72 Market Street Oyster Bar & Grill

OPEN: 1984–2000

LOCATION: 72 Market Street Venice, CA 90291

ORIGINAL PHONE: (310) 392-8720

CUISINE: Steak and Seafood

DESIGN: Thom Mayne and Michael Rotondi

BUILDING STYLE: Modern

CURRENTLY: Vacant

IN 1975, LEONARD SCHWARTZ WAS A PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR AT UCLA WHEN HE LANDED A POSITION AS A WAITER AT HAMBURGER HAMLET (SEE PAGE 185) ON SUNSET BOULEVARD—A JOB THAT WOULD CHANGE HIS CAREER PATH COMPLETELY. He soon worked his way up into the management team and kitchen staff, eventually taking on various chef positions at Café California, Le Dome (see page 251), Le Toque, and L’Orangerie (page 247).

Chef Schwartz was approached to become a partner in the opening of a new restaurant venture called 72 Market Street Oyster Bar and Grill, along with co-owners Tony Bill, Dudley Moore, Julie Stone, and Tony Heinsbergen. Installed in a former art gallery, the restaurant was visually stunning. During the day and on warm evenings, the restaurant’s large front windows were left open to allow cool ocean breezes to flow inside. The Robb Report raved that “the architecture alone is worth the visit,” and Vanity Fair called it “the place where everyone wants to go.”

The food at 72 Market was hearty and filling yet healthy, incorporating local seafood, lots of fresh produce from the farmers market, whole grains, and foods without preservatives. The restaurant was one of the few fine dining locations near the beach.

The restaurant had a loyal clientele of celebrities, including Steve Martin, Alexander Godunov, Jacqueline Bisset, Sally Field, Dennis Hopper, Lisa Bonet, Hugh Hefner, and Bruce Springsteen. In 1987, Oliver Stone used 72 Market to host a delegation of Soviet theater leaders.

The eatery set itself apart by hosting a lecture series and book and poetry readings, featuring such guests as Frank Gentry, George Plimpton, Spalding Gray, E. L. Doctorow, and Raymond Carver. On Sundays, 72 Market also broadcast a live radio show from its location, featuring Dudley Moore and other performers accompanied by the house pianist on the restaurant’s grand piano.

The restaurant closed in November 2000, about fourteen months before Moore’s death in 2002.