Beloved Brentwood Restaurant Closes Due to Rent Hike
"People sent us flowers and letters; it was like a death in its own little way," Vincenti Ristorante's Maureen Vincenti tells THR of the Oct. 15 closure. The eatery was frequented by the likes of Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton and Rob Reiner.
L.A. mayoral candidate Rick Caruso owns the building that housed Vincenti.
After 25 years hosting such regulars as Harrison Ford, Rob Reiner, Ted Danson, Diane Keaton and Frank Gehry, the much-loved Italian eatery Vincenti Ristorante shuttered Oct. 15.
Opened in 1997 by Maureen Vincenti (whose late husband owned the famed Rex Il Ristorante, featured in Pretty Woman) and chef Nicola Mastronardi, its Brentwood building was purchased by L.A. mayoral candidate Rick Caruso’s group years ago. They continued to thrive until the lease ran out and new terms were presented.
“We couldn’t pay the rent which was triple what it had been,” Maureen explains to The Hollywood Reporter. “Costs escalated so much.”
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She says the landlords “were good to us” by offering an interim deal that allowed them to remain without a renewal until a new tenant was found, at which point they would get a 90-day notice to vacate. That notice arrived in the summer, after they’d received $1 million in abated rent from the end of 2019 through September 2022, per a source close to Caruso.
“People sent us flowers and letters; it was like a death in its own little way,” says Vincenti. The space was taken by Spanish restaurant Teleferic, a restaurant known for its tapas and paella that has locations in Barcelona and Silicon Valley.
“We are happy that someone came into our home,” she said, adding that Vincenti and Mastronardi have been on the hunt for a new space. Initially, they thought they’d found one on Robertson and 3rd Street, until, “we were getting everything together, they signed with someone else,” sighed Mastronardi.
But he is not discouraged and has opted to search for space in Santa Monica. In the meantime, customers are mourning the loss of their favorite haunt. “So many customers wanted to come in for a last meal, that [we were] packed every night.”
A source close to Caruso offers that the team had a great relationship and experience with the proprietor and “we wish them the best in their next endeavor.”
This story first appeared in the Nov. 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.