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2021
Manhattan Beach, CA, USA
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Esperanza restaurant is an award-winning designer and architect known for her sensual and dynamic forms that work in harmony with their surroundings.
Art is not separate from Life and Life is not separate from Architecture.
– GULLA JÓNSDÓTTIR
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Esperanza
Manhattan Beach is no stranger to good looks, but Esperanza Cocina de la Playa is a total showstopper. It’s big on drama from the very first impression—spy the facade’s sexy curves and backlit panels—while inside it’s beachy chic. Its looks alone could carry the place, but this kitchen doesn’t coast with a large menu of Mexican specialties and a focus on seafood. Stylish plating echoes the restaurant’s flair, while the dishes themselves show real care and attention to detail.
Los Cabos ceviche, made with black bass and green olives and served with house-made crispy plantain chips, is a great way to begin. And to finish? Helado frito, of course! Rolled in corn flakes, fried and then doused in chocolate syrup, it’s every kid’s (and big kid’s) delight.
Esperanza
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ESPERANZA
Gulla Jonsdottir is an Icelandic Architect, creating unexpected and poetic modern Designs from her eponymous Los Angeles based Design studio. Known for her sensual and dynamic forms that work in harmony with their surroundings, Gulla’s environmental compassion brings unique spatial experiences that respond to nature and surrounding site, always echoing the integration of organic beauty and function.
Icelandic-born Gulla Jónsdóttir studied mathematics & biology before moving to Los Angeles to study architecture at SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture). Before starting her own firm in 2009, she worked for Richard Meier & Partners, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Dodd Mitchell Design.
Gulla Jonsdottir is an Icelandic Architect, creating unexpected and poetic modern Designs from her eponymous Los Angeles based Design studio. Known for her sensual and dynamic forms that work in harmony with their surroundings, Gulla’s environmental compassion brings unique spatial experiences that respond to nature and surrounding site, always echoing the integration of organic beauty and function.
Icelandic-born Gulla Jónsdóttir studied mathematics & biology before moving to Los Angeles to study architecture at SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture). Before starting her own firm in 2009, she worked for Richard Meier & Partners, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Dodd Mitchell Design.
Gulla Jonsdottir is an Icelandic Architect, creating unexpected and poetic modern Designs from her eponymous Los Angeles based Design studio. Known for her sensual and dynamic forms that work in harmony with their surroundings, Gulla’s environmental compassion brings unique spatial experiences that respond to nature and surrounding site, always echoing the integration of organic beauty and function.
Icelandic-born Gulla Jónsdóttir studied mathematics & biology before moving to Los Angeles to study architecture at SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture). Before starting her own firm in 2009, she worked for Richard Meier & Partners, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Dodd Mitchell Design.
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