OUR STORY
Otoño is a Michelin Rated modern Spanish-inspired restaurant concept exploring tapas and paella beyond tradition and through a modern, urban lens. Our food is influenced by many cultures and artistic expressions while embracing the bounty of California's land and sea produce to curate a unique dining experience for the vast ethnic palate of Los Angeles.
OUR MISSION
Otoño is a place where innovation and creativity do not stop at the kitchen but spreads through the dining room, creating a holistic approach to service and the guest’s experience. In that regard, the belief that the dining room starts in the kitchen will be deeply rooted in the team philosophy and mission statement delivering a dining experience unlike any other in the city.
UNDER THE HOOD
THE BAR
Spain is widely recognized for its wine and sherry, however, most do not know the country’s obsession with gin and tonic, or the glory of its wonderfully complex vermouths, or even the brandy used in Jerez to produce its spectacularly unique sherry.
Recognizable Spanish beers will be poured on draft while small batch, craft beers can be enjoyed by the bottle. “Vermut” can be enjoyed from draft or by the glass, on the rocks or neat, and is a perfect opening or close to a meal.
Our wine list will have strong Spanish representation from well-known heavy weights of the region to small, lesser-known up-and-comers, and boutique producers.
THE KITCHEN
On a recent trip to Europe, Chef Montaño sought to explore the many dialects of paella in the Catalan region of Spain including the birthplace of the dish: Valencia. From the celebrated, established institutions practicing traditional techniques to the young, ambitious chefs seeking to revolutionize the experience, the significance and relevance of this dish to Spanish cuisine and culture was deeply felt throughout the region.
It was here, where the intermingling of the Old and New World played out over a rich canvas of cuisine, art, and culture, that the idea for Otoño was set into motion presenting an opportunity for Montaño to further express her devotion to the genre and create something new for the magnificent food city of Los Angeles.
BEHIND THE APRON
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TERESA MONTAÑO
EXECUTIVE CHEF |OWNER
Teresa Montaño is a New Mexico-born, Los Angeles-based Chef, best known for her modern Spanish
cuisine. Teresa’s unique perspective on Spanish cuisine integrates creative use of technique and
ingredients rooted in Californian sensibility, seasonality, and aesthetic. Much of Chef Teresa’s cuisine is
based off of her many trips through the Basque and Catalan regions of Spain. Teresa also pulls from the
vast palate of the international city of Los Angeles, integrating Japanese, Chinese, Peruvian and Mexican
ideas into her dishes. With strong roots in the organic food industry early in her career, Teresa developed
a strong sense of stewardship towards the environment and sustainable business practices.
At age 30, Chef Teresa opened her first restaurant, Ración, in Old Town Pasadena. At Ración, Chef
Teresa highlighted Basque cuisine with her own modern spin in dishes like Bacalao al Pil Pil, Buñuelos
de Lengua, and a very special Txuleta, a cast iron seared rib eye served with padron peppers. At Ración,
Teresa also cowrote the all-Spanish wine list. Ración became a destination for local wine clubs and
collectors to share and celebrate Spanish wine. Ración was beloved by the Pasadena community and was
highly lauded by acclaimed food writers and critics, alike, including Jonathan Gold, who featured Ración
as his first, full page review upon joining the LA Times as Lead Food Critic. The restaurant was included in
the celebrated LA Times 101 Best Restaurant for the entirety of Teresa’s tenure as well as dozens of local
and national recognitions including the Diner’s Club World’s 50 Best Restaurants Discovery Series.
In the summer of 2018, Chef Teresa opened Otoño, a love letter to paella and the tapas culture. The
heavily anticipated, Otoño, opened with massive excitement and media coverage from Food and Wine
Magazine, Eater, LA Times, The Wall Street Journal, as well as the 2019 and 2021 Michelin Guide and
many more.
Michelin Rated, Otoño, is based off of Chef Teresa’s Spanish travel journal where she explored the many dialects of paella in the Catalan region including the birthplace of the dish: Valencia. From the celebrated, established
institutions practicing traditional techniques to the young, ambitious chefs seeking to revolutionize the
experience, the significance and relevance of this dish to Spanish cuisine and culture was deeply felt
throughout the region. It was here, where the intermingling of the Old and New World played out over a
rich canvas of cuisine, art, and culture, that the idea for Otoño was set into motion presenting an
opportunity for Chef Teresa to further express her devotion to the genre and create something new for the
magnificent food city of Los Angeles.
Otoño recently reopened, June 2021, after the shutdowns of 2020 ravaged the restaurant industry. The
restaurant remains a well-loved neighborhood tapas bar and destination for paella lovers and
Spanish wine enthusiasts! Chef Teresa continues to reinvent her unique cooking style while paying
homage to the cuisine that lives in her heart and travel journals.
Follow Chef on Instagram @cheftmontano
HISTORY
1928 - 1973
Originally constructed in 1928 by S.H Kress & Co, this simple building was built in the iconic commercial vernacular style that would come to define the Highland Park neighborhood, one of LA's earliest subdivisions. The company, a five and dime retailer, used a consistent design language in its stores, employing broad cornices, transom windows, large lettering, and a distinct yellow palette to create a "signature storefront" for it's brand. In addition, Kress & Co wanted their stores to serve as community gathering places, and an eponymous foundation, established in 1929, gave away millions to those communities over it's tenure.
1979 - 2014
The building was purchased in 1979 by Frank and Vera Vacek, who opened a family run camera store that would grace North Figueroa street for more than three decades. The distinctive signage and storefront were installed in this period, while preserving the signature brick and fenestration features of the earlier department store. A local fixture in the era of film photography, Frank's was the source for all the latest gadgets in the industry and even sponsored local fashion and model expositions, furthering the role this building has played as a community asset to Highland Park.
2014 - Today
Purchased by Engine Real Estate in 2014, the building underwent a historically sensitive adaptive re-use renovation under the Mills Act, adopted in LA in 1996 for the preservation of landmark buildings, and is in one of the only historic overlay zones in the city with commercial properties. The windows and brickwork of the original 1920s façade were restored, the interior rehabilitated, and numerous structural upgrades were put in place. The landmark signage from the decades old Frank's Camera were also restored, and will become a fixture for the new life of the structure.