LONG BEACH, Calif. — Chef Jason Witzl is always looking for the next thing.
When Witzl arrived on the Long Beach food scene, he was a newcomer with a fine-dining pedigree taking over the space of a beloved neighborhood restaurant. Now his eatery, Ellie's, is the beloved neighborhood haunt. And it was only the start.
Two more restaurants followed, and yet another concept called Jolie is now set to open early next year in the San Diego area. Witzl explained that it would be a fusion of a butcher shop with an extensive list of wine bottles available with a small raw fish bar serving uni, crudo and oysters.
But it’s Long Beach that’s largely at the center of Witzl’s attention. Ellie's has planned mostly cosmetic upgrades, and Witzl is keeping his eye out for yet another space in the LBC that he can turn into a restaurant.
Each restaurant does something different, allowing Witzl to exercise the full breadth of his culinary interests.
His second restaurant to open was tasting room, Gingers, offering seven courses paired with seven wines for a total of $125 per diner. The table there is a performance hall of sorts, where he takes traditional Italian and plays with it — like the chicken piccata that he brines first in buttermilk then tosses in the deep fryer, or the gnocchi he settles in a red vodka sauce with a dusting of black truffle shavings. The menu is familiar but loaded with surprises.
“I don’t want to say it’s our best concept, but it’s my favorite child right now,” Witzl said.
That menu changes monthly, offering a regular opportunity for experimentation. There, Witzl observes the power his food can have and its ability to turn a table of twelve strangers into a friendly eating experience buoyant with excitement.
“When it starts, it’s a little bit awkward, but by the end, it’s a party,” he said.
Right next door to Ellie's on the corner of 2nd Street and Orange Avenue, Gingers was a hair salon without a hot water heater. Now, it’s one of the most sought-after dinner reservations in the city, with tickets for the whole month generally gone 20 minutes after becoming available.
“Sometimes, I’m like, 'Am I doing too much?' And then the things I do get off the ground, and it’s OK,” he said. “I have such bad ADD. Sometimes, I need something new right now.”
Lupe's De La Mar became his next new project in late 2019, which had a month of business in 2020 before it had to shut down along with the rest of the industry. Serving up Mexican food, it offered Witzl his first opportunity to run a full bar with a menu. It was also Witzl’s first step into the city’s downtown, taking over the space of Table 301.
But Witzl's new plans have been held up — for how long, he’s not sure. The strangled supply chain slowed the delivery of a new stove to six months. Even to-go containers have been hard to come by.
His plan after Jolie opens is to renovate Ellie's, but nothing he and his partners want is in stock. One supplier noted that wait times could be up to 20 weeks.
“That’s like half of a baby!” Witzl said.
But first, he’ll split his time between Jolie and his Long Beach darlings. But that’s not all.
“I’ll start looking for a new space after the renovation,” he said. “I want to open a French restaurant.”