You won’t see a cantina band playing, but you will need to check your lightsabers at the door: The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art officially opens to the public Sept. 22, and with it comes Skywalker Grill, an American restaurant perched atop the sprawling $1 billion project from George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson.
Much like the 300,000-square-foot museum — with a diverse collection that spans neoclassical art, manga, Banksy and beyond — Skywalker Grill isn’t dedicated to “Star Wars,” the director-producer’s most famous creation. The American restaurant’s name is more in tune with Lucas’ Marin County farm and film-production compound, Skywalker Ranch, though both are named for “Star Wars” protagonist Luke Skywalker.
For heavily themed intergalactic-inspired dishes, you need to drive to Anaheim where vendors at Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge sell Grogu cookies and Bantha milk. Here at Skywalker Grill, overlooking Exposition Park and the skyline of downtown L.A., die-hard fans get a more personal taste of Lucas by way of ingredients from his own cattle farm, his own vineyard and even his own honeybees. He and Hobson also helped guide the dishes through multiple menu tastings and provided emotional insights and memories, resulting in items such as a chicken-and-mushroom crepe inspired by a Bay Area restaurant Lucas and his daughter love.
“It’s been incredible to be sitting at a table and talking food with George and Mellody,” said Diego Cardoso, a culinary director who helped bring the project to life. “You almost pinch yourself. You’re like, ‘How did my career bring me here?’ You could very easily see a seven-course tasting menu-only style restaurant there with that environment, but that’s not what the vision is. The vision has been clear from day one, and that is inclusivity, it’s approachability, the dishes that people connect to.”
Lucas and Hobson tapped Rhubarb Events & Hospitality Collection, a culinary firm acquired by investment firm Oak View Group, which operates food and beverage inside the Royal Albert Hall, Ensemble Arts Philly and London’s Sky Garden. Cardoso is the group’s global vice president of culinary and said he and his team signed on to guide the Lucas Museum’s food and beverage programs three or four years ago, and began presenting Lucas and Hobson with menu tastings at the onsite restaurant at Skywalker Ranch. From that restaurant Cardoso could look out the window and see sloping hills and Lucas’ Wagyu cows raised there on the farm.
Indeed, an early hit during member previews at Skywalker Grill is the $38 house burger, made with ground Skywalker Ranch Wagyu, grilled onions and aged cheddar on a brioche bun; servers’ arms carry three or four plates of them at once, and nearly every table is ordering it. Lucas’ Wagyu can also be found in steak format and in a pasta Bolognese. A representative said that the ranch is currently trying to double the size of its herd in order to accommodate the grill’s demands. Cardoso said he is in regular contact with the farm to dial in the restaurant’s needs.
The farm is also supplying its honey to the restaurant; accumulated at a small scale, the kitchen planned its use strategically. It’s found in a softened honey butter alongside house-made focaccia and sourdough. In the near future, expect to see Skywalker Vineyards wines, including rosé, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
The grill leans into comfort foods and Americana with crab cakes, spinach artichoke dip, a Lucas-favorite chopped salad, jumbo-prawn cocktails, mac and cheese, and pigs in a blanket. Some items, like the chicken tenders with ranch crème fraîche, can receive a caviar supplement. Dishes range from $13 to $65.
As with the culinary program, cocktails also incorporate California-grown produce, such as a gin-and-ancho verde tipple tinged with golden beets and garnished with a red beet chip that colors the cocktail red as the ice below it melts.
Though many items are favorites of the founders, the restaurant, Cardoso said, was built for everyone.
“It’s not a restaurant for George,” he said. “He’s the owner, he’s the man with the vision, but the success is having a restaurant that’s full with people of all ages at any time. If you have a kid in there and they draw on the table, fantastic. We want groups to enjoy themselves and have fun. And if you get loud groups, we’ve got an outside area. It’s a beautiful project to be a part of, and the setting is incredible.”
Cardoso said he obsessively tweaked dishes daily, aiming to find finishing touches that could separate Skywalker Grill as a museum restaurant and allow it to stand as a destination of its own. The restaurant is open past the museum’s hours, hoping to attract museumgoers, neighborhood locals and everyone in between.
Skywalker Grill marks his first West Coast project, which required learning California’s seasonality, its markets and its tastes. To help embed him in L.A.’s dining culture and lead the kitchen day to day, he hired Wally’s and Patina alum Ryan Kluver.
Guests check in at a designated host stand in the museum’s main lobby and are then whisked to a separate elevator for Skywalker Grill. Guests who arrive in costume are very much welcome, though if they’re sporting lightsabers, there is a strict check-at-the-door policy. Once inside, curved cherrywood ceilings and tree-like pillars tower over the tables, booths and bar for a cinematic effect.
Reservations for Skywalker Grill are already proving some of the hardest to land in L.A. When member previews began in early-to-mid September, tables filled up into November. As of Sept. 16, all seats are booked through the end of the year. The bar seating, however, is reserved for walk-ins and serves the full menu. The restaurant is also available for private-dining bookings with a room that can instantly tint its glass, hiding diners with the flip of a switch.
For those who can’t yet dine at Skywalker Grill, a more casual and affordable lobby cafe — also operated by Rhubarb Hospitality Collection — features stations serving some of Lucas and Hobson’s favorite foods: pizza, both New York-style and square; tacos; soft serve; salads; and sandwiches. Most items cost between $9 and $15 but some, such as a grilled cheese sandwich, can be found for as little as $2. That’s less than the cost of a ration pack in a galaxy far, far away.
Skywalker Grill is located atop the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art at One Lucas Plaza, 3800 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, and is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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