Bavel is the second restaurant from Chef Ori Menashe, known for his first restaurant, Bestia, that turned the DTLA Arts District into a vibrant dining destination. Bavel began as recipe ideas scribbled into a composition book and grew to become an intricate 12,436 SF, 2-story restaurant in the Arts District. The Middle Eastern restaurant is inspired by Chef Menashe’s Jewish-Turkish-Moroccan heritage and his wife and pastry chef Genevieve Gergis’s Egyptian background.

In partnership with the architect, Studio UNLTD, Sprout LA, and Chef Menashe, Howard CDM transformed the existing brick warehouse space into restaurant and dining space that would later go on to win Eater‘s 2018 Design of the Year award. Howard CDM also worked closely with the City of Los Angeles to keep the construction process streamlined, while also completing the tenant improvements for two adjacent retail suites.

The site features Versalam and structural steel reinforcement of the existing roof system and new clerestory openings with skylights. Howard CDM retrofit the space to include a kitchen complete with a custom wine cellar, a reinforced CMU stone firebrick hearth and wood-fired pizza oven.

The dining space boasts sealed concrete floor with a ceramic tile inlay, patio trellis, hanging lights and planters with living foliage. The seating area, bar and kitchen includes custom millwork and steel framing. Howard CDM utilized the charm of the building originally constructed in the early 19th century to restore the existing brick walls and open wooden ceiling structure. The project was recently featured in GC Magazine’s recent article, “The 4 Best Restaurant Contractors in Torrance, CA.”