On August 8, Chef Timothy Hollingsworth announced in an Instagram post that his nearly 10-year-old Downtown LA institution, Otium, is closing. This marks the end of one of Los Angeles’ most famous restaurants, which is located right next to a museum. The last night of operation will be September 8.

Hollingsworth moved to Los Angeles after leaving his post as chef at the three-Michelin-starred French Laundry in Yountville and representing the United States in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or competition. He then opened Barrel & Ashes in Studio City (which closed five years later), but Otium was always his most personal restaurant, with an international menu influenced by the city’s Asian diaspora and Levantine communities. Designed by architect Osvaldo Maoizzi, the striking standalone restaurant next to the Broad Museum featured an airy main dining room, abundant natural light, and a thoughtful mix of metal and natural materials. Its open kitchen and stack of logs gave it energetic warmth.

The late critic Jonathan Gold gave Otium a mixed review in the Los Angeles Times In 2018, he praised the preparation of the dishes, but felt a bit overwhelmed by their more-is-more approach: “I’m not a fan of the concept of decadence when it comes to food, but this is real end-of-time stuff, the brunch of the end of time,” he wrote. In 2019, Hollingsworth took part in Netflix’s The final tablea major cooking competition involving some of the best chefs in the world. The chef ultimately won the competition with a dish of black cod that he served at Otium.

Adrian Martin

Otium’s closure announcement said the COVID-19 pandemic has created “unprecedented challenges that are making it increasingly difficult to sustain our operations.” Eater spoke to Hollingsworth by phone, who said the restaurant has done well since reopening following an 18-month hiatus – due to the pause on indoor dining during the pandemic – but it has been challenging to remain profitable over the past year and beyond. Hollingsworth also said the Downtown crowd has changed due to the pandemic, with fewer office workers visiting the restaurant for lunch. Otium’s Instagram statement suggested the restaurant was open to another location; Hollingsworth told Eater he would rather reopen somewhere like West Hollywood than Downtown.

In recent months, Hollingsworth has been busy with the hugely popular Chain pop-up restaurant he runs with actor BJ Novak, which has since expanded to include a food festival called Chain Fest. The heavily branded pop-up plays on millennials’ nostalgia for fast-food chains like Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Panda Express and McDonald’s. Chainfest recently announced that it would hold an event in New York City on September 21 in partnership with its new investor, Chrissy Teigen.