Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney Are Embracing Their ‘Scary, But Exciting’ Next Chapter at Something About Her

There’s finally something about her. Or, rather, Something About Her.

After more than two years of being in the works, Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney‘s sandwich shop is officially open for business as of Wednesday. 

“Relief, surreal,” Katie rattles off, describing how it feels to no longer be in a holding pattern with the restaurant, the opening of which was delayed by a series of red tape issues with the city of West Hollywood. ET chatted with Katie and Ariana on Tuesday inside the store, which has been (aesthetically) complete for nearly a year.

“The whole vision that we had, from the music to the decor to, obviously, the sandwiches, everything was really thought out,” Katie says. “I think that’s what we want people to come in and finally be able to just be a part of it.” 

“I’m excited for people to sit down and enjoy themselves,” Ariana jumps in. “Have a great sandwich, maybe a glass of wine, and then be able to go out on the rest of their day in a better mood.” 

The duo says the Instagram-ready space — the menu of which features about a dozen signature sandwiches and drink options from celeb-founded brands Avaline and Loverboy — is designed to bring out the “delusional main character energy” in every customer, which is, in part, why they hired the man behind some of director Nancy Meyers‘ most iconic sets, production designer Jon Hutman. And, yes, Nancy is aware. 

“Every single day, we’re romanticizing lunch,” Katie quips. “The idea did come from someone else; they were like, why don’t you see who does her movie sets and go to, like, the guy? And I’m like, that’s a really good idea, so one day I emailed him.”

A cold email (“Katie really shot her shot,” Ariana notes) turned into a perfect pairing, with Jon bringing the same vision he applied to films including What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give and The Holiday to Something About Her. The restaurant is already quite intimate, at only a few hundred square feet, but Jon’s Parisian-inspired café vision only adds to the cozy vibes.

“It’s Complicated, that was a really big one,” Ariana shares of the inspo behind their mint-green hued interiors. It makes sense that the 2009 Meryl Streep-led rom-com would be a fruitful jumping off point, seeing as her character ran a sandwich shop of sorts, too. The ladies point to the romantic, candelabra lighting and garden-style trellises that line both walls as their favorite details. 

Katie and Ariana hosted a soft opening last week for family and friends to get the full Something About Her experience, with famous faces including Andy Cohen, Lindsay Hubbard and their former Vanderpump Rules co-stars Kristen Doute and Stassi Schroeder popping by to grab some gourmet grub (“The Viola,” a hot turkey sandwich, was the crowd favorite). Noticeably absent, however, were some of their current co-stars, namely Lala Kent and Scheana Shay. The pairs (Katie and Ariana, Lala and Scheana) are seemingly taking time apart from one another after the events of season 11. 

“I think people are going to read into things regardless,” Katie offers when asked if the invites (or non-invites) should be read into. “But no.” 

Something About Her opens at an interesting moment for Vanderpump Rules. The Bravo series wraps its 11th season next week, when part 3 of the reunion airs, and there are no plans to pick up cameras for season 12 anytime soon. That means, for the first time in the history of the show, the cast has the summer off. The newly-minted business parters agree, they’re entering a “new era, new chapter.” 

“It feels very unknown, and while that might be kind of scary, it’s really an exciting time, because I feel like anything can happen,” Katie says. “I feel really positive about it.”

“It is all very new for us, as well, obviously, this being our first place that we’ve ever owned,” Ariana adds, “and we’re doing this for the first time, so it is really exciting. Of course, there’s things that we’re coming up against for the first time, and it’s scary, but it’s also fun and exciting, to just get over those hurdles for the first time.”

Bravo hasn’t confirmed who, if anyone, from the ensemble will return for season 12, as speculation swirls that some stars may be done and others may move onto other shows, like the recently renewed spinoff The Valley. Eagle-eyed fans realized Katie and Ariana removed the series’ name from their Instagram bios, but the two suggest, that shouldn’t cause alarm.

“I do that every time the show kind of starts to wrap up and come to an end,” Katie explains. “I didn’t put a lot of thought behind it. I didn’t know that, like, everybody else– I never really paid attention to what other people had in their bio, to be honest.”

“I wanted to definitely move this [to the forefront], you know what I mean?” Ariana adds, motioning to her surroundings. “I wanted to look at what’s current, what’s happening, what I’m doing right now, and have those things be the spotlight.”

Katie will hold down the Something About Her fort over the next couple of months, as Ariana takes on hosting duties for Love Island in Fiji, and then returns to Broadway as Roxie Hart in Chicago for the month of August.

“We’ll just do, like, a livestream of me up there,” Ariana jokes, pointing to an imaginary screen in the shop.

“No, she gets like my, like, five-minute-long voice notes of just, they’re like mini podcasts of just, like, ‘So this is the update…'” Katie explains of how they stay in contact. So far, business has not affected their friendship — and they plan to keep it that way.

“I think it’s always, trying to keep a level head about things and keep the big picture in mind,” Katie muses of making it work. “Obviously, I’m someone who has worked hard to regulate emotions and really try to apply that, and really be extra mindful of that when it comes to this, specifically.”

“You know, that it’s not really about your feelings all the time, even though it matters,” she continues. “But just trying to be productive in our conversations.”

“I think we’ve lucked out that both of us, really, have the same overall vision for how we want this place to succeed,” Ariana adds, “and where we see it going and, you know, I think the Cancer-Capricorn connection, I think we really balance each other well.”

Something About Her is now open at 640 N. Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. The Vanderpump Rules reunion wraps up on Tuesday, May 28, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Extended and uncensored versions of the reunion episodes are available on Peacock, along with all episodes of the series.

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