A Legendary LA Eatery Reinvents Itself

A pair of next-gen restaurateurs has rebooted Mistral, the nearly four-decade-old French bistro along Ventura Boulevard in the Valley. Long a favored haven for execs from the nearby Warners, Universal and Radford lots — along with their spouses and affair partners — it’s “this secret country club in Sherman Oaks,” according to Jonah Freedman, who with Josh Migdal purchased Mistral from the retiring founder-operator Henri Abergel. Think a club where everyone from Leslie Moonves and Lisa Vanderpump to the cast of General Hospital were unofficial members.

Freedman and Migdal were drawn to the notion of preserving and enhancing its traditions while extending its appeal to a younger demographic, much as Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson — veterans of Keith McNally and Daniel Boulud’s Manhattan temples of French cuisine — have restored and enlivened Upper East Side legend Le Veau d’Or to much acclaim. “We’ve wanted to lean into what Mistral already was,” explains Freedman, who runs the popular Greekman’s in Silver Lake with Migdal. “We’re interested in elevating a classic for an intergenerational crowd.”

That’s meant adding wood paneling and vintage sconces, retaining the chandeliers and tile floor and honing signature dishes like a roast chicken with mustard sauce, escargots, rack of lamb ratatouille and steak frites. “We’ve been here for a while now — quietly, delicately and slowly updating the menu,” says Migdal. (The Pulitzer-winning dining critic Jonathan Gold sealed Mistral’s reputation in 1988 with a rave Los Angeles Times review in which he lauded “a husky Gérard Depardieu of an onion soup.”)

Up next, Freedman and Migdal will turn an adjoining private dining room into Henri’s, a small seafood bar named in honor of the dapper Abergel, who’s a throwback to an era when French restaurants ruled L.A.’s dining scene, from L’Orangerie to L’Ermitage. (He came up at the long-gone Ventura Boulevard stalwart La Serre.) Among the recent visitors for Mistral 2.0’s friends-and-family dinners was Valley royalty Alana Haim and her Licorice Pizza director, Paul Thomas Anderson, who cast Abergel in the 2021 film as the mindful manager of yet another storied, since-shuttered nearby restaurant, Studio City’s Tail o’ the Cock.

For now, Abergel is looking forward to visiting as a guest himself. “There’s an excellent preparation of branzino on the menu,” he says. “Now I can just enjoy it.”

This story appeared in the Sept. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.