How a Former Ivy Busboy Created the Next Industry Hot Spot

Che Peña has been feeding the entertainment community for more than three decades. He started out at The Ivy during its paparazzi-heavy 1990s era, spending a decade working as a busboy, runner and bartender. Then he went east to Pace, the in-the-know Laurel Canyon industrial hang that’s long been a second home to stars and suits. He started there as a server, rose to maître d’ and finally became something of its mascot as the convivial general manager.

Now, for the first time, he’s got his own place. After leaving Pace, Peña has opened Studio City’s 2-month-old Unidos, just steps from the Radford lot and the Art Directors Guild. Its neighbors include smash burger phenom Heavy Handed and third-wave coffee spot Yala.

Unidos (11830 Ventura Blvd.) is a tapas restaurant pulling in culinary strands found from Madrid to Marbella, Barcelona to the Basque region — all through a Californian lens. In practice, this means a pan con tomate on LA-style artisanal sourdough bread, a Cobb salad featuring crispy jamon serrano, and a squid-ink paella with lobster.

The low-lit, snug space is tiny, intentionally so, in keeping with the small-scale bars across Spain, where pintxos are meant to be eaten in boisterous, crowded rooms among neighbors. “My wife and I live here in Studio City,” Peña explains. “I wanted something for locals.” He adds that the point of connection to The Ivy and Pace is an emphasis on coziness. “People want to experience warmth: in the service, the space, the food,” he says. “That’s what Unidos is.”

This story appeared in the Nov. 19 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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