Orange County restaurateur David Wilhelm said he plans to scrap two Los Angeles-area French 75 restaurants and reopen them under the American cuisine concept Savannah.
The flashy French 75 eateries were, at one point, expected to be the major growth chain for Newport Beach-based Culinary Adventures. However, Wilhelm told the Orange County Register in November that he plans, instead, to grow Savannah because the concept has a stronger, more universal consumer appeal. The original restaurant is in Laguna Niguel.
“I wasn’t comfortable with how French 75 was being perceived in the marketplace,” Wilhelm stated about the Los Angeles-area French 75 eateries. “It came across as way too formal and stuffy and that’s not the type of dining experience we want to offer.”
Savannah, on the other hand, offers a more casual dining experience, he said. Savannah will take over the French 75 locations in Burbank and Century City next month. Late last year, Wilhelm converted his Moulin Rouge-inspired Chat Noir in Costa Mesa to Savannah, as well.
Next month, Wilhelm’s Chimayo at the Beach in Huntington Beach is expected to switch to Savannah at the Beach. Culinary Adventures still operates three other French 75 eateries in Newport Beach, Irvine and Laguna Beach.
Wilhelm said he has no immediate plans to convert those eateries under the Savannah concept.
