Coin & Candor is a “California brasserie” inside the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village, blending California-French cuisine with seasonal, locally sourced ingredients and wood-fired cooking techniques.
The name and concept of the restaurant is directly tied to the owner of the hotel David H. Murdock. Coin & Candor is a link to his humble start in life and rise to success. Born in Kansas City Missouri in 1923, Murdock recently passed away in June 2025, at the age of 102. Growing up after WW I and during the depression, he served in the US Army during WW II. After he finished his service he only had a nickel and a penny in his pocket.
His life changed when a Good Samaritan loaned him $1,200 to purchase a coffee shop that was closing its doors. With a keen sense of business and a flair in hospitality, Murdock reopened the restaurant, paid back his loan, and later sold the business with a $700 profit.
He soon invested in real estate opportunities and in the 1980's he took over the Hawaiian firm Castle & Cooke, owner of Dole Food Company. Through his leadership as Chairman and CEO of the company, he turned Dole Food Company into the largest producer of bananas, pineapples and other fruits and vegetables.
He said often, 'To this day, I have kept that nickel and penny in my pocket as a reminder of what can be created with nothing, and that today six cents is worth more than it ever used to be.'
With a personal interest in health and wellness, Mr. Murdock was active in investing to find cures for chronic illness. He opened the Center for Health & Wellbeing inside the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village, and was the driving principal for finding cures, advancing nutrition, and investing in longer life expectancy research.
He offered to the public a holistic and evidence-based approach, integrating health, fitness, mindfulness, balance, spa/relaxation therapies and nutrition into different programs.
His award-winning spa inside the hotel is the largest luxury spa in the Four Season portfolio. The elegant design features fireplaces in the spa suites, indoor and outdoor garden connections, a large adult-only swimming pool and onyx-accented treatment rooms.
His philosophy for eating healthy is practiced at Coin & Candor, and the restaurant welcomed Executive Chef Hugo Bolaños in February 2025. With over three decades cooking in some of the most esteemed kitchens in the world, Chef Hugo has had a stellar culinary career.
His journey began at Spago Beverly Hills under the mentorship of Wolfgang Puck and Lee Hefter. He also spent time in Paris at Alain Ducasse’s Plaza Athénée and Pierre Gagnaire, both Michelin three-star restaurants. These experiences sharpened his technical skills and refined his palate. Chef Bolaños later worked at Le Bernardin in New York City, learning from legends Eric Ripert and Eric Gestel, further cementing his reputation as a master of fine cuisine.
Now at Coin & Candor, he works with a handful of local farms and purveyors, grows his own onsite produce and has an artistic flair in the dishes he presents to guests throughout the day.
Guests who arrive for dinner will enjoy fine touches such as a complimentary amuse bouche. Be sure to order house-milled red fife sourdough bread with delicious butter. It almost tastes like popcorn butter with an essence of cheese.
Enjoy with a bottle or glass of wine from vineyards in France, Italy, Napa and Santa Barbara. The menu also features some creative cocktails and some interesting zero-proof beverages that include an Espresso Celeste made with Lyre's Coffee infused with oranges.
Starters from the caviar & raw bar selections include chilled Pacific Shigoku Oysters, Tuna Tartare, Kanpachi Crudo and Prime Beef Carpaccio.
Pasta dishes featured on the menu include housemade Bucatini Maine Lobster and Chantrelle with ripe heirloom cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and a handful of arugula.
The braised Italian Orzo looks like grains of rice, but is actually short-cut pasta. It's mixed with caramelized white corn, edamame, and a delicious and crunchy carrot top-almond pesto.
Salads are seasonal and if the Suncrest Peach and Burrata Salad is still on the menu, its a decadent bowl featuring slices of stone fruit, basil, Sarawak black pepper, Provencal olive oil and pickled Brook cherries. It's earthy sweetness and large sphere of white and creamy burrata makes this salad an ideal starter or light dinner fare.
Other healthier vegetable dishes include asparagus with an appealing gremolata topping. It's made with oil, lemon, toasted pistachios, and dried oregano sourdough crumbs.
Cooked seafood items on the menu include Maine Diver Scallops served in shells with an orange cauliflower puree and an oro blanco citrus sauce. Each scallop is topped with a garden herb gremolata and toasted chopped macadamia nuts.
The grilled octopus is served with roasted and tender fennel, preserved lemon for a citrus punch, and tomato pomodoro with basil oil.
Meat lovers will appreciate the succulent Colorado Lamb Chops with confit shallot. It's served with a pleasing Provencal herb mint complement sauce.
The menu also featured a Mezzi Rigatoni topped with a slow braised Lamb Ragout that dazzles with Parmesan Reggiano on top.
The Snake River Farms Kurobuta Pork Chop is sliced and served on top of a pour of maple-apricot gastrique. Slow braised Cannellini beans and braised Tuscan kale complete this crowd favorite entree.
You will enjoy every calorie intake when ordering the multi-layer chocolate cake with a white chocolate garnish, flecks of edible gold leaf and salted caramel ice cream. It is one of the best chocolate cake slices, as it is of so rich, moist and chocolatey.
Living to 102 is quite an accommplishment for Mr. Murdock. Maybe we should all practice his wellness philosophy built around five tenets: Nutrition, Life Balance, Medically-sound data, Fitness and Healing Spa Therapies. He practiced these tenets to achieve sustained, long-term wellbeing. A wise goal for all of us to achieve.
Four Seasons Westlake Village is preparing for festive holidays events and experiences. Kick-off 2026 with a four-day, three-night wellness stay at this luxury health and wellness retreat. Each day will focus on the latest science, fitness, nutrition and technology for transformative results to practice throughout your life.
