Hotel Bel-Air opens new dining room and new patisserie

The Hotel Bel-Air is now fully in its post-Wolfgang Puck era.

First, they hired chef Joe Garcia, an experienced French laundry chef who has already garnered acclaim at the tasting menu temple Manzke in West LA, as well as the well-known French-born pastry chef Christophe Rull.

Now the pair, who have already refreshed the offerings at the property’s eponymous open-air restaurant – look out for the composed tuna tartare – are turning their attention to two new concepts.

The Living Room, decorated in the unfussy, casual and elegant style favored by today’s modest billionaires, now offers an extravagant afternoon tea. The service costs $140 per person and includes a selection of savory and sweet appetizers and a glass of champagne.

The main event, however, is a hyper-seasonal dinner menu that begins with elegant takes on distinctly Central American classics like grilled cheese (with black truffle and shallot jam), deviled eggs (garnished with caviar and gold leaf), and onion dip (with caramelized onions). “It’s meant to be familiar yet sophisticated,” explains Garcia, who drew inspiration for the reimagined space from visits to Hotel Bel-Air’s Parisian sister properties, Le Meurice and Plaza Athenee.

Just a few steps away, in the former gift shop, is the new patisserie, whose seating extends into the property’s iconic, dreamy flower gardens. “Our local guests, who make up more than half of our bar business in the evenings, wondered why they had to drive so far away, to Brentwood or Beverly Hills, to get a coffee and a pastry,” explains the hotel’s general manager, Christoph Moje. “They wanted to be able to enjoy the garden and read a newspaper.”

Everything is homemade: croissants, cookies, muffins, tarts, jams, cream puffs, pound cakes, cheesecakes, loaves of bread. (Expect to shell out $25 for the signature Bel-Air sourdough bread, a 10-year-old sourdough.) “You can’t go wrong with a croissant — but there are hundreds of ways you can go wrong with a croissant,” Rull notes. “My vision is simplicity and technique.”