Just 7 miles south of LAX, BALEENkitchen at the Portofino Hotel & Marina, a Noble House Hotel, in Redondo Beach offers up all the pleasures of dining in a seaport village, albeit a very fashionable one. The waterside restaurant has sweeping views of the King Harbor Marina while the seafood-centric menu offers tapas-style bites like lobster sliders, oysters, ahi tuna tacos, and main dishes that include panroasted diver scallops, grilled lobster tail and miso-glazed salmon. (There are plenty of options for meat lovers—grilled steaks and beef stroganoff—and vegetarians, too, including a Thai green curry and wild mushroom flatbread.) Open from 6:30 a.m. for breakfast to 10 p.m. with a midafternoon “social hour,” BALEENkitchen shares space with BALEENlounge, an inviting bar area with stellar cocktails, including the bourbonbased “I’ll Be Your Huckleberry” and the gincentered “Catch Me If You Can.” A private dining room within the sea-chic space—there are crystal chandeliers, a stately fireplace and ocean-hued lounge seating—seats 50.
Stylish design, convenience and first-rate cuisine aren’t the only elements that make BALEENkitchen appealing to planners. The Portofino Hotel is a great place to hold a meeting, too. The 161 guest rooms have been recently renovated and are ultraluxe, all with ocean and marina views. A freestanding meeting pavilion offers more than 8,000 square feet of event space, including two ballrooms with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Pacific Ocean and eight meeting and banquet rooms. The tucked-away Seaside Lawn is a picture-perfect location for cocktail parties, meeting breaks, team-building and more.
