I’ve no idea why Heinz are famous for having 57 varieties – as far as I can see they do tomato ketchup and baked beans, which leaves 55 unaccounted for. The answer is only a few keystrokes away, but to be honest I’d rather it remained a mystery. One can’t know everything, can one? Bit worried the next useless piece of trivia I absorb might displace something useful, like my PIN number, or blood type. Anyway, 712 South Santa Fe Avenue, Los Angeles, used to be the Heinz 57 loading dock, and hospitality group Cardiff Giant have retained a bit of the site’s heritage in calling its new restaurant Fifty Seven.
The industrial heritage of the building is something else that has remained, in the hands of L.A. designer Studio MAI. Some of the rough edges of the multi-storey building have been smoothed over; for example the addition of a new central bar using copper sheeting and fresh-looking pine is a nice centrepiece, while other parts have been left unashamedly rough. There’s no grit in the “Progressive American” menu by Californian native David Nayfeld, though.
