CAROLINE STYNE

Raised in Los Angeles and educated in Santa Barbara, Caroline Styne planned a career as a professional in the art world but the restaurant business called to her. In 1994, she teamed with celebrated restaurateur Sean MacPherson at Jones, in Hollywood. While there, she was introduced to Suzanne Goin. The meeting was life-changing for both and led to the opening of their flagship restaurant, Lucques, in 1998.

With Suzanne’s culinary talent and Caroline’s business acumen they made a formidable creative team. The restaurant met with instant success and their efforts helped her partner to be recognized as one of Food and Wine magazine’s “Best New Chefs” 1999. Lucques received praise from Condé Nast Traveler, Gourmet, Bon Appétit and Saveur, including a prestigious 3 star review by the Los Angeles Times. Caroline has served as the restaurant’s sommelier and wine director from the beginning, and has received multiple Awards of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine.

The partners’ second endeavor was A.O.C., located on West Third Street in Los Angeles in 2002, featuring the groundbreaking concept of Caroline’s selections of inspired wines by the glass and Suzanne’s small plates menu. In its opening year, the restaurant received numerous favorable reviews and was named one of Conde Nast Traveler’s “50 hot tables and “best new wine list” by Food & Wine magazine. As at Lucques, the wine list at A.O.C. has received awards from Wine Spectator magazine. A.O.C. was inducted into the prestigious Restaurant Hall of Fame by the Los Angeles Times in 2024.

Tavern, the third venture by Caroline and Suzanne, opened in 2009. The Brentwood location serves as a casual neighborhood meeting place, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers a full retail market from the Larder at Tavern.

Two years later, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of A.O.C., Caroline and Suzanne moved their beloved restaurant a mile west on 3rd Street to the iconic restaurant space that formerly housed Joe Allen and Orso. With one of the most beautiful outdoor garden settings in Los Angeles, a cozy wine room upstairs, a new cocktail program and an acclaimed wine list of sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines curated by Caroline, the new space is an absolute hit and has been embraced by the public.

Suzanne’s second book, The A.O.C. Cookbook, also published by Alfred A. Knopf, debuted in October 2013 to glowing reviews in both the United States and Canada. The cookbook is a collection of seasonal recipes from the restaurant with wine notes by Caroline and a complete section devoted to cheese, a major component to the A.O.C. menu.

In December 2013, Caroline and Suzanne launched The Larder Baking Company, a new wholesale operation for the breads and bakery goods. The expanded production services all of their restaurants and retail operations in addition to supplying other restaurants and retail markets throughout greater Los Angeles and California.

Caroline has been written about in in GQ, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal and appears regularly on wine panels for her expertise, including Food & Wine Aspen, Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival, Los Angeles “The Food Event” Zagat, and ABC television.

As Wine Director, Caroline is nationally recognized for her expertise in the restaurants’ much admired wine programs. Food & Wine named A.O.C. Best New Wine List of 2003. The restaurant also received the esteemed Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator three times and was named among the 100 Best Wine Restaurants 2015 by Wine Enthusiast. When she

introduced an entirely new list at A.O.C. in 2013 that included only wines produced from biodynamic, sustainable or organic farming practices, the restaurant was praised by The Los

Angeles Times. In 2016, A.O.C. was named among best Wine Bars in Los Angeles by Thrillist and Eater LA. In 2019, Caroline’s wine list was honored by Wine & Spirits WSLA19 as number three among 50 best restaurants best places to eat and drink in Los Angeles. A.O.C. is consistently applauded for their imaginative craft cocktails that mirror the farmers’ market influence of Suzanne Goin’s seasonal menus.

Caroline’s hospitality philosophy and keen business acumen has been a major contribution to the growth of The Lucques Group since the opening of their first restaurant. Today, she oversees business affairs at the company’s operations in Los Angeles, all of which are considered among the best in the city. In 2014, Caroline was one of a distinguished panel of jurors for the James Beard Foundation that served as the judging authority for the year’s Restaurant Design Awards. She also shared other nominations with partner Suzanne Goin when Lucques was honored for Best Service and A.O.C. was acknowledged for Outstanding Wine Program by the James Beard Foundation. After five years of nominations for the James Beard Awards, Caroline received the coveted award for Restaurateur of Year in 2018 in recognition for her achievements with The Lucques Group.

Caroline and Suzanne, along with David Lentz – Suzanne’s husband and owner of The Hungry Cat – are co-founders of L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade, their fundraiser benefiting research for childhood cancer which has raised over $11.3 million since its inception in 2010.

In summer of 2016, Caroline Styne and Suzanne Goin and The Lucques Group debuted all new culinary and wine operations at the famed Hollywood Bowl with full service dining, takeaway foods and picnics.

In 2021, after shuttering Tavern for the duration of the pandemic, Suzanne and Caroline redesigned and rebranded the restaurant space as a Brentwood outpost of A.O.C., allowing them to offer their small-plates concept to the population on the west side of Los Angeles. This location has garnered more positive press including a glowing review from The Los Angeles Times restaurant reviewer Bill Addison. And in 2024, A.O.C. was named the #2 wine bar in America by Newsweek Magazine.

Following this in 2021, Suzanne and Caroline partnered with the Proper Hotel Group to open three concepts in their Downtown Los Angeles location, including the ground floor three-meal Caldo Verde, rooftop bar and restaurant Cara Cara, and Dahlia cocktail lounge.

Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne are founding members in the Independent Restaurant Coalition whose work was instrumental in achieving over $28.6 billion in government grant programs for restaurants and bars throughout the United States.

Caroline Styne is married to Michael Kohn, a contemporary art dealer and owner of the Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles. They have a daughter, Olivia and a son, Jules