Food & Spirits

Pop Up Concept Viento at Breeze Now Featuring Pan Latin Cuisine

Cash for your car

Executive Chef Felix Nappoly is one of LA’s The Place Magazine’s Favorite Chefs in Los Angeles for 2015!

Located in the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Breeze has long enjoyed a reputation as a go-to spot in Los Angeles’ bustling and trend-setting Westside. Viento is Breeze Restaurant new culinary concept at Century City’s Hyatt Regency Century Plaza: a pop-up dining establishment.

The dining room at Breeze in Century City.

The dining room at Breeze in Century City.

During the day, Breeze will operate as usual, being a popular mainstay with the business locals, but in the evening, a different banner will fly.

Executive Chef Felix Nappoly

Executive Chef Felix Nappoly, previously with Four Seasons, brings his expertise to create a fabulous menu.

Every six months, Breeze will transform its walls and kitchen to showcase new tastes and treatments from the expert chefs. To kick off the festivities, Viento presents Executive Chef Felix Nappoly’s Pan-Latin menu featuring modern tapas and cocktails for diners to enjoy in a mid-century modern setting. Travelers and locals alike can expect a unique experience every time they visit Viento.

General Manager Mark Becker cites the chef’s “personal passions” as the driver for Viento’s creativity and energy. To this end, Chef Nappoly and his team have combined the best of California farm-to-table ingredients with Latin-inspired techniques.

On the light side, a selection of salads is available, starring kale with chipotle dressing, baby gem lettuce with prickly pear cactus vinaigrette, or roasted poblanos with cumin-lime dressing. (The last one is vegan and gluten-free, by the way.)

Small plates are highly popular in Latin and California cooking, and Vienta takes advantage of this trend with a variety of shareable, munchable dishes. Land, sea, and air are all represented.

shrimp

Al pastor shrimp and octopus ceviche are available for seafood lovers.

Mini duck sopes will surely draw interest too, and pork belly torta sliders are a perfect embodiment of the Viento mix of international palates and cooking cultures.

duck

Looking for more? No flavor or taste is neglected! The mac and cheese is made of cheddar guajillo cheese sauce and crushed fried corn tortillas, while the albondigas soup incorporates yellow tomato, charred corn, chayote, and carne meatballs.

sea bass at viento

Delicious fresh Sea Bass was on the Viento menu.

For those with stronger appetites, the large plates beckon. Vegetarians will appreciate the classic chile relleno, and open-minded traditionalists can look forward to the chicken mole, accompanied by green mole, a rice cake, roasted baby corn and chayote, and fried garbanzo.

Another great entree on the Viento  Pop up menu

Another great entree on the Viento Pop up menu

True to its mission, Vienta dresses up salmon and steak with regional flavors. The achiote salmon dish gets a guava vinaigrette, while the filet is bathed in an ancho chili demi-glace.

Filet at Viento

dessert

No meal is complete without dessert, and Viento casts its discerning culinary eye on these treats. Viento dresses up a compote with avocado, cactus pear, mihojas, and tarragon; infuses a panna cotta with Mexican eggnog, coconut chocolate bark, strawberries, rum-soaked currants, and candied walnuts; decorates a cinammon apple chayote pie with horchata ice cream, red plum, and dried sage..

And experience a fruta fresca using lime-cucumber sorbet, mango, candied sandia rind, and chile sea salt.

fruit

cocktailViento also offers curated cocktails and drinks to accompany its specialized menu. Of course, top-shelf tequilas, mezcal, and rum are available, but Viento bartenders have their own surprises. For example, the coconut mojito, daiquiri de banana, and Serrano cucumber margarita offer a twist on familiar combinations. Or you could venture into less traveled territory with the Macua (Bacardi Maestro, guava juice, lemon juice) or chinchona (Gran Centenario Anejo, Lillet Rouge, Cointreau, orange bitters). In fact, inquire and the bartenders may be able to help you narrow your selection.

Breeze continues to push forward the dining experience, with Viento — the first of the pop-up restaurant experiment — sharing the same mission. Viento adopts Breeze’s dedication to local resources, while also opening minds and taste buds to the delicious possibilities of Pan-Latin fusion.

The beautiful centerpiece bar at Breeze

The beautiful centerpiece bar at Breeze.

For six months, Viento will take over Breeze with Executive Chef Felix Nappoly’s specialized menu and mix of the best of California and Latin cuisine. Take advantage of the unique tastes while you can.

Viento at Breeze Restaurant
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza
2025 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles, CA 90067

For reservations, call 310.228.1234

Century Plaza Hyatt

About the author

Jane Emery