The Orange County Museum of Art will unveil its new home at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts campus on Oct. 8. Designed by Morphosis Architects under the direction of Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne, the 53,000 square foot building is expansive, double the size of OCMA’s former location in Newport Beach. It will boast a learning annex, an open-air terrace and a café and coffee bar overseen by chefs Ross Pangilinan and Nicholas Weber.
Verdant, the museum’s plant-forward café, is located on the third floor terrace level. The minimalist space features Danish lighting fixtures and light wooden furnishings. Heidi Zuckerman, CEO and director of OCMA, envisions Verdant as more than just a café. Located adjacent to the museum’s learning annex, the space lends itself to artistic collaboration.
“There will be opportunities where the artists who are being exhibited and included in the exhibitions will collaborate with the chefs and maybe add a dish to the menu,” says Heidi Zuckerman. “Maybe we do a whole tasting evening or maybe come up with a craft cocktail that we can serve at the bar.”
Zuckerman knew that finding the right chefs to execute these experiences for the museum was crucial.
“It’s essential to our mission to impact the way that people live,” she says. “One of the reasons that I was interested in working with these chefs is because they’re super creative and super collaborative. Those are traits that also describe artists.”
In this space, the chefs will need creativity. The initial plans did not include a hood system for the small kitchen. Fortunately, there’s another production kitchen on the ground floor. “Upstairs, we’ll have a few sandwich refrigerators and a couple electric ovens. We’ll have to be smart with the menu,” Pangilinan says. “The concept is a plant-forward menu but we want to do some fish dishes too.” The menu is in development but one dish consists of roasted carrots with shimeji mushrooms atop a curry broth and garnished with fresh cilantro. The café will also serve ceremonial matcha and coffees.
“A mix of Ross and me,” says Weber when asked about Verdant’s menu offerings. “We’ll put our heads together and Philip Tangonan, who helped us open Populaire, will move over here to Verdant when we open.” That will give the chefs the flexibility to plan events and check in on their sister restaurants at South Coast Plaza. (Pangilinan also owns Terrace by Mix Mix.)
Verdant and the museum were inspired by the growing needs of the community.
When Zuckerman arrived in Orange County 18 months ago, she started with a listening campaign. “I was on a call with the business improvement district around the museum with Palmer Luckey, who is the founder of (tech company) Anduril, and he was talking about how he was hiring like 2,000 people. They’re all young and they needed somewhere to go in the evenings and something to do,” she says. “So I started thinking that this is a real opportunity for us. To serve this emerging community of young professionals that are being drawn to Orange County for tech and the other related opportunities.”
Weber and Pangilinan found themselves drawn back to the Segerstrom Center campus. The duo cooked together at Leatherby’s Café Rouge in the center’s Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. They always enjoyed spending time together so opening a restaurant seemed natural. Around the time that they were arranging the deal for their other restaurant, Populiare, the chefs were contacted with a new opportunity.
“OCMA sent me an email,” says Pangilinan. “We were recommended by Anton (Segerstrom) to their CEO Heidi. They recommended a few people who they thought could do a good job.” Fortunately, Pangilinan and Weber were extremely familiar with the Segerstrom Center. “I have a big history with the center and that campus,” he says. “They said ‘Hey, give us a proposal. You have three days.’ ”
The short timeline didn’t faze them. They prepared some tastings and Verdant quickly came to fruition.
“I told Nick, ‘We need a good front of house person if we’re going to really do this,’ so we brought Alyssa on board,” says Pangilinan. General manager Alyssa McDiarmid, who also oversees Populaire’s front-of-house operations, joins the team at Verdant. McDiarmid has more than 25 years of food and beverage experience from her time at Cannery Seafood of the Pacific, Louie’s by the Bay and Marche Moderne. Her expertise is necessary, especially since the chefs predict that Verdant will be a prime location for special events.
“Our goal is to sell as many events as possible,” says Pangilinan. “Weddings, corporate events. We’ve already landed a few big events off the bat,” which is impressive since the space is still under construction. “There will be a cocktail program and there are pocket doors that open up to give (the space) that outside feel,” adds Weber.
Related links
Never again will Orange County Museum of Art’s curator enjoy such a blank canvas to work with
Orange County Museum of Art breaks ground to complete the final piece of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa
OC Museum of Art announces new director and CEO
Future OC museum will use $2.5 million gift to offer free entry for 10 years
Verdant’s terrace offers a prime view of the building’s undulating lines. On a hot August evening, Weber and Pangilinan surveyed the construction at Verdant. They looked down at the street below and commented on the progress. In a couple months the doors will open and the chefs will welcome guests. They look calm for two guys who opened two restaurants within the span of six months. But Weber, who has been awaiting this moment for eight years, is ready for these opportunities. His 18-plus years of experience and his time helming 24 Carrots catering gave him ample experience to execute high-end events.
“24 Carrots is a high-volume, very successful catering company. You’re executing 15-20 weddings a weekend and putting out tons of food. I wanted to learn that to make me a better chef. I had already been in restaurants for 18 years and I’ve been good at that. … I worked in high volume restaurants in Vegas. I worked at Catal at Downtown Disney. I had all that experience,” says Weber. “Now it’s time to get bigger. How can I make my experience as a chef even better?”
Both chefs have cooked at Segerstrom Center before and they’re glad to return. In some way, their homecoming echoes the mission of the museum.
“That’s one of my tenets and missions for the institution is to look back to move forward,” Zuckerman says. “I feel a responsibility to honor the past. I have this incredible opportunity. I’m standing on the shoulders of so many people that came before me including the 13 visionary women who founded the museum.” Zuckerman will present an exhibition honoring OCMA’s 13 female founders. “They saw a need and they filled it and that’s what entrepreneurs do. I think that’s what’s so interesting about Orange County. How so many people made something out of nothing.”