Los Angeles - February 25, 2005

More Room

The Otheroom Opens

Everything is bigger in L.A.: houses, egos, budgets, boobs.

Even Venice, known for its sweet little bungalows, is going the bigger-is-better route. In a micro sort of way.

The Otheroom is slated to open today (though, of course, you can never be totally sure) on Abbot Kinney. It’s the first Left Coast outpost of New Yorker Craig Weiss’s microbrew-slash-wine-bar mini empire, which includes New York and Miami variations like the Room, the Otheroom, and Anotheroom. (Original nomenclature notwithstanding, there’s no affiliation with the Room on Cahuenga or the Room SM. Your confusion, however, is understandable.)

The Otheroom serves 60-plus microbrews and import beers, as well as wines, ports, and sherries, and has the same lounge concept as its siblings — with four times the square footage. Which makes for a lot more coziness. (This town likes to stretch its long legs.) The exposed brick, candles, and take-a-load-off sofas should soothe your “God, I spent my day slaying dragons across town” souls.

Charming, familiar, and comfortable. All in exactly the right proportions.

The Otheroom, 1201 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, at San Juan Avenue, Venice (310-396-6230).