SECO: The Art of Building a Neighborhood Wine Bar
A timeline of how the concept evolved, from pitch to pour
There is an expression in writing that I’ve adopted in business, it goes, “The personal is universal.” It connotes that deeply personal experiences, perspectives, and desires tap into universal human emotions. The more specific an individual artist or creative is in their work, the more likely they are to connect with others on a broader level. This phrase, I’ve learned, applies in business too. Some of the most successful ventures are born from the desire to solve a personal want. For me, this began as a way to create a kind of art-forward, community-driven natural wine bar.
As we near our one-year anniversary, I'm taking some time to reflect on the creative process behind Seco, from pitch deck to opening day. I often get asked about my role and involvement — in brief, Seco has been the most high-touch and creatively immersive project I’ve worked on to date. Not only because it involved creating a community space in my hometown of Los Angeles, but because of the collective memories spent at Sunset Junction growing up in LA and the thoughts, ideas and collaborations that went into creating the space. Coincidentally, just a year before Seco’s opening, we released ‘Lust for Los Angeles’ at Maison Kitsuné next door — a full circle moment.
Seco is created in partnership with Santo Group from Mexico City, who handled all aspects of operations, admin and management, while I handled the full creative direction and concept development. The response and marriage of our communities is something we could not have fathomed, as Seco continues to evolve through the continued support and energy of our partners, team and guests. Although this is my first restaurant, many of the ideas for the space came from long held and cherished culinary memories and experiences. Much of the invisible work happened behind the scenes—spanning over a decade of design and hospitality consulting, deep research ahead of the launch, with months of market research leading up to the concept and hiring of our chef and sommelier. From there Santo group’s Alonso Silva and I built the brand’s visual library, and oversaw design development with the team and its architect Lena Kohl. Following the opening, I produce all our marketing materials, content and manage our community programming and partnerships.
