Mama Love’s reboot Love & Co. Kitchen & Cocktails to host a series of opening parties

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the Mama Love’s Kitchen reboot — whether it’s because you loved the restaurant back in the day or have always heard about its lore and wanted to try it — then there’s good news.

The new Love & Co. Kitchen & Cocktails that two of Mama Love’s founder Ahnawake Love’s grandchildren are starting is going to debut next week, starting with a series of parties that will lead into a soft opening and, finally, a grand opening on Sept. 22.

“We’re doing a Hollywood-style rollout,” said Adrian Love, who has spent some time in the movie capital.

Love said he’s both stressed and blessed trying to get the restaurant and music lounge open in the former Donut Whole space near Douglas and Hydraulic.

He and his sister, Kiavoni Judie, are doing some final painting and finishing touches, but they now have all their necessary licenses, including a liquor license.

Judie is the executive chef and their aunt, Kim Love, is a consultant to the business.

Adrian Love said when people ask him what to expect, he has a couple of answers.

One is “just a completely new experience.”

During the day, the space will be something like a coffee shop, including the return of doughnuts.

“We have doughnuts that we have been testing and testing,” Love said.

There will be a variety of African black teas and teas from Thailand, too.

The space’s drive-through will reopen along with the building for, among other things, to-go drinks. That includes alcoholic ones, such as spiked lemonade.

At night, Love said, it’ll be “more like a West Hollywood supper club.”

“That had a lot of inspiration into what I did.”

Think of a jazzy kind of cocktail vibe, with red floors and a bar of red, black and white.

There will be a business casual dress code in the evenings but not during the day.

There are a variety of events coming up, some of which will require tickets.

For instance, there are 10 tickets left for an Aug. 1 food-and-drink tasting with a candle-making class.

On Aug. 9, there’s a brunch tasting.

On Aug. 10, there’s a wine tasting.

Starting Sept. 15, which is his late Uncle Rudy Love’s birthday, Adrian Love said there will be a soft opening of the restaurant. That includes an Aug. 17 dinner.

The grand opening will be Sept. 22, which is the birthday of Love and Judie’s late mother, Shirley Love.

Tickets for each of the pre-launch events are at www.eventbrite.com. Search for Love & Co.

Instead of having private openings with invited guests only, Love said he and Judie wanted to follow their grandmother’s example.

“You know, grandma had an open-door policy. It was always open to anyone. We . . . want to keep that going.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 4:04 AM.