Move over bacon, there's something newsier. Got something for the EaterWire? In the tip jar, please.

SILVER LAKE: One more reason why we're lucky to have Intelligentsia in LA: We have the "best barista in America" right here. Kyle Glanville, barista and Manager of Espresso Research, just won the US Barista Competition in Minneapolis this weekend. What does one have to do to win such an honor? Wow the judges by preparing and serving four espressos, four cappuccinos and four original signature drinks of their own creation---all within a 15-minute timeframe. Next up is the World Barista Competition in Copenhagen, and if he wins that, he can start calling himself the "Best Barista in the World." Someone might dump coffee grounds on his head if he does, but he can still say it. [EaterWire Inbox]

WEST HOLLYWOOD: In case a three-martini lunch still sounds like a good idea---and really, when doesn't it---Laurent Tourondel's BLT Steak now serves lunch on the Sunset Strip. [UrbanDaddy]

GLENDALE: You know you wanted to know: Pinkberry is officially swirling at the Americana at Brand. By our count, almost all the AAB restaurants are now open, save for Frida and the kiosks. [EaterWire Inbox]

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· Not wowed by Grace, Hounds say give it another chance [Chowhound]
· Paring down the best, worst, non-existent chef's tables list [CH]
· Time for the Catalina Island queries [CH]
· Comparing Persian restaurants [CH]
· What do you do when you get a bad Yelp review? Do you care? [Yelp]

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Passing through downtown Culver City the other day, we noticed the new signage on Rush Street, but as you can see, there's still a lot of work activity happening in there. Plywood still up, no glass in those windows, etc. We're told there's still a couple more weeks of construction left, which makes it unlikely it bows this month. If it happens in May, it will be just barely. The former sign shop will have a large sidewalk patio, a 35-foot bar (the largest, they say, in Culver City), a lounge and dining room downstairs, and a second-floor lounge with CC's only roof-top patio, and that friends, everyone wants for summer.
· Plywood Report: Rush Street [~ELA~]
· Plywood Report Culver City Edition: Gyenari, Chipotle, Rush Street [~ELA~]

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From the people who brought you The Week in Craig, one of the all time great uses of the internet, comes The Week in Yelp, wherein Amy Blair takes aim at the ridiculousness that is the world of Yelp. Her intrepid Yelp-surfing, and words, follow:

Despite having had just about every other crappy job on the planet (telemarketer, newspaper deliverer, dish washer, um, dog counter), I have somehow never been a waitress. This is a little odd, since just about everyone else I know has put in some time waiting tables, and it's exactly the kind of thankless labor I pretty much seem destined to do. Anyway, I may never have been a waitress but I do have some restaurant experience. Many years ago, my brother used to work in the kitchen at Outback Steakhouse. And in college, when I would come home for winter vacations I used to work there during the daytime while the restaurant was otherwise closed for business, selling gift certificates to desperate Christmas shoppers. It was an awesome gig. Nobody was there besides the kitchen prep guys, and all I had to do was sit in the dining room all day reading a book, occasionally selling a gift certificate when someone wandered in. The kitchen would make me anything I wanted for lunch, always off the menu, and I mostly just sat around drinking Diet Cokes and getting paid a better hourly wage than I got at any of my other crappy jobs. Oh, and one other thing I had to do was answer the phone at the hostess station whenever it rang. "G'day mate, Outback Steakhouse, this is Amy, how may I help you?" was the standard greeting. Which is maybe the most humiliating thing I've ever been forced to say. And this is what I remember every time I tip my server, whether they were good or bad, I tip for every ridiculous "G'day mate" I was forced to utter.

Onto the whiners, bitching about bad service…

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After watching last night's Top Chef---eight chefs left, four men, four women---we couldn't help but wonder who actually has more balls this season. The men: Spike and Andrew all man-loving their departed friend Kiwi Mark, Blais' pink Crocs, Dale's big baby temper tantrums. Or the women: Lisa's scary looks, Stephanie's quiet determination, Antonia's confidence, Nikki's…well, we'll get to that later. They got back to basics with a classic Quickfire Challenge, but we (as well as the cheftestants) were disappointed that Restaurant Wars was replaced with Wedding Wars. Catering…again? There was lots of yawning, good and bad teamwork, and less profanity---although we did learn the meaning to Andrew's "culinary boner" and were introduced to "Popeye's wet dream." Chicago's Gale Gand guest judged, Gail, Tom and Pads critiqued, and there was some serious dramz at the judges' table. Antonia: Still in it to win it. On to the recap!

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Jonathan Gold takes a bite out of Father's Office 2.0 at the Helms Bakery complex in Culver City-adjacent, and the review (the food isn't quite there yet, but there are some interesting and delicious bites, and of course, the burger and beer are tops) is chock-full of classic Goldisms. To wit:

"With Father’s Office, which inspires the extremes of behavior often described by scientists studying overcrowded animal cages, there is no middle ground."

"Yoon could probably get away with serving his goat-cheese gratinée in telephone booths if he felt like it."

"...a table should be at least as easy to command as a parking space at the Grove the day after Thanksgiving — if you maintain the necessary levels of attention and aggression."

"I have heard from several sources that when Yoon visited Osteria Mozza and asked whether he could order the pasta tasting for just two people instead of for the entire table, as was printed on the menu, Nancy Silverton said: 'Only if you let me order a hamburger without cheese the next time I’m at your restaurant.'"

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The rumblings about Walter Manzke's exit from Bastide wafted through the air at Chefs & Champagne on Sunday. Bastide, which only reopened in September after closing for almost two years, owned by Joe Pytka, who's now gone through three top chefs in the restaurant's lifespan. We didn't have confirmation from either camp by the time it hit Eater on Monday morning, but it came soon after: Manzke (and wife Margarita) were out, Joe Shoemaker was in. Bastide got a solid three stars from the LAT---not quite the four stars it garnered with Alain Giraud at the helm, but not the one scathing star for Ludovic Lefebvre---they just added lunch, things seemed to be on track. So why and why now? The story from Joe Pytka's camp was that Manzke "left of his own volition," but several uninvolved tipsters suggested he was asked to leave. Manzke says "It was unexpected but mutual. I wouldn't have left if he didn't want me to leave." More insight from the chef, next.

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Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Two critics, one restaurant. This week both S. Irene Virbila and Jonathan Gold preview Brix@1601, a wine-centric restaurant that opened at the Hermosa Pavilion a few weeks ago. Miss Irene says Michael McDonald's food isn't breaking any barriers but it's good and well-executed. There's talk of sliders and steaks. Gold basically agrees, but also gives mad props to Caitlin Stansbury, "one of L.A.’s rock-star sommeliers, a whip-thin woman with the haunted eyes of a lead guitarist and the ability to make Greek rosés and South African syrahs seem like the most desirable liquids in the world." We took a quick look a few weeks ago, but there's nothing like a shiny new photo gallery to bring it all home. (1601 Pacific Coast Hwy, Hermosa Beach, 310.698.0740)
· First Look: Brix@1601 [LAT]
· Brix @ 1601: The Newest Home of Rock-Star Sommelier Caitlin Stansbury [LAW]
· Eater Inside: Brix@1601 [~ELA~]

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