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Curry House (restaurant chain)

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Not to be confused with Curry House CoCo ICHIBANYA.

Curry House
IndustryFoodservice
Founded1983
FounderHouse Foods
DefunctFebruary 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)
Number of locations
9
Area served
California
ProductsJapanese curry, yōshoku
OwnersHouse Foods (1983–2019)
CH Acquisitions, LLC (2019–2020)

Curry House (Japanese: カレーハウス/カレーの館, Hepburn: Karē hausu/Karē no yakata) was a Japanese curry restaurant based in California. It was founded in 1983 by House Foods, which operated it until 2019. After the success of the first location in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, the chain expanded across California. Its menu and choice of aesthetics were praised by Jonathan Gold and Rudi Gernreich, among others. Curry House offered a line of instant curries and collaborated on promotions with Sanrio. In 2019 CH Acquisitions purchased Curry House; they closed it down permanently on February 24, 2020.[1][2]

History

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Beginnings

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Plate of Curry House curry rice topped with menchi katsu and onion rings
Curry House brand instant curry pouches (left) on display at the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Costa Mesa

Curry House was founded in 1983 as a division of House Foods America, with the first location opening in the Weller Court complex in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles. The location drew the attention of Rose Dosti of the Los Angeles Times and Rudi Gernreich, both of whom praised the restaurant's aesthetics[3] and "hip, graphic design" food presentation:

Curry House, on the top floor of Downtown's Weller Court, is probably the first of its type in Los Angeles, but likely a prototype of clones to come, if instant success is any measure. It's a scientific, Japanese curry-and-spaghetti house—small, well-designed, handsome, and efficient in a tradition-bound Japanese, not Western, manner. You get the feeling you are culturally in Japan even though you are physically in California.[4]

In 1984, the LA Weekly designated Curry House as the "Best Japanese-Style Curry" in Los Angeles.[5]

Expansion

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Curry House opened a location in Beverly Hills, next to the Hotel Nikko (today the SLS Hotel), in 1996. According to Max Jacobson of the Los Angeles Times, the location was "by far the most attractive" of the entire chain:

Like Japanese curry itself, the ambience is an amalgam of elements that might not seem to belong together: frosted glass, a Japanese flower arrangement offset by a lacquered wooden backdrop, cobalt-blue Diva lights, cool jazz on the sound system, and a team of waitresses who take care of you with disarming sincerity.[6]

In 1998, Jonathan Gold reviewed the location for the LA Weekly, calling it a "slick, highly designed restaurant [...], a soaring space with acres of blond wood and bright paintings on the wall."[7]

A 2003 article in the Los Angeles Downtown News named Curry House among the "best-loved spots and hidden treasures" in Downtown Los Angeles.[8]

Over the course of its history the chain grew to 9 locations across California.[9][10] The Little Tokyo location also opened an annex for take-out orders in 2011, located downstairs from the main restaurant, next to a Marukai Market.[11] In addition to Japanese curry, Curry House also sold other kinds of yōshoku including Naporitan, tonkatsu, menchi katsu, and hamburg.[12]

In 2017, Curry House collaborated with Sanrio on a limited-edition meal set featuring the Gudetama character. The $29 set included a collectible placemat and beanie.[13] The collaboration originated from Sanrio; an employee who regularly dined at Curry House said he got the idea after eating one of their egg-topped curry dishes.[14]

House Foods also sold a line of instant curries in retort pouches that was branded under the Curry House name.[15]

Ownership under CH Acquisitions and closure

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In June 2019, House Foods sold Curry House to CH Acquisitions, LLC; with Food Management Partners, Inc. of Texas running the chain's daily operation.[2][10][16][17] Four years before, House Foods had purchased CoCo Ichibanya and made it a subsidiary.[18] The new owners immediately fired most of its personnel, including 90% of its kitchen workers, forcing the chain to temporarily close while it hired and trained new staff.[17][16] The same year that the change in ownership occurred, Food Management Partners' three co-founders and an executive had been sued in court. The plaintiff in that case alleged that the defendants siphoned $12 million to themselves in order to purchase "exotic cars, boats, homes, and foreign travel."[19][17][16][2]

On February 24, 2020, CH Acquisitions and Food Management Partners closed down Curry House. The former stated in a press release that the "misrepresentation of the legal status of many [Curry House] employees" and the resultant "confusion" caused by the need to temporarily shut down the restaurants in order to train new staff were factors in their decision.[1][17][16] According to reports, the chain's parent company had given staff no warning of their decision.[2][17][16]

Locations

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Counter area of the Curry House in Sawtelle, March 2019
Los Angeles County
Orange County
San Diego County
Santa Clara County

References

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  1. ^ a b "CH Acquisitions Closes Curry House Restaurants". PR Newswire. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Waterfield, Sophia (February 25, 2020). "Curry House Trends After All Japanese Curry and Spaghetti Restaurants Mysteriously Close". Newsweek. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  3. ^ Dosti, Rose (March 29, 1984). "Rudi Gernreich to Serve Up a Boutique Restaurant". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Dosti, Rose (November 17, 1983). "Curry House a la Japanese". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Best of L. A.: Food and Restaurants". LA Weekly. October 4, 1984. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Jacobson, Max (October 24, 1996). "Counter Intelligence: Rising Sun Curry". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Gold, Jonathan (January 15, 1998). "Counter Intellgience: Tokyo Pop — Japanese curry in Beverly Hills". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Martinez-Burgoyne, Toni; Mandell, Jason (September 29, 2003). "The Great Lunch Hunt: Best-Loved Spots and Hidden Treasures in Each Downtown District". Los Angeles Downtown News. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  9. ^ "Curry House, Little Tokyo". Japanese-City.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Petre, Holly (February 25, 2020). "Curry House Japanese Curry and Spaghetti has shuttered, closing all 9 units in Southern California". Restaurant Hospitality. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  11. ^ "Curry House To Go in Little Tokyo". Discover Nikkei. June 2, 2011. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  12. ^ "Curry House Japanese Curry and Spaghetti". Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 – via Facebook.
  13. ^ "Gudetama x Curry House". Sanrio. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  14. ^ Yoshida, Junko (November 3, 2017). "Eatadakimasu：「ぐでたま」とカレーハウスがコラボ". Rafu Shimpo (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  15. ^ "House Foods America Introduces New Product: Curry House Vegetable Curry". Food & Beverage Magazine. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  16. ^ a b c d e Snyder, Garrett (February 25, 2020). "Curry House, a beloved Japanese American chain, abruptly shuts down all its restaurants". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  17. ^ a b c d e Shatkin, Elina (February 27, 2020). "Why Did Curry House's Closure Break LA's Heart?". LAist. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  18. ^ Tsunashima, Yuta; Takeuchi, Kosuke. "House Foods aiming to use chain to spread Japanese curry culture". Nikkei Asia. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  19. ^ Danner, Patrick (June 28, 2019). "San Antonio-area restaurant operators 'siphoned' millions from business: suit". San Antonio Express-News. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
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