Commentary: One of L.A.'s most influential restaurants is reborn in downtown L.A.

"Josef Centeno has transformed his downtown restaurant Bar Amá into Le Dräq, a new place that combines a version of Bar Amá and Bäco Mercat, the restaurant he closed during the pandemic. The menu will include new versions of rotating dishes from both Bar Amá and Bäco Mercat. Le Dräq marks the return of the bäco, what was once L.A.'s most talked about sandwich."

"It's for the reopening (sort of) of Bäco Mercat. On Dec. 19, Josef Centeno closed the doors of Bar Amá, his Tex-Mex-leaning restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, and reopened the next evening as Le Dräq by Bar Amá and Bäco Mercat. The restaurant is a hybrid of Bar Amá and Takoria, the self-described bizarro taqueria that Centeno debuted out of the space earlier this year."

"It's difficult to quantify the influence Centeno has had on the city's dining scene, or the contributions he made to what was once the great revitalization of downtown Los Angeles. At one point, the chef commanded the corner of 4th and Main streets with a cluster of restaurants this paper once dubbed the "Centenoplex." At its heart was the petite, always bustling Bäco Mercat."

Josef Centeno transformed his downtown Bar Amá into Le Dräq, a hybrid that merges elements of Bar Amá, Bäco Mercat and the earlier Takoria concept. Le Dräq's menu features new versions of rotating dishes from both Bar Amá and Bäco Mercat and marks the return of the bäco sandwich. Centeno closed Bar Amá on Dec. 19 and reopened the next evening as Le Dräq. Centeno says Bäco stopped during COVID and that he wanted to finish what he started without repeating past work. Centeno previously anchored downtown with multiple restaurants, with Bäco Mercat once at the center of that cluster.

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