The 3,800-square-foot restaurant is open after a year's delay in The Arca hotel, serving a cross-section of LA-inspired cuisine to Hong Kong
Originally slated to open in March 2022, Esdras Ochoa's (of Los Angeles' Salazar, and Netflix's The Final Table fame) and Daniel Eun of 11 Westside are finally welcoming diners to their latest restaurant, 1st and Beaudry, which is now in its soft-opening phase. Found at The Arca hotel in Wong Chuk Hang, 1st & Beaudry is named after the street corner in downtown Los Angeles where Ochoa began selling tacos 16 years ago. In a nod to his humble beginnings, Ochoa's newest venture is an homage to the city where his culinary career all began.
"Six years ago when [Westside Hospitality co-founders] Jon [Chan] and Daniel [Eun] approached me, they already had been working on the opportunity to open up 11 Westside," Ochoa recounts. "They realised the stuff they miss the most is Mexican food and tacos. So the same thing happened all over again [with 1st & Beaudry] where we wanted to open a restaurant that represents LA and what we miss the most from being in LA."
The location—the industrial district of Wong Chuk Hang on the south side of Hong Kong Island—might not come across as a culinary hotspot quite yet; but as Ochoa puts it, it was their friendship with The Arca's founder, Justin Ma, that ultimately led to Ochoa and Eun picking a 3,800-square-foot space within the hotel building.
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"When we sat down and talked about it, we realised it was a gamble but with great odds. I think [Wong Chuk Hang] is a place that's still untouched; it's kind of like what Kennedy Town was at the time when we opened 11 Westside. I think this is an opportunity to do it all over again with a new concept and with another part of the story."
1st & Beaudry's opening is also well-timed to coincide with the expected 2023 completion of The Southside, a major residential and shopping development currently being constructed above Wong Chuk Hang MTR station.
Inhabiting a space designed by local outfit Design Eight Five Two (DEFT), the interiors for 1st & Beaudry take inspiration from the industrial nature of the surrounding neighbourhood as well as the car park at the namesake Los Angeles location where Ochoa began selling tacos, with subtle nods to Ochoa's Mexican heritage. Custom solid-wood furniture conceived by DEFT, booths and round tables reminiscent of a KBBQ restaurant, and views of Staunton Creek Nullah and the Holy Spirit Seminary complete the eclectic ambience.
Helming the kitchen is chef de cuisine Vincenzo Ladislao (formerly of Sake Central), who executes a menu that mixes influences from LA's Mexican, Korean, Vietnamese and Middle Eastern communities. Open only for lunch during the soft opening phase, the menu features sections dedicated to salads, bowls, soups, sandwiches and tacos—among the highlights are the M.B. Chowdah, a classic American clam chowder served in a housemade sourdough bowl; the Cubano with honey glazed ham, pork belly pibil and melted Swiss cheese; and the East of Crenshaw, a taco featuring a blue corn tortilla, bluefin tuna, ancho chilli and avocado.
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