SCOOP | Hot Spot in 1946, becoming a flight attendant, and eventually moving to Europe. “She ran away from home with a damn bullfighter,” LaSalle’s husband, Tommy Hill, a former model and singer, adds with a laugh. “He was like the Michael Jordan of bullfighters.” Apparently so. LaSalle remembers how her mother’s relationship with Luis Miguel Dominguín diminished when actress Ava Gardner took interest in him. “My mom says, ‘Okay, I’m not going to compete with Ava Gardner.’ She went off to Paris and met my dad.” Machado then moved to New York City in 1959 where she was first shot for Harper’s Bazaar, but LaSalle says her mother’s Latin American upbringing was always present in her home and life as a child through both food and music. When Gilroy, a partner in Employees Only and Macao Trading Co., approached the husband and wife duo with the idea of Los Americanos, the fit seemed natural. “I love doing restaurants. You pull in different kinds of people,” Gilroy explains.
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THE FULLY STOCKED BAR AT LOS AMERICANOS, WHICH ALSO SERVES BRUNCH ON WEEKENDS
Meanwhile, Rodriguez’ connection to the restaurant added an extra Hollywood touch at its opening party, when Los Americanos screened Francesca de Solas flick 1%ers, in which Rodriguez stars. The crowd included Sienna Miller, Peter Saarsgard, model/musician Jamie Burke, nightlife guru Nur Khan, and a lot of men on motorcycles. “It got a little scary,” LaSalle jokes of the rough and tough, but extremely fun and friendly, crew of Hell’s Angels who arrived for the party alongside A-list guests. Los Americanos, it seems, has something for everyone. “It means ‘lots of us together, all of us together,’’ LaSalle says of the name. Which probably also explains the menu: “We wanted it to be a hit-list of Latin America,” says Gilroy as if describing a mix CD.
STAR POWER: SPOTTED AT LOS AMERICANOS FROM LEFT: SIENNA MILLER, PETER SAARSGARD; MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ; MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, EBON MOSS-BACHRACH; SCOTT LIPPS, NUR KHAN; EMMANUELLE LASALLE, CHINA MACHADO
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The food and drinks are a savory, exotic summary of Peru, Venezuela, El Salvador and Argentina. There are ceviches (the Peruvian style fish is a favorite), Salvadorian griddlecakes and café Cubana for a pre-disco, sugary energy bolt. As for the décor, the collective owners were careful to make sure the early-morning to late-night crowd would be at home with the chic diner feel. “They aren’t reproductions; they’re vintage pieces,” Gilroy points out of the lighting and chairs. And for those on the go, who aren’t able to take advantage of the outdoorseating, Los Americanos offers a rare perk in Manhattan: a take-out window. We’d tell you to get it while it’s hot, but that’s what their varieties of—you guessed it—hot sauces are for.
PEOPLE: PATRICKMCMULLAN.COM
THE FOOD AND DRINKS ARE A SAVORY, EXOTIC SUMMARY OF PERU, VENEZUELA, EL SALVADOR AND ARGENTINA.
JUNE 2013
5/31/13 12:20 PM