its name after Clark Gable; it is that the Hollywood Roosevelt does not turn the restaurant into a museum decor while transforming its history into a contemporary F&B product.

Historic hotels often find it easy to tell the past. What is more challenging is to preserve the past while providing reasons for today's customers to return.

Gable's live fire kitchen, bar program, acceptance of outside customers, and capacity for special events should therefore be evaluated together.

For historic hotels in Turkey, the strong model will not only be to create an "iconic restaurant with a rich past" but to develop F&B brands that local customers will regularly use without staying at the hotel and that operate economically on their own.