LA's Influential Red Medicine to Shutter on October 31

A major Los Angeles closure to report: The LA Times reports chef Jordan Kahn's Red Medicine will permanently shutter at the end of next month after a four-year run in Beverly Hills. In a statement to the Times, Kahn confirmed that "with new building ownership and the accompanying overhead cost increases, we have accepted an offer and plan to sell the restaurant." He did not elaborate, however, on his own future plans.

Red Medicine was well received in its short stint (it enjoys a spot on LA's current Eater 38), but perhaps best known for refusing to serve Times critic S. Irene Virbila in late 2010. In an accompanying Tumblr post — which included the anonymous critic's photograph — co-owner Noah Ellis wrote: "She was recognized, and at while standing by the door, I was able to take this photo of her. At this point, I asked her and her party to leave, as we don't care for her or her reviews." The incident rippled through the food writing community, with Virbila saying that "nothing remotely like my evening at Red Medicine has ever happened to me." (Earlier this year, Jonathan Gold, writing for the Times, praised the restaurant, saying "there has always been something a little punk rock about Red Medicine, but it has become hard to imagine the Los Angeles restaurant scene without it.")

Per the Times, Kahn will announce his next project "in the coming months," while partners Ellis and Adam Fleischman (of Umami Burger fame) will continue to run their respective restaurant groups.