Martin Boetz signs up to Hollywood restaurant

Aussie actors have stormed Hollywood, now it's the turn of our restaurateurs. The tiny chorus line of Oz-owned eateries in Los Angeles is about to be joined by a budding star of the restaurant variety, with former Longrain chef Martin Boetz signed to a glamour project.

When it opens in August, the yet-to-be-named 120-seat restaurant, on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, will have its own sprawling rooftop bar where the stars will be able to look up at the real stars - if the LA smog abates.

"We'd like to do for Thai what Nobu did for Japanese," says Australian entrepreneur and DJ Grant Smillie, co-owner of the venture.

Smillie says Boetz, the restaurant's consultant chef, "will go back and forth to LA" and hinted at the signing of more Australian chefs to the project.

"There's good Thai over there, but it is more ma and pa operators; we want to do more modern presentation and plating," Smillie says.

Melbourne-based Projects of Imagination has designed the restaurant-bar. With widespread business interests from record label to events, Smillie has teamed up with another Australian, David Combes, to roll out hospitality venues in the US.

Enticed by less expensive labour and high population density, they'll open a second LA venue in early 2015. Evidently the US market is also ripe for a decent cup of Joe. Plans are also advanced to take coffee player St Ali to the US.