Credit: Hollywood Bowl

How Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne Turned the Hollywood Bowl Into a Dining Destination

10 Minute read

22 Aug 2025

Paul Feinstein

Journalist

Copy link

A decade after their chaotic debut, Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne have transformed the Hollywood Bowl’s food and wine program, making dining as memorable as the music.

On opening night at the Hollywood Bowl in 2016, Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne were running what felt less like a restaurant and more like a small city. The Los Angeles Philharmonic had just handed them the keys to the country’s most iconic outdoor venue, and their team was expected to feed thousands across restaurants, markets, concessions, and backstage catering—all at once. “It was a restaurant nightmare,” one of them recalled, laughing at the memory of that chaotic first service, with David Gilmour on stage while kitchens scrambled to keep up.

A decade later, that nightmare has become one of LA’s most singular success stories. For ten years, Goin and Styne have transformed the Bowl into a dining destination as vital to the experience as the music itself. They’ve elevated concessions into seasonal menus, turned marketplaces into vibrant gathering spaces, and built a team that thrives on the thrill of serving thousands of concertgoers in just a few hours. If the Bowl was always about world-class performances, now the food finally matches the stage.

A Bid with Deep Roots

The chance came when the Bowl’s dining contract opened up for bids. Plenty of operators were circling, but it was Goin and Styne who stepped forward, already fixtures in Los Angeles dining through restaurants like A.O.C. and Lucques. Both raised in LA, they saw the Bowl as more than just another venue. It was part of their own history, a place of picnic baskets and fireworks, of music under the stars. “We just felt this connection to the Bowl that was so special,” they recalled.

In 2016, they signed on to reimagine dining at one of the largest concert venues in the country—taking charge of everything from fine dining and marketplaces to backstage meals for artists and crew. The task was daunting, but also irresistible: a chance to make the food worthy of the music.

Finding the “Bowl People”

Over time, they built what they call a special breed of “Bowl people”—staff who thrive under pressure, sprinting through two-hour service windows before settling in to watch the music they’d just fueled. One server described it as “the best seat in the house,” relishing the payoff of a post-shift concert under the stars. For Goin and Styne, the culture has always felt closer to summer camp than restaurant life: hot kitchens under the sun, long hikes up the hill, and a free-spirited camaraderie that bonds a team through the highs and lows of the season. For some, the grind proves too much. But those who click with the Bowl’s rhythm become lifers, hooked on the mix of chaos and joy that defines a season there.

Reinvention and Scale

If the early years were about survival, the later ones have been about reinvention. Each season brings new menus and fresh ideas, from seasonal concessions to reimagined dining spaces. Last year they demolished and rebuilt two existing venues into a single expansive marketplace with all-new food and dessert offerings. On the beverage side, Styne broadened her repertoire beyond fine wines to embrace canned wine and nonalcoholic pairings, discovering new favorites that have since migrated onto her restaurant lists.

The Bowl has also sharpened their approach to scale. Serving upward of 800 covers in a single station demanded a new level of precision, and the lessons learned there now filter back into their restaurants—whether it’s handling a sudden crush of reservations or orchestrating large-scale catering events. “Everything we do everywhere influences everything else,” they explained. The cross-pollination keeps their food as dynamic as the stage it accompanies.

Dining Beyond Concessions

Beyond concessions, Goin and Styne have carved out distinct dining experiences that give the Bowl a culinary range to match its programming. Ann’s Wine Bar by A.O.C. offers share plates and a serious wine list for those who want to linger before the show. The backyard trades polish for ease, a leafy outdoor space where wood-grilled plates and cocktails feel like an urban picnic. For box seat patrons, Supper in Your Seats delivers restaurant-quality meals straight to the performance, while Lucques at the Circle carries forward the spirit of their flagship restaurant with a menu tailored for the Bowl’s most exclusive section. Each is designed to make dining at the Hollywood Bowl part of the performance, not just the prelude.

Another Decade Ahead

Even after a decade, the work hasn’t settled into autopilot. Each summer brings a new set of tweaks—sometimes as ambitious as building out an entirely new marketplace, other times as subtle as a seasonal menu shift. The goal is always the same: keep the food as fresh and exciting as the performances. Goin dreams of adding something as simple as a dedicated ice cream stand, though space and logistics for a venue serving nearly 18,000 people a night make such ideas tricky. Still, the spirit is one of constant iteration.

What keeps them coming back is the same thing that drew them in: the Bowl’s singular place in Los Angeles life. It’s an assignment that stretches them as restaurateurs—demanding speed, scale, and flexibility—but also enriches everything else they do. For the audience, the result is an experience where dinner and the downbeat belong together. The food no longer just fuels the evening; it rises to meet the music.

Looking back on that chaotic debut in 2016—David Gilmour wailing on stage while kitchens scrambled behind the scenes—it’s almost hard to believe how far things have come. What began as a “restaurant nightmare” has grown into a model of how food can elevate a cultural institution. And the story isn’t ending anytime soon: Goin and Styne have signed on for another 10-year contract at the Bowl, ensuring that the dining will continue to rise to the music. For Los Angeles, that means another decade of meals under the stars, where the food is every bit as memorable as the performance.

22 Aug 2025