Beloved restaurant bids farewell with heartfelt message from co-founder Lien Ta
After nearly ten years of culinary creativity and community, Here’s Looking At You (HLAY), a cherished fixture in the Los Angeles dining scene, will close its doors for good on Friday, June 13. The restaurant’s co-owner and co-founder, Lien Ta, announced the closure in an emotional letter to patrons, reflecting on a decade of passion, perseverance, and purpose.
The announcement tells the story of the restaurant that began in the summer of 2014, when co-founders, chef Jonathan Whitener and Lien Ta, signed the lease on a former Philly cheesesteak shop with no name and a dream. Over the years, HLAY evolved into a vibrant space defined by experimental cuisine, a tight-knit team, and an intensely loyal following.
Here’s Looking At You is a relentlessly creative and cheerful restaurant that overflows with gracious hospitality and bravery. As a patron who was not able to be there often enough, I will miss HLAY. HLAY Forever.
“This lease is ending, as is my era as a restaurateur,” LT wrote in the message shared online. “And I quite honestly can’t think of anything I desire more than to see all of us enjoy these final weeks of my favorite living restaurant.”
The restaurant weathered multiple closures throughout its lifespan, but this time, Lien Ta confirmed, there will be “no take-backs.” Staff who have been with HLAY since its inception, through brunches with no customers, lean financial stretches, and last spring’s near-closure, are being celebrated for their dedication and resilience. Ta credited the team’s dedication and guests’ enduring support for keeping the restaurant alive through its toughest moments.
“Some of us opened the restaurant on its first day, some of us locked it up when we thought it was over… all of us LOVE this restaurant with fierceness,” the letter continued. “Tattoo us lucky that we saw Chef through his skewer era, his chips era, all the elegance, the blood cake and, damn, the sweetbreads.”
Though the news comes during what LT called a “fragile time,” the final weeks promise to be a celebration of everything HLAY has meant to its community. Guests are encouraged to visit and savor what remains of the restaurant’s run.
“THANK YOU + BIGGEST LOVE EVER,” LT concluded.
HLAY’s last service will take place on Friday, June 13. Reservations are expected to fill quickly.
