\u201cI\u2019m not an independently wealthy person and this is not a vanity Instagram project,\u201d Da Prato said. \u201cThis is just me doing the best I can to invest in and make a wager on myself, and hopefully come out of it with a nice salary and do some beautiful work.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Beef and porcini rag\u00fa Toscano at Da Prato.<\/p>\n
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Oscar Mendoza<\/p>\n
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Courtesy Da Prato<\/p>\n
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Running a restaurant in L.A. has been challenging over the last few years due to inflation and rising labor costs, the pandemic, entertainment-industry strikes, devastating fires and ICE raids. Chefs like Da Prato have been looking to find flexible and creative ways to run a restaurant that go outside the pop-up model and traditional lease structure. And if California Assembly Bill AB 1679<\/a> \u2014 which would allow certain pop-up businesses to operate in vacant storefronts for 120 days \u2014 becomes law, the landscape of running a business could change for the better for budding entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n Elisa Da Prato preparing her honeycomb and lemons dish.<\/p>\n Right place, right time<\/p>\n Prior to opening in downtown L.A., Da Prato dealt with two closures: Elisa<\/a> in Barga, Tuscany, due to the pandemic, and the well-regarded Etrusca<\/a> in Brooklyn, which investors shuttered<\/a> after just five months. So this new no-strings-attached lease structure in L.A. was particularly alluring for her self-funded project.<\/p>\n Da Prato entered a partnership with her landlord David Mirharooni of Brickstar Capital, a family-owned real estate investment company whose other clients include Danny Boy\u2019s Pizza and Mastro\u2019s Steakhouse. Mirharooni also helps Da Prato with backend support, like insurance and accounting, and assists with construction. While Mirharooni hasn\u2019t done a lease structure like this before, everything aligned because he had a vacant space he needed to fill and he wanted to do a favor for Da Prato, who was a friend of a friend.<\/p>\n The dining room at Da Prato, with a print of Lyonel Feininger’s \u201cThe White Man\u201d hanging on the wall.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Oscar Mendoza<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Courtesy Da Prato<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re not here just to make revenue for three months,\u201d Mirharooni said of the 40-seat restaurant that\u2019s open four nights a week. \u201cWe really see promise with chef Elisa and are hoping that this pop-up is successful enough to be able to convince her to stay in the L.A. market \u2026. because ultimately, if it becomes a long-term deal, it’s not only good for us as landlords but it’s great for downtown L.A, which is not the easiest place to run a restaurant today.\u201d<\/p>\n Da Prato is a playground for the chef\u2019s hyper-seasonal and regional dishes that are inspired by ancient Roman cooking and the flavors she grew up eating while spending summers at her grandparents\u2019 home in Tuscany. Her farmers market produce translates into experimental dishes like beef tartare on a bed of sliced plums, and lemon slices coated with honeycomb and dusted with rose petals. Edible flowers make an appearance on many dishes, a nod to her mother\u2019s style of cooking. There is beef and porcini rag\u00fa pasta, grilled lamb punched up with colatura, a fish sauce, and Italian wines to round out the rustic menu.<\/p>\n While Mirharooni would love Da Prato to stay permanently, she thinks at most she\u2019ll remain in L.A. until the end of this year. <\/p>\n \u201cI don’t think that a restaurant is an actual sustainable model, like a lifetime project,\u201d Da Prato said. \u201cFor me, it’s been, how do we offer something really special to the community that is still profitable for me as a small business owner?\u201d<\/p>\n A new horizon for pop-ups<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783949055_386_.png\")
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