Our Menus

Friendly, chic, with an attitude and style of its own, the atmosphere is heightened by delicious food classic dishes incorporating the highest quality ingredients and a carefully chosen wine list to compliment a full bar and signature cocktails.

About Our Chef

Ariel Contreras-Fox
Executive Chef, The Collective

When it comes to her culinary philosophy, Ariel Contreras-Fox always stays true to the simplicity of her roots. Born in San Francisco, Contreras-Fox lived in Columbia for six years, and then returned to California where she was raised in Santa Cruz. It was here that she first learned to cook from her mother and grandmother. “All of my favorite ingredients remind me of my childhood,” she says. “The fresh fish from the beaches of Columbia and the ripe avocadoes of California.” In the kitchen at The Collective, Contreras-Fox hopes to bring her talents of a refined background, while still spicing things up.

A graduate of the California School of the Culinary Arts in Pasadena, Contreras-Fox’s first professional role in the kitchen was at Globe Restaurant in Venice Beach. Her time working alongside chef and owner Joseph Manzare has been some of the most influential of her career. “We would go to the farmer’s markets everyday and doing that with someone who has worked closely with Alice Waters really taught me a lot.” For Manzare, the feeling was mutual. To this day, he credits Contreras-Fox as being one the best chefs he has ever worked with.

Contreras-Fox really prides herself on the quality time she has spent in professional kitchens, rather than the quantity of kitchens. She started as an extern at Globe Restaurant in 2003 and had been promoted to Sous Chef by the time she left in 2005. In September 2007, the James Beard Foundation recognized her for an outstanding contribution dinner at The Beard House. In 2008 she started at Nic’s Restaurant and Martini Lounge in Beverly Hills as a line cook. By 2008 she had worked her way up to Chef de Cuisine. After leaving Nic’s, Contreras-Fox took on her final position as a California chef.

It was at STK LA that she began working with The One Group, a leading restaurant group with properties in LA, NYC and Miami. After realizing her talents, The One Group asked Contreras-Fox to pack up her knives and move to New York City to take over the kitchen at The Collective.

Out of her professional career thus far, her work with The One Group is what Contreras-Fox is most proud of. Now at The Collective, she only wants one thing: to bring people together for a good time. “No matter the cuisine, as long as I know the ‘why’ behind what I’m doing, then I know the restaurant’s identity will come through,” she says. “When I begin to see people gathering together and smiling then I know I’ve reached my ultimate success.”