Dear Jane’s coming to former Charthouse space
By Dolores Quintana
Marina del Rey’s burgeoning waterfront is getting yet another restaurant and this one is special as reported by Eater Los Angeles. The team behind Culver City’s Dear John’s have taken the space where the Chart House restaurant used to be and are planning a new restaurant that should open by the end of the year.
This new restaurant will continue to the custom of Dear John, but with a female twist. It will be called Dear Jane and will be more focused on seafood with cocktails and the ocean vibe.
Patti Röckenwagner said, as quoted by Eater Los Angeles,“This is a process that started for us when we didn’t know the fate of Dear John’s. We were looking at other opportunities when it seemed like our lease was going to be over and we happened to see this space.” Patti Röckenwagner and her husband Hans and Josiah Citrin of Melisse are part of the powerhouse behind Dear Jane’s.
Röckenwagner is referring to the situation of the property on which Dear John’s sits. The site has already been identified as a redevelopment project that will eventually go forward but has been put into a holding pattern because of the pandemic. Dear John’s has been so popular that the owners really want to find a new site to relocate the restaurant to but since they found that the Chart House property was open, they grabbed it. Meanwhile, they came to an agreement with the owners of the property where Dear John’s is located to extend their lease for another year and thus Dear Jane’s was born as a concept.
Dear Jane’s is an effort to create a restaurant in the space that fits the ambiance of the location and the history of the land and Röckenwagner said that the plan “is in line with both the location and the notion of honoring the history of Los Angeles landmarks.”
Röckenwagner notes that the views of the marina and the boats on the water showed the creators the way to this concept: a casual yet elegant seafood restaurant that references continental American classic cuisine from the sea.
They plan for Dear Jane’s to open sometime before the end of 2022 at 13950 Panay Way.
