Rock Sugar

RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen sits atop a highly visible site at Westfield's Century City Mall in Los Angeles, California. Through massive red doors framed by gold leaf- overlaid columns, Burmese Buddha statues, and topped with a naga carving, guests enter a passageway which leads them to an open air courtyard featuring a lounge with fire pits and the entrance to the restaurant. Entering the restaurant you are immediately greeted with the glow from candles sitting in niches in the walls flanking the front desk. Beyond is the bar with a communal table and three distinctive Buddha heads among the hand carved elements that make up the back bar. Intimate dining areas adorned with intricately carved wood, limestone, slate, Venetian plaster, gold leaf, ornate art, artifacts, murals and statuary Рsourced both locally and globally. Custom, hand-carved wood details from Thailand are heavily used throughout these rooms giving them a sense of age and authenticity. Booths were designed to mimic Chinese day beds and imported Asian benches were used to create other seating elements. The use of Buddha statuary along with an oversized Thangka mural helps add a calm, Zen type feel to the overall space. A refined lighting program provides layers of glowing illumination throughout the 210-seat restaurant and the 80-seat patio which features two large water walls. The exterior is defined by a dramatic 35 foot tall glass fa̤ade flanked with limestone columns adorned with Thai phrases. It is topped with a gentle sweeping roofline which suggests the curve of a pagoda giving the restaurant its own identity apart from the center's existing architecture.