VENICE— Abbot Kinney's under construction sandwich shop Belly Up has changed its name to Pork Belly's due to trademark issues. Owner Jon Swire recently acquired his City building permit and hopes to finish construction by the end of next week with a launch in late June. He expects his 300-pound smoker to arrive next week. Check out a version of Pork Belly's nearly complete menu. Sandwiches will be priced around $8.95. [EaterWire]
ECHO PARK— Vietnamese restaurant Xoia on W. Sunset is expanding its service hours to late late in the night. Hours of operation now run Tuesday to Saturday from 11:30 am. to 3 a.m. and Monday to Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. [EaterWire]
AROUND TOWN—Here's a piece in the The Daily Beast that calls 14 year old chef Flynn McGarry "America's Next Great Chef." On being called a "culinary prodigy," McGarry says: "I've come to terms with it... I'm not going around comparing myself to Mozart, but I do think that there is a little bit of natural talent… Like any other prodigy, I've worked ridiculously hard on this." [Daily Beast via -EN-]
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Robertson Boulevard caviar house Petrossian is acknowledging National Burger Day with a $75 caviar burger for sale only on May 29. Chef Giselle Wellman is behind this construction, which calls for a patty topped with Petrossian's Papierusse® "Caviar Sheet," butter lettuce, crème fraiche dressing, and a fried egg. Fries with caviar aioli come alongside. [EaterWire]]]>
Chef Cyril Kabaoglu is relocating his TriptikLA pop-up from Gram and Papas to Beachwood Café in Franklin Village. While his exact start date is still to be confirmed, TriptikLA will begin its residency at the end of May offering plates like this. Vegetarian and vegan options available, too. [~ELA~]
L.A. Loves Alex's Lemonade — one of the year's best tasting events which attracts major chefs from around the country — isn't until September 28, but already the chef lineup is coming together. As expected, there's a stellar list of participants like Chris Bianco (Pizzeria Bianco, AZ), Donald Link (Cochon, LA), and Michael Tusk (Quince, SF). The fête is back again at Culver Studios, and GA tickets are on sale for $175. Yes, it's a tad pricey, but based on the chef showing from past years, this one is worth it. [ELA]]]>
The summer vacation season is just around the corner. Many people will be killing time at the airport waiting for flights to take off, or perhaps, trying to survive unexpected delays. Thanks to recent efforts by LAX to improve the food and dining options, a slew of great concepts are signed up to serve at both the domestic and Tom Bradley International Terminal. Coming soon are places like Luckyfish by Sushi Roku, 800 Degrees, The Larder, Short Cake and more. But, until then, here's a list of what is on offer now with info about eateries in each terminal, and recommendations for where to go.
1) Nate 'n Al: Nate 'n Al, the Beverly Hills deli institution pushing 65 years, does a shortened menu of Nate 'n Al standbys, like corned beef and pastrami sandwiches. [Terminal 2, Departures Level Food Court]
2) Pink's: The famed Pink's on La Brea launched this first airport counter over a year ago with much fanfare. While it only occupies a small stand and serves an abbreviated menu, many favorites are on offer, thus Pink's is one of the better dining options around. Especially for grab and go. Best part, almost no lines. [Tom Bradley International Terminal, Departures Level Food Court, Second Floor]
3) Lemonade: Quickly expanding across SoCal, Lemonade opened early last year inside Delta's Terminal 5. This pared down version of the quick-casual gourmet salad spot offers sandwiches, soups and breakfast. The cinnamon french toast bread pudding is far better than a Starbucks cinnamon roll. [Terminal 5, Departures Level Food Court]
4) B Grill by BOA Steakhouse: This scaled down version of the popular West Hollywood steakhouse serves up burgers, chop salads, and steaks. [Terminal 7, Departures Level]
Coolhaus has teamed up with LA band The Mowgli's to create a custom ice cream sandwich which involves an oatmeal raisin cookie and bananas Foster ice cream. The Mowgli's are playing tonight at The Roxy and from 8 to 9 p.m. Coolhaus will hand out gratis ice cream sandwiches. [FITNR]]]>
Much like he used to pen for The Weekly, today LA Times Restaurant Critic Jonathan Gold publishes his essential dining guide to Los Angeles' 101 best restaurants from high to low, Santa Monica to The SGV. Gold revealed 23 of his favorite on Tuesday at Bite Nite, but here now the rest. Gold's top 20 read as follows:
Modernist Cuisine has announced they'll release a third book in October: an art book called the Photography of Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold. The book will contain 399 photos from their previous project and will be 60% larger than the original Modernist Cuisine. Eater National has a preview. [-EN-]
SANTA MONICA— Hm. This could be considered either early in the morning or very late at night. On May 26 Coast restaurant at Shutters will hold a 4 a.m. patio viewing party of the Monaco Grand Prix. For $55 guests score unlimited Champagne Henriot, a continental breakfast spread, choice of brunch staples, and a Shutters baseball hat. For those not looking to booze, land the same minus Champagne for $44. [EaterWire]
With so many ramen joints popping up left and right, it was only a matter of time before survival of the fittest kicked in. Ramen Jinya on Sawtelle recently closed up shop and, as noted by a commenter, the Miracle Mile soup server has too called it quits. Left standing is the original Studio City branch and a Costa Mesa location. However, per its website, Jinya is still expanding to New York, Vegas, and Seattle. [ELA]]]>
Earlier this year came word that steadfast European bistro The French Garden will shutter its 7th Street home to be replaced by Señor Fish. Last week LADTN reported that owner Benoit Lesure will pull the plug on May 24 with plans to relocate elsewhere in Downtown or possibly in Commerce where is has secured another location. [LADTN]]]>
Rock & Brews — that chainlet of rock-themed American pubs from KISS' Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, restaurateur Michael Zislis and music promoter Dave Furano — just debuted a third location in Torrance. In an interview with Food GPS the team reveals mega growth plans to open 100 location over the next five years. [Food GPS]]]>
The Mind of a Chef, the Beard Award winning PBS television series from Zero Point Zero, Anthony Bourdain, and WGBH, is back for a second season, and this time it will feature chefs Sean Brock (Charleston) and April Bloomfield (NYC). Eater National has the teaser trailer. [-EN-]]]>
BEVERLY HILLS—Kind of a great throwback deal. Lawry's The Prime Rib is celebrating its 75th birthday on June 11 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The first 1,000 diners will score Lawry's Cut prime rib dinner (Spinning Bowl Salad, mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding) at the restaurant's original 1938 price of $1.25 as compared to the present day cost of $42. [EaterWire]
Hey now, here's the Los Angeles Facebook page for 1 OAK, the exclusive Manhattan nightclub from Scott Sartiano, Richie Akiva, and local partner Darren Dzienciol, making its way to LA after hitting Vegas a year and a half ago. Not much posted yet except for a couple teaser photos, but have an early look at what's to come. [Facebook, previously]]]>
Prior to opening Trois Mec, chef Ludo Lefebvre tells Haute Living that he was actually looking to do "a little fried chicken concept" with partners/chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal, Son of a Gun). "I wanted something that would bring good hospitality to my guests but not in a frou frou way." And on the subject of future expansion, the chef explains that right now it's too early, "I won't look at anything for six months perhaps until this space is settled." [Haute Living]]]>
This morning Grub Street announced that with the exception of its New York branch, all local city sites are calling it quits: "It's with regret that Grub Street announces the closure of our local blogs outside of New York, in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Boston ... Later this evening, those blogs will redirect to Grubstreet.com ... This doesn't mean that Grub Street won't be covering these cities anymore: We'll continue to write about openings and other news from there and, indeed, the rest of the country."
On Thursday, those behind Quiznos and Smashburger are launching a new fast casual custom pizza concept in Denver called Live Basil Pizza. Similar in thought to 800 Degrees, patrons create bespoke 11-inch Neapolitan-style pizzas which are fired in under five minutes. The pies are topped with organic San Marzano tomatoes and other higher quality ingredients, and pizzas cost between $7 and $9. A few more locations are planned for Denver plus one on the West Coast. [NRN]]]>
Dads are often stuck in their ways of drinking poor drip coffee, standard American beer, and simple diner breakfasts. There's a nifty event going on this coming Father's Day from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. where Firestone Walker and Food GPS are putting together craft breweries and local coffee roasters, along with local chefs, for a "collabrewtive" brunch in the Arts District.
The Charleston chef/owner Jet Tila is about to open Kuma Snow Cream in Las Vegas' Chinatown on May 24, but he's also looking to take the ice cream meets shaved ice concept elsewhere. Tila says that Manhattan is high up on his list of places to expand and so too is LA. Tila is scouting less saturated areas like Studio City, OC, and around universities. [EaterWire]]]>
With an SLS Hotel already up and running in South Beach, this morning SBE announced a partnership with restaurateurs/developers Larry Levy (Levy Restaurants) and Bob Heyat that will bring Hollywood's Redbury Hotel to South Beach by early fall of this year. The Redbury Hotel South Beach will replace the Fairfax Hotel at Collins and 18th "with a design inspired by its Hollywood roots." However, no Cleo. Instead, the property's main restaurant, Lorenzo, helmed by chef Tony Mantuano (Spiaggia, Chicago), will serve Italian fare. Drinks by Michael Jack Pazdon (Goose & Gander, Napa). [ELA]]]>
PASADENA— Word on the street is that Paul Hibler and David Sanfield's popular Pitfire Pizza is set to replace Sizzler on S Arroyo Pkwy in the spring of 2014. However, Sizzler is set to shutter by the end of July. [EaterWire]
Age your own cocktails at Hotel Casa del Mar. The property is selling five liter American New White Oak barrels (holds about 40 cocktails) branded with one's name and filled with Negroni, Brooklyn, Old Fashioned, or Americano for $500 a pop. There's also the option to work with an in-house bartender to create another ageable drink. The barrels are stored inside the hotel's bar. [ELA]]]>
This morning at 9 a.m. the Hotel Bel-Air started to accept reservations for that power chef David Chang, Roy Choi, Wolfgang Puck dinner taking place on June 18 at the hefty tag of $190 a head. Sadly, for those that missed out, all seats are now taken. However, the property is making sure that all guests fill out a reservation form to secure a seat and those who fail to turn in the form will lose their reservations. So, if you want to be wait listed for the evening, just call 310-909-1644 and there's still a chance to get in. [EaterWire]]]>
On the season finale of Saturday Night Live, city correspondent and tweaked-out club kid Stefon got a big send-off. Nightclub characters referenced by Stefon throughout the years showed up, and this clip has everyone: human parking cones, Gizblow (the coked-up Gremlin), the evil celebrity chef Wario Batali, and more. [-E-]]]>
