Tony Esnault’s Highly Anticipated Knife Pleat Arrives at South Coast Plaza

When I first visited Alain Ducasse’s restaurant at Essex House in New York a decade and a half ago, a short-lived place that for a time served the most detailed — and expensive — French cooking the United States has ever seen, I became obsessed...

“Are we getting caviar?” an old friend asks, so full of hope.  We’re at Knife Pleat, the luxurious French restaurant that opened in June in the penthouse of South Coast Plaza in the space formerly occupied by Marché Moderne.  It’s the second time...

On Black Friday of all days, I had just finished eating lunch at Knife Pleat, the 6-month-old French restaurant inside South Coast Plaza, when the lights flickered and then stayed off in the dining room. I watched as servers in neat white...

One of Los Angeles’ most lauded chefs is headed to a shopping center in Orange County. Tony Esnault, the chef at the downtown L.A. French restaurants Spring and Church & State, and his wife and business partner Yassmin Sarmadi, plan to open Knife...

In the fall of 2021, assistant restaurant manager Jamie Wongaroon witnessed a disgruntled customer berate a host during a busy dinner service at Uzumaki, the small sushi restaurant she manages in Culver City. The next day, Wongaroon spent around...