Netty’s Silver Lake Restaurant & Neighborhood Institution To Change Hands
Chef Gloria Felix & Elizabeth Belkind To Launch “reservoir” At Site
Atwater Village & Silver Lake Area, December 11, 2006: Netty’s Restaurant ends a two-decade run in Silver Lake this month and welcomes reservoir, a new restaurant by chefs Gloria Felix and Elizabeth Belkind.
Owner Netty Carr with then-partner Luis Moreno launched the restaurant in April 1987, bringing an innovative concept of “carryout cuisine” to the northeast side of Los Angeles. “Twenty years ago most of the interesting restaurants were on the Westside and we wanted to bring something good to our neighborhood,” said Netty.
In a city saturated with food but starved for healthy cuisine to take home, the concept was embraced by patrons near and far for the imaginative menu, eco-friendly packaging and the convenience of the carryout concept. Both the Silver Lake and the Echo Park neighborhoods welcomed the “California Comfort Food” theme, which launched house favorites including:
• Warm Seafood Salad with sea scallops, shrimp, toasted almonds, and orange wedges
• Pork Tenderloin with Creole mustard sauce
• Drunken Shrimp in spicy beer butter
• Chocolate Almond Bread Pudding
(Netty promises to share those recipes in a cookbook “some where down the road”.)
But the restaurant was about more than great food: “Netty's is a family business with local roots that has served as a forum for raising awareness about issues close to home,” said Netty. She cites as an example the successful signature-gathering drive to save the nearby historic Van de Kamps Bakery building from demolition, which is slated to be a satellite campus of Los Angeles City College and most recently trying to block another Home Depot from coming to San Fernando Road. While dining and signing, customers embraced the opportunity to be part of the community effort to protect the future of their neighborhood. Netty’s regulars typically included artists and activists, reporters and politicos – a clientele as diverse as the menu.
As with many family businesses, Netty had hoped to pass the restaurant on to the next generation but found little interest, which then prompted her decision to sell. “I thought it was time to let some one else take it in a new direction,” said Netty. Enter Chefs Gloria Felix and Elizabeth Belkind, who are opening a new restaurant at the site – “reservoir”.
reservoir plans a grand opening celebration in early spring. Starting January 4, 2007 and during the transition from Netty’s, the restaurant will feature a small breakfast and lunch menu, in addition to its already popular Sunday brunch. Once remodeling and permits are complete, reservoir will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner six days a week, using fresh, seasonal ingredients and a California rustic style menu. The two new owners will also offer fresh morning pastries and grow their own herbs in the rear garden.
Felix has been behind the stoves of many of L.A.'s finest restaurants, including Vida, Lucques, AOC, Jar, and Grace. She was also the opening executive chef of Silver Lake's Blair Restaurant. Belkind began her career at Campanile, and is the former pastry chef at Grace, where she became well known for her innovative dessert menu – which included her much-sought-after fresh jelly donuts.
Notable local media coverage of Netty’s during its two-decade run has included the following notable notices:
Los Angeles TimesIn 1987, the Los Angeles Times’ First Impressions by Ruth Reichl claimed Netty’s great take out "couched this potato". In 2000, Charles Perry's Counter Intelligence column called Netty’s "A bohemian version of a fine-dining restaurant." And Moveable Feast declared Netty’s "Culinary Gold in Silver Lake".
LA WeeklyNamed Netty’s "Best Take Out" in 1998 - "Thank God for Netty's" said Sue Horton, while Gloria Ohland had named Netty’s "this city's finest takeout venue" in 1989. "Not on your way to anywhere, and is worth the drive from wherever you are," according to Karen Kaplan: "Absolutely fabulous lasagna layered with cream, ricotta cheese and fennel-scented sweet sausage."
Buzz Magazine"Always fresh, never greasy, and rich with worldly flavors" – Meredith Brody
Los Angeles MagazineMarilyn Black in the magazine’s restaurant guide included 12 Unexpected Places to Spot a Star: "Netty's is to the Beastie Boys what Alice's restaurant was to Arlo Guthrie. The stars are tough to spot here, since most - like Kathy Bates and Vanessa Williams – get their grub to go. But I did see Keanu Reeves hanging out curbside."
* Netty Carr is a founding member of Friends of Atwater Village