Mark Peel helped codify the notion of American ‘urban rustic’ cooking

If you whittle down the list of restaurants that shaped modern Los Angeles dining culture — the places where the now-stereotypes of California cooking were once fresh revelations, from which influences continue to ripple even if younger generations have no knowledge of their origins — Campanile would hover in the top five, maybe even the top three. With his mastery of the grill and Silverton’s wondrous bread-baking and pastry programs, the pair codified the notion of American “urban rustic” cooking. Peel’s influence lives on in the chefs who passed through his kitchen, many whose names remain well-known in Los Angeles: Suzanne Goin of A.O.C., Matt Molina of Hippo, Bryant Ng of Cassia and Suzanne Tracht of Jar are among them. Peel never opened another restaurant with the seismic impact of Campanile, but he found a way to remain in the center of Los Angeles’ evolving culinary identity: For the final act of his career he ran Prawn Coastal Casual, a stall specializing in fried seafood baskets and shrimp salads, in Grand Central Market, among the vendors selling pupusas, galbi, bentos, tacos, adobo bowls and rigorously seasonal fruit pies.