{"id":569299,"date":"2023-04-08T04:30:52","date_gmt":"2023-04-08T01:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/leora-the-cafe-at-uta-has-become-a-staple-for-employees-surrounding-community\/"},"modified":"2023-04-08T04:30:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-08T01:30:52","slug":"leora-the-cafe-at-uta-has-become-a-staple-for-employees-surrounding-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/leora-the-cafe-at-uta-has-become-a-staple-for-employees-surrounding-community\/","title":{"rendered":"#Leora, the Caf\u00e9 at UTA, Has Become a Staple for Employees, Surrounding Community"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n When husband and wife business partners Leor and Laura Klein started Klein Kitchen, a full-service, bespoke private chef matchmaking service, in 2020, they didn\u2019t realize it was opening the door to their next food venture. Through a private dinner they catered, the couple ended up meeting UTA\u2019s CEO Jeremy Zimmer, which led to the creation of Leora, a caf\u00e9 at UTA\u2019s Beverly Hills headquarters serving up free daily lunches to the agency\u2019s employees.<\/p>\n

\n The caf\u00e9 and marketplace, which Laura Klein describes as \u201cCalifornia fresh with a Mediterranean twist,\u201d opened in fall 2022, offers a daily rotating menu of items like Greek salad with chicken, falafel wraps, Italian sandwiches and more.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt was really important for us to have as much variety as possible because, obviously, if you eat at the same place every day, it gets tired and old,\u201d Laura Klein says. \u201cSo we have three daily specials every day for the employees to pick from, and the menus change every single day.\u201d The Klein Kitchen co-founder, who assisted and produced for Spike Jonze before pivoting to the food industry, used her understanding of Hollywood\u2019s pace and priorities \u2014 especially where service is concerned \u2014 to help craft the ethos of Leora. \u201cIt\u2019s been really important for me to share those values with our team that doesn\u2019t know the Hollywood world because it really is a world unlike any other,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\"Leora\"<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

Some of the Leora team, including Leor and Laura Klein at left.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bernadett Vanek<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n The kitchen is made up of a team of 15 employees, who begin prepping the roughly 600 fresh meals served each day at 6 a.m. Four baristas-slash-servers working the front of the house round out the team, along with the caf\u00e9\u2019s general<\/a> manager.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe are aware of who we are serving, here in Beverly Hills and especially at UTA, and we know that our clients want organic food. Fresh, delicious, healthy, nutritious \u2026 we are serving [UTA employees] in the middle of their workday, so we want to give them kind of a \u2018power lunch,’\u201d Leor Klein says.<\/p>\n

\n The menu is full of gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan options, in an effort to serve light, California-market-based dishes. And sustainability is a focus too. When ingredients go unused, they are incorporated into a new dish on the menu the next day. \u201cWhen you are cooking for so many people, it\u2019s very easy to waste food,\u201d Leor Klein notes. \u201cThat was the first thing that we spoke about when we opened the door, is that we have to be sustainable, and we want to be a kitchen that thrives on zero waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Adds Laura Klein: \u201c[We have this] built-in clientele \u2026 a lot of places don\u2019t get to conduct research as they go. We get to see firsthand what people are liking, and we can recraft our menus based on what people are really gravitating toward and the feedback that we get.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\"Leora\"<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

Food at Leora.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bernadett Vanek<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n According to Zimmer, the idea to provide free lunches began as an incentive to encourage employees to work from the office again following peak pandemic lockdowns. At first, these meals were being catered by outside vendors, but after a while, opening a permanent brick-and-mortar at the plaza seemed wise.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cLeora has really become a great piece of the culture of UTA. It\u2019s a lively meeting place for colleagues and some of the neighboring companies,\u201d Zimmer says. \u201cThe Kleins are creative, forward-thinking and love what they do. That\u2019s also the ethos of UTA, so it\u2019s no surprise that Leora fits into our wheelhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Leora is also open to the public and provides a 20 percent discount to all city workers\u00a0and select Beverly Hills businesses in the surrounding community. Daily guests range from top executives to assistants, and people outside of the company, too, making the caf\u00e9 a buzzing site for connection, coffee and business lunch meetings.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cLunch meetings have been a part of entertainment industry culture for as long as I can remember. We still do plenty off-site, but I really enjoy hosting clients and executives at Leora,\u201d Zimmer says.<\/p>\n

\n Adds Laura Klein: \u201cI think it\u2019s definitely become a space that people will have their meetings, instead of sitting in a conference room. That was really important for us, making the space welcoming and vibey and a nice place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n