by Besha Rodell

The term "family restaurant" isn't that common in the upper echelons of the food world. We tend to want restaurants that are rock & roll. We demand cocktail-fueled speakeasies. We long for food that's sophisticated, refined, grown-up.

But as our best chefs move through the rock-star phase of their lives and into something more ... settled, they begin to understand the allure of the family restaurant. They have kids now, and because of the long hours chefs work, they want to hang out with those kids on their days off. They want to go out to eat with them, too. Why should they have to suffer through a bad meal? Shouldn't someone make a family restaurant where the food is actually good? Thus the seeds of inspiration are sown. All of a sudden, chefs are saying to me, "I wanted to open a restaurant where I can bring my kids, and where other people would want to bring their kids."

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Source: http://www.laweekly.com/