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Musk Wants To Enter The Hospitality Business, But is Having Trouble Finding a Chef [1]
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Date: 2025-03-21
In West Hollywood, California, there’s a retro-futurist building with shiny siding, a flying saucer on the roof, and two outdoor film screens rising on Santa Monica Boulevard. Under the Tesla banner, it’s supposed to be an all-night diner, theater and charging station that Elon Musk described in 2023 as “Grease meets Jetsons with Supercharging.”
Designed by the architecture firm Stantec, construction began in 2023 and the 2022 building-permit application says the film screens will show films lasting half an hour, roughly the time it takes to charge a Tesla. Further, Musk envisions it as a diner where drivers can watch a movie from their charging station while eating a meal delivered by carhops on roller skates, leaning into 1950s to 60s vibe.
You’d think a new restaurant guaranteed to get attention and sponsored by a well-funded company would be guaranteed to attract skilled chefs. However, according to an article from Dining & Cooking:
The project is so closely guarded that restaurant groups must first sign a nondisclosure agreement that, among other things, forbids disclosure of the agreement itself, according to two people who requested anonymity because they had signed one.
The Lucques Group and Wolfgang Puck Catering were both approached by Tesla in 2023. Caroline Styne and Suzanne Goin of the Lucques Group decided against it at the time because it didn’t have a liquor license and the economics were against it. Ms. Styne sticks with that decision, and in the time since has come to see the carmaker differently: she’s replaced her Tesla with an electric BMW.
It’s a similar story with other chefs from across the country, including chef Paul Kahan, of One Off Hospitality in Chicago: “I prefer to stay out of the madness and lean into unity.”
The fast casual restaurant chain Shake Shack, before they opened their first Los Angeles location, approached Tesla with a proposal. Danny Meyer, who helped found Shake Shack, recalls, “We said, ‘We’re in the land of Tesla — why don’t we see if they would like to put some charging stations in our parking lot?’’ But Tesla wasn’t interested at the time.
And times have changed. Mr Meyer states that he hasn’t been approached for the project and would not take it on, that before his restaurants enter an agreement with institutions such as museums and sports venues:
“We ask ourselves if our piece of art belongs in that frame.” As for Tesla, “That’s not a frame I would choose,” he said. “I might have 10 years ago because I think it had a different shine on it at that point.” Back then, the brand “was all about the environment,” he said. “It seemed like a pretty cool thing.”
Not everyone would be against such an offer, though. Chef Walter Manzke, who owns République in Los Angeles with his wife, Margarita, said, “It sounds exciting. She told me the other day that she wants to buy a Tesla, so I can tell you what side she’s on.”
And New York-based chef John Fraser of JF Restaurants says:
“Any time that a location or a food-service style changes the way that food and beverage incorporates into our lives, I want to be involved in it,” Mr. Fraser said. “This location is likely to do that because it’s changing the idea of what a gas station or convenience store could be.”
Many in the restaurant industry are hesitant to express their opinion one way or another:
“I wouldn’t imagine most of my friends saying yes to this,” said the chef David Chang, who lives in Los Angeles County. “But I couldn’t imagine them wanting to say that publicly, either, because of how polarizing both sides are.”
With Tesla facing national protests and Elon Musk’s popularity sinking fast, will this flying saucer even get off the ground? If it does, how far is it going to be able to go?
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