ARLA opened on June 18 at 15 East Oak Street. It comes from Hospitality Included, the group behind Adalina and Adalina Prime, and it fills the whole sixth floor of the former Barneys building, 8,500 square feet set above one of the Gold Coast's busiest corners. The dining room seats 230. Twin terraces, closed by retractable floor-to-ceiling windows, add 60 more and look out over the neighborhood toward the lake.
The kitchen belongs to chef and partner Soo Ahn, who won Last Chance Kitchen on the twenty-first season of Top Chef. His menu sets coastal Mediterranean cooking beside Japanese technique: yellowtail crudo with fennel and amba, a caviar sando on shokupan, crab spanakopita, charred scallion pita with burnt dashi butter, and lamb chops finished with a hoisin glaze. Sushi, a raw bar and a hearth complete the menu, with cocktails, wine and sake to match.
LG Group and the studio Offshoot Creative designed the rooms in terracotta plaster, walnut, polished brass and jade quartzite, with curved banquettes and arched screens of reeded glass. For private dinners there is Ember, which seats up to 64, and Akari, for up to 18. Fred's Table seats ten, and the restaurant describes it as a table for those who appreciate history, beauty and a meal worth remembering.