You won’t see a cantina band playing, but you will need to check your lightsabers at the door: The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art officially opens to the public Sept. 22, and with it comes Skywalker Grill, an American restaurant perched atop the sprawling $1 billion project from George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson.
Much like the 300,000-square-foot museum — with a diverse collection that spans neoclassical art, manga, Banksy and beyond — Skywalker Grill isn’t dedicated to “Star Wars,” the director-producer’s most famous creation. The American restaurant’s name is more in tune with Lucas’ Marin County farm and film-production compound, Skywalker Ranch, though both are named for “Star Wars” protagonist Luke Skywalker.
For heavily themed intergalactic-inspired dishes, you need to drive to Anaheim where vendors at Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge sell Grogu cookies and Bantha milk. Here at Skywalker Grill, overlooking Exposition Park and the skyline of downtown L.A., die-hard fans get a more personal taste of Lucas by way of ingredients from his own cattle farm, his own vineyard and even his own honeybees. He and Hobson also helped guide the dishes through multiple menu tastings and provided emotional insights and memories, resulting in items such as a chicken-and-mushroom crepe inspired by a Bay Area restaurant Lucas and his daughter love.
“It’s been incredible to be sitting at a table and talking food with George and Mellody,” said Diego Cardoso, a culinary director who helped bring the project to life. “You almost pinch yourself. You’re like, ‘How did my career bring me here?’ You could very easily see a seven-course tasting menu-only style restaurant there with that environment, but that’s not what the vision is. The vision has been clear from day one, and that is inclusivity, it’s approachability, the dishes that people connect to.”…