Acclaimed LA Chef Overseeing All Dining at New Downtown Hotel

A downtown boutique hotel that’s getting revamped and renamed will include several new dining venues developed by a well-known Los Angeles chef. Fifth Avenue’s Hotel Palomar, which was purchased and renovated by boutique hotel company Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in 2015, will debut later this fall as Kimpton Alma San Diego.

The 211-room hotel, which includes several two-story suites, will have new interiors inspired by San Diego’s proximity to Mexico, with custom street art on its pool deck and murals from local artists.

In 2017, the Hotel Palomar transformed its ground floor restaurant and bar into Curadero, a “coastal Mexican kitchen” serving regional Mexican food and a cocktails featuring agave spirits, with a second floor lounge area turned into a game room and bar with a walk-up taco window.

The Kimpton Alma will have three brand new dining spaces overseen by chef Jason Neroni, the current executive chef and partner of the Rose Venice. Named Eater LA’s chef of the year in 2012, Neroni has former ties to San Diego as he was previously the executive chef at Blanca, a since-shuttered fine dining restaurant in Solana Beach.

The chef grew up in Orange County and worked at Chez Panisse and Spago Beverly Hills as well as in kitchens in Europe and New York before returning to Los Angeles to help open Superba Snack Bar in Venice. In 2015, he was part of the core team that updated and relaunched the Rose, an iconic, decades-old cafe.

Though the menus for Neroni’s hotel projects have yet to be released, they will reportedly be focused on Southern California cuisine and San Diego-sourced ingredients.