Half a mile of shoreline separates SALT Restaurant & Bar from Beachside Restaurant & Bar. Both sit inside waterfront hotels, both look out at boats instead of traffic, and both quietly changed hands in the kitchen this summer. Chef Gemma Gray, who most recently ran the kitchen at Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica, took over at SALT inside the Marina del Rey Hotel. A few blocks west, Chef Angie Lee, who came up through Proper Hotel Santa Monica, Hotel June, and West Hollywood's Ysabel, took the top job at Beachside inside Jamaica Bay Inn. Their arrivals put two waterfront dining rooms in the spotlight this fall.
LA County's Department of Beaches and Harbors has also scheduled seasonal events for the months ahead.
The Same Season, Two New Chefs
Chef Lee has built her menu at Beachside around Mother's Beach, which sits just outside the restaurant's windows. "The food is from my heart, it's from my experience being born and raised in L.A." is how she described it to Westside Current, and the plates back that up: Thai curry next to Mexican street corn, the kind of mixed menu that only makes sense in a city built by everyone. Chef Gray's approach at SALT leans the same direction from a different angle, built on what she calls sourcing from Southern California and putting it on the table.
Neither chef is starting from scratch. SALT opened in 2015 under Chef Mark Gold and went through a renovation in 2022, cycling through kitchen leadership more than once since. Beachside has been open since 2012. Both restaurants are old enough to have a history and young enough to still be finding their next version. Gray and Lee now bring their own perspectives to that history.
Hotel Restaurants in Marina del Rey
Marina del Rey restaurants operate in a range of settings. SALT and Beachside are located inside hotels; Whiskey Red's operates out of Fisherman's Village, which the county leases to operators under its own terms, and Cast & Plow runs the food program at the Ritz-Carlton. Together, these examples offer a snapshot of dining around the harbor.
Seasonal Events on the Harbor Calendar
The Marina del Rey WaterBus is a $1 shuttle that loops the main channels and lets people hop between Fisherman's Village, the beach, and Burton W. Chace Park without moving a car. Its regular Friday-through-Sunday season ran from June 19 through September 7 this year. The county then scheduled two extensions: Friday service through September 25 to cover Dance MDR, followed by one final weekend, October 24 and 25, timed to Marina Spooktacular at Burton Chace Park. October 25 is the WaterBus's last day of service for the year.
Fisherman's Village also has a scheduled live-music program. The venue booked six dates for September, all free, all family friendly, all running 2:00 to 5:00 PM on the water at 13723 Fiji Way. The next big public draw at Burton Chace Park is Spooktacular itself, a two-day festival that turns the park's evenings into something scarier than a Tuesday.
Both Hotels Picked the Same Beer This Fall
SALT and Beachside are each running an Origins Culinary Series Oktoberfest tasting with Firestone Walker this season, one at each hotel. The tastings add a fall dining event at both waterfront properties.
What Remains on the Fall Calendar
The fall calendar includes seasonal events as well as year-round restaurant offerings.
| What | Schedule |
|---|---|
| WaterBus ($1 per ride, Fisherman's Village to Burton Chace Park) | October 24 and 25, tied to Marina Spooktacular |
| Marina Spooktacular at Burton Chace Park | Two-day run, October 24 and 25 |
| Origins Culinary Series Oktoberfest with Firestone Walker | At SALT and separately at Beachside, this fall |
| Thursday and Friday live music at Jamaica Bay Inn | Weekly, Thursdays and Fridays, 6 to 9 PM, no season limit |
After Spooktacular, the county's next headline event is the Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade, its 64th annual running, scheduled for Saturday, December 12, presented by Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital. Between the WaterBus's last weekend in October and the Boat Parade in December, year-round offerings include hotel happy hours and weekly live music at restaurants, while the two new chefs settle into their menus.
Marina del Rey's fall calendar brings together restaurant programming, public events and year-round offerings across the harbor.
ARIA Properties keeps an eye on Marina del Rey the way any neighbor would, including which kitchens just changed hands and which weekends on the water are worth planning around before the county's calendar moves on to the next thing.
