Piccalilli is Open at the Corner of Main and Washington

What was most recently Pieology is now Piccalilli, serving an Asian/Californian kinda menu in a that spot. Chef/owners Bryan Kidwell and Macks Collins are on their third collaboration, after working together in NYC at Rouge et Blanc, and then taking to the street of LA with the Mad Pambazos truck. The new menu is a fresh and intriguing treat.

But according to LA Eater, Piccalilli nearly didn’t happen. While planning to open their first brick and mortar restaurant, Kidwell shattered and fractured his vertebrae in late 2018.

During a visit to the beach, Kidwell hit his head on a sandbar while attempting a flip, immediately paralyzing him from the neck down. He was face down in the water, slowly drowning, and not being able to move anything but his head. Kidwell’s then fiancé Sofia managed to turn him over and pulled his body out of the water, saving his life. He was shuttled to UCLA Medical Center where he required immediate surgery before heading to a rehabilitation center for a long recovery process. Kidwell said “Being a chef and pushed in the kitchen before really helped me be mentally tough. Working at a kitchen is the hardest thing you can do on your feet 18 hours a day.”

Despite some physical limitations, Kidwell now walks into Piccalilli to work with Collins. Their menu includes Thai banana hushpuppies, Brussels sprouts with Korean chili and corn nuts, miso pork jowl, and a five spice pork shank.

Inside the restaurant, the squared off space gives sight lines to every corner, including the central bar, open kitchen, and spacious patio that overlooks Amazon Studios’ new Culver City headquarters and the historic Culver Hotel.

Speaking of the full bar, cocktails favor the pre-Prohibition era like the Lumpini Smash with Ford’s Gin, tamarind, palm sugar, lime, and Thai basil.

In addition to being next to Amazon Studios, the restaurant is also blocks away from HBO’s forthcoming headquarters and apartment complex, with Apple stationing more than 1,000 employees down the street at the corner of Washington and National by 2022. All eyes are on these massive companies, and whether they will make a difference for Downtown Culver City restaurants and businesses.

Piccalilli is open daily with happy hour from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. for happy hour, dinner from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m., with a late-night menu from 11 a.m. until 2 a.m.