Chef de Partie

DESTROYER & VESPERTINE, located in the Hayden Tract district of Culver City, are projects from Chef Jordan Kahn (Red Medicine). Our philosophy is to seek to explore the tension between art, science, and the human condition. Our exploration of food and gastronomy is personal, intimate, and boundless. Our inspiration comes from our community, our farmers, foragers, artists, and musicians.

DESTROYER is a response to, and a reflection of the 'conjunctive points', best known for transforming the Hayden Tract community in Culver City. It was created as a collective resolution to bring about social change in the community. By filling a very literal hunger, this project will use the 'neighborhood cafe' as a platform to bring various artists and creatives together. At its simplest, Destroyer is a cafe atelier, serving delicious and beautiful food and beverage, and whose main function is to serve the community on a day-to-day basis. Providing a measure of sensitivity and consideration for what inspires and comforts our neighbors, is at the very core of our philosophy.

VESPERTINE is a gastronomical experiment seeking to disrupt the course of the modern restaurant. A perceptual and cognitive experience, where deliciousness is driven by form and texture is crafted into sculpture. Blurring interrelationships between materials and ideas, environment and context, of sound and dissonance. The project was conceived as a result of the building in which it resides: the architectural phenomenon known as “The Waffle.” Designed by world-renowned architect Eric Owen Moss, The Waffle is a two-story structure, separated into four levels of which there are no traditional walls supporting the building. Instead, the building is wrapped by an architectural skin — a curtain of undulating steel and glass. The intimate, 22-seat dining room sets the stage for an enigmatic dining experience. The menu is comprised of a succession of 20+ courses.