CULVER CITY: Because they just can't get enough fresh to-go salads in Culver City, M Cafe de Chaya opened yesterday and stays open 8am-9pm daily. The second macrobiotic restaurant for the Chaya group has basically the same menu as the Melrose original, but there's more grab-and-go plus seating inside and out. (9343 Culver Blvd, 310838.4300; website)
ECHO PARK: Holding true to his word, Josef Centeno opens Lot 1 Cafe tonight. The a la carte menu looks enticing enough: Wild arugula salad with guanciale and jidori egg; roast chicken with chard; English pea ravioli; pepper-crusted steak with bone marrow toast. Centeno---whose bacos and tasting menus made serious foodies giddy at Opus---continues the same themes: The flat-bread "bacos" are available during the day, there's brunch on weekends, and Tuesdays are reserved solely for the tasting menu. (1533 Sunset Blvd, 213.481.8400)
Clare over at Rainy Days & Sundays has become quite the Centeno stalker (we kid; you're doing just fine, Grasshopper). She popped over to his new Lot 1, which opens next Monday, May 5 in Echo Park, and spotted the menus hanging in the window. Above we have the a la carte menu, served nightly except for Tuesdays, which is reserved for weekly changing tasting menus. The daytime baco menu has five choices (crispy pork belly and short rib carnitas; panko-crusted fish; crispy eggplant and escabece; lamb sausage; chicken confit). Weekend brunch looks interesting. Excitement is stirring.
· Flore, FoodJiva, Lot 1 Menu! [RDS]
· Big Baco News: Centeno in Echo Park [~ELA~]
Well it's a big no to the Michaelangelo space and to Casa downtown: Josef Centeno will open Lot 1 around May 5-6. From Rainy Days and Sundays: "He's teaming up with the building owner and her son on this venture. He told me it'll be a real mom and pop style joint with no fancy frills, just good food. Josef will be serving his famous bacos during the day, and an a la carte menu for dinner service every night except Tuesday---that evening will feature a by-reservation-only tasting menu (ressies won't be taken for any other day, just for the tasting menu). The weekend will offer a brunch menu, and Sunday evenings will be a family-style menu of homey stuff like roasted chicken." (1533 Sunset Boulevard, Echo Park)
· EaterWire: Centeno Still Searching in Silver Lake [~ELA~]
· Neuvo Latino Downtown [~ELA~]
· Josef Centeno Back to Bacos [RD&S]
Coffeehouses aren't new to the eastside nabes of Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Echo Park, but the caffeine game has been altered with LA Mill and Intelligentsia on the scene. We're eager to find out more about this new spot coming to Echo Park, per a reader: "This location (NE corner of EP and Baxter, across from Elysian Heights Elementary School) is notable for how far north it is. Posted permit indicates that this long-vacant corner lot was once a gas station and will now be a 'coffee shop'... developers of lot have put up a 1956 picture of the property when it was a gas station, along with a couple coffee cup graphics and the permit to build. Pictures indicate that they are building an outdoor patio area." What we've confirmed: This will be Fix Coffee. Not confirmed: Basic details, coffee of choice, timeline, owners. We know, so helpful.
ECHO PARK: We mentioned yesterday that El Prado looked like it was open but there was really no telling what it was, when it was, or what it served. Turns out that's exactly what the owners want: "Everything — drinks, food, music, and even the tableau set with bags of apples and a vintage bike — is subject to change. There’s no telling when." For now, it's Belgian brews, radish and butter sandwiches, maybe some charcuterie and cheese. [Daily Candy
ECHO PARK: A tipster emailed that Mitchell Frank's (Echo co-owner) wine bar in the former El Prado space (1805 W Sunset Blvd) opened last Friday night; another went by and saw lights on yesterday. With the gate pulled during the day and no one answering the phone, we don't really know if it's open, if the name has changed, or if there's wine to be sipped, but anything's possible. [EaterWire]
DOWNTOWN: While his brothers Tanino and Giacomino are busy readying their new Beverly Hills restaurant Gitano, Celestino Drago is working his new project---Drago Centro, scheduled to open between the two Arco towers at City National Plaza in September. [EaterWire]
MID-CITY: According to a tipster, the Kokomo Café move to the Eat Well location on Beverly and Martel will happen "sometime in the next week." We still haven't heard what's moving in to the Kokomo space at the Farmers Market. (Photo credit: Flickr) [EaterWire]
GLASSELL PARK: The low-key beer-lover's Verdugo Bar finally escapes the "soft open" phase and goes to six days a week starting April 8. There's also Beer Pong. Beer Pong! [UrbanDaddy]
WOODLAND HILLS: Valley sports fans will have to find another bar to overtake: Yankee Doodles will close after tonight's NCAA championship game. The Santa Monica location will remain open. [WHWC]
Welcome back to the Eater Dish, a look at some recent openings around town. See, taste, drink a debut? We're all ears.
ECHO PARK: A reader tipped us off about The Park's recent debut, an everyday neighborhood bistro that's casual, eclectic, run by three friends who did all the renovations by themselves (with the help of more friends). Classic Echo Park. The room has salvaged light fixtures, natural woods, "gentle colors." Chef and co-owner Joshua Siegel, who put in some time at Square One and SF's Firefly, came up with an understated and inexpensive the menu: spaghetti and meatballs, roast chicken, hangar steak. Hey, they know their 'hood. (1400 Sunset Blvd, 213.482.9209)
FAIRFAX/THIRD: The little bar that could finally will: Sheddy's, which announced a big St. Patrick's Day opening with the promise of cheap beer and wine, didn't open, but will make a second (or is it third?) attempt on April 1. Better not be an April Fool's joke. The locals are getting restless for the two-for-one discounts. [Blackburn and Sweetzer]
HOLLYWOOD: A tipster sends word that the Aroma Bakery and Café is planning a move into the former Rock & Roll Denny's/Roman's space on Sunset: I live across the street and just got their "intent to sell booze" notice---paraphrasing, of course. That would be a great addition to the 'hood. Plus the tagging was getting way out of control, not to mention the homeless setting up camp in the parking lot... bring the hookers back and it would've been the 90's all over again! (btw, I think it's the sister café of the one on Ventura in the valley, not the one on Tujunga — though I wish it were!)" That last part is confirmed: Second location for the Encino Aroma Bakery & Café. [EaterWire Inbox]
ECHO PARK: We've been queried but don't know the answer yet. Perhaps one of you sweet, sweet readers can help: "Any info on The Park in Echo Park? On the corner of Sunset and Douglas in the former El Autentico space. Soft opening this week. I live in the area and received a postcard." [EaterWire Inbox]
DOWNTOWN:Angelenic has full-on details about Seven Restaurant and Bar opening later this month at the corner of Seventh and Grand, an area first-time restaurateur Joseph Trahanian calls "the next La Cienega Boulevard." He's trying to bring a Westside or Hollywood vibe downtown, which means tufted leather booths, mirror-topped tables, "elaborate muli-tonal lighting displays," a lounge, DJ booth. Still waiting on a full liquor license, and although the menu isn't set yet, expect modern Italian cuisine. [POST-PLYWOOD]
CULVER CITY: Our first Plywood sighting of Rush Street was last September when a tipster told us an owner was from Ford's across the street, and it looked like it could open by the end of the year. Ahem. Here we have shots of the gutted space from a couple weeks ago. You'll see work is progressing at a fast clip, and we're told Rush Street will hopefully open in April. More details: Owners are Chicago native Brian McKeaney, who grew up in the bar/restaurant business (his family owns thirteen establishments on and around Rush Street), TV and film producer Ken Kaufman, and Tom Patchett, co-founder of Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station Art Complex. 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. Ah, now we see why it's taken so long; imagine the permits for that. Expect signature fresh-fruit cocktails, microbrews, wines, and updated bar food from chef Dave Northrup, lunch, dinner, late-night. Seriously. Culver City is shaping up to be its own mini bar-hopping mecca. (9546 Washington Blvd.)
Rick Huschitt, owner of 15 Restaurant in Echo Park emailed about our restaurant-for-sale query: "15 is doing excellent and we plan on being around a long time. One of the owners has to do some restructuring. The food is better than ever." We don't know exactly what "restructuring" is, but Huschitt sounds incredibly positive about it all. A new note on the website says the restaurant will start brunch soon. [Eater Inbox]
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FAIRFAX/THIRD: The little bar that could finally will: Sheddy's, which announced a big St. Patrick's Day opening with the promise of cheap beer and wine, 
