Yamashiro restaurant reopens with new operators

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Yamashiro restaurant and garden, in the Hollywood Hills. Built from 1911 to 1914, Yamashiro is a replica of a palace located in the mountains of the former Yamashiro Province near Kyoto, Japan.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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The entrance to Yamashiro restaurant in the Hollywood Hills. Starting in the 1920s, the building has been used during shoots of films set in Japan.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Yamashiro restaurant and its Japanese gardens in the Hollywood Hills.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Entrance to Yamashiro restaurant in the Hollywood Hills. The hillside plot that contains the restaurant has been sold.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

By Andrew Khouri

June 15, 2016 6:46 PM PT

The Yamashiro restaurant in the Hollywood Hills was set to reopen Wednesday evening under new operators after shutting down for two days.

The prominent tourist destination, located in a replica of a Japanese palace, will now be run by a group that includes Los Angeles nightlife and hospitality company BNG, Sugar Factory restaurants and TCL Chinese Theatres, a spokeswoman said.

The new operators plan to launch a sushi bar and a new lounge at the restaurant, which will still be called Yamashiro. Melissa Edwards, the group’s spokeswoman, said the restaurant will continue to serve Asian fusion cuisine, though the menu will be “refreshed.”

Edwards said the kitchen will be run by executive chef Christophe Bonnergrace, formerly of Buddha Bar & Little Buddha in Las Vegas.

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Hours will be extended. The restaurant will be open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays, and reservations can be made for as late at midnight on weekends. Edwards said the menu prices would remain the same for now.

The future of Yamashiro came into question this year when Chinese developer JE Group purchased Yamashiro’s landmark building and swiftly moved to evict the Asian fusion restaurant that Thomas Y. Glover opened in the 1960s.

The Glover family had owned the Yamashiro building and the surrounding 7 acres before selling to JE Group for nearly $40 million. Glover, who opposed the sale, held on to the liquor license and the Yamashiro name.

JE and Glover came to an agreement last month, and his last day operating the restaurant was Sunday.

Edwards said the new operators are looking to bring back a farmers market to the property and said all weddings booked for the site will go on as planned.

Yamashiro will also host after-parties for premieres at Hollywood Boulevard’s TCL Chinese Theatres, which was formerly known as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre before a 2013 naming rights deal with Chinese TV maker TCL.

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Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter.

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