It's that time of year again: The calendar is chock-full of every sort of charity food event imaginable. But which ones are worth it? Let's look at a couple upcoming events back to back and compare cost, menu, cocktails, beneficiaries, and overall fabulosity. We'll weigh in, you make the call.
La Vida Sake Petersen Automotive Museum, Miracle Mile, Thur, May 22, 7pm-10pm Cost: $60 in advance, $75 at door Menu: Nibbles from Maison Akira, Water Grill, Japon Bistro, Maru Sushi, Warun, Oiwake and others. Cocktails: Lots of sake, sake experts, sake sampling.
Beneficiary: Little Tokyo Service Center. Overall Fabulosity: Last year, it was Morimoto and Star Wars at the Science Center; this year it's sake and low riders at the Peterson Museum. As they said on Losanjealous: "We have no choice but to applaud the LTSC for managing to neatly encapsulate the essential ingredients and flavors comprising Los Angeles, our fair city, within this one event: fund raising, alcohol, small portions, numerous cars and Wilshire Boulevard will all be simmered in a melting pot of cultural influences with serious Latino and Asian leanings. Voila!"
HOLLYWOOD: This summer, Dakota at the Hollywood Roosevelt will offer dinner on the bridge overlooking Tropicana Bar and the David Hockney pool. Full dining experience Thu-Sat nights with---brace---access to the Tropicana Bar after. Also note: New(ish) exec chef Jason Johnston streamlined the menu over the last few months, and chef de cuisine Jeremy Strubel recently came on board. Reservations are recommended for the restaurant, required for the bridge experience (323.466.7000). [EaterWire Inbox]
WEHO: Landmark gay bar Micky's burnt down last summer and sat dark for months and months, but we have an update from a reader: "Rebuilding has begun. It seems they are now expanding the bar to include a restaurant and take over the previously unused 2nd floor. Kind of along the lines of what Eleven did. They are doing some major iron work across the front work and it seems like the project is pretty big in scale." [EaterWire Inbox]
Last year, Skip Young told us all about bringing AsiaSF to Hollywood, a restaurant and nightclub taking over the former China Club space at 1600 Argyle. The owners were hoping for a fall '07 debut, then pushed to Februrary 2008, and now, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, it will probably happen sometime this fall. The Chron supplies a few new details: The architect is John Lum, who designed the original location, the two-floor space (bigger than the one in SF) will have a long Chinese red runway, big dance floor, and a 72-foot-tall dragon tail statue with LED lights at the entrance. And then we have the Ladies of AsiaSF, the "gender illusionist" servers and performers.
Geisha House put some bold new Asian script on the side of their building (some commenters suggested it's Chinese, which is odd since it's a Japanese restaurant; another tipster said "it's Japanese, modern style trying to be old prose"), and we wanted you to translate the definition, real or imagined. We promised sake and/or glory for the best and correct answers, all just a click away.
HOLLYWOOD: Wait, is King King (6555 Hollywood Blvd) on fire now? From Metromix: "I just heard from James Sinclair, owner of bar/clubs Element, L'Scorpion and La Cantina, that King King is on fire. There's no news on this anywhere. Does anyone know what's up?" One day after Basque burned down, just a few more after Off Vine did. Hollywood's hot, folks. On fire. UPDATE (Fri): A commenter walked by and said they didn't see a fire. [Metromix]
WEST HOLLYWOOD: Manzke and Co. started lunch at Bastide (Tue-Fri), which should be just lovely in that garden. And a bargain: The three-course menu is only $38. [EaterWire]
BEVERLY HILLS: Norbert Wabnig and Tony Prinicotta from the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills throws little tasting parties from time to time---we went to one loaded with truffles a couple years ago. Next one is May 7-8 and 13-14 featuring wines (reds and whites) and cheeses from Southern France and "other fresh surprises." Takes places on the Shakey's patio. $60, call 310.278.2855 for reservations. [EaterWire]
A-ha! Now we understand why the Dolce Group paintedGeisha House red. It's serving as a palette for some sort of Japanese/Chinese verbage! A story, perhaps? Not really. We have the translation, but let's have some fun: Post what it says (or what you think it says) in comments, and the best and correct answers will be rewarded with our most prized possession from the Eater office---pure glory. Oh, OK, maybe we'll buy you a bottle of sake or something next time you see us at Geisha. We'll announce the truth and winners later.
· Geisha House Goes Red, Really, Really Red [~ELA~]
· Two Is a Trend: Dolce Goes Red, Too [~ELA~]
A huge fire took out Basque Nightclub and Restaurant on the corner of Hollywood and Vine this morning. According to the LAT, firefighters were sent at 5:30am, battled the flames for more than two hours, shut down the crossroads, and used aerial ladders to pour water on the fire. It's suspected the fire started in the attic and no one was hurt. The go-go dancers, however, will have to find a new gig. While it doesn't have the draw it did when it first opened (parties for Lindsay Lohan, etc.), lines still form outside Basque on weekend nights. This is the second Hollywood venue fire in just a few days: A few blocks away, Off Vine suffered severe fire damage on Sunday. City Councilman Eric Garcetti told KCAL: "It's notable we have been having some fires in this area, and we will be looking into it."
· Firefighters control building blaze at Hollywood and Vine [LAT]
· Major Fire at Hollywood & Vine Burns Basque Nightclub [LAist]
· Fire burns nightclub at Hollywood & Vine [CBS2]
We got an email late yesterday: "I was having a late Sunday snack at the Waffle this afternoon with a friend when we noticed a HUGE plume of black smoke coming from behind Magnolia. I was parked right in front of Magnolia, so I decided to hightail it and moved my car a couple of blocks over. As I was walking back, I noticed it was the wooden building behind Magnolia (which I'm almost certain is Off vine) fully ablaze. Fire trucks came within 10 minutes and put out the fire within a half hour or so. I'd be really bummed out if this was Off Vine; I'm hoping they'll be back on their feet soon." Sad, but true: Off Vine suffered severe fire damage from the blaze that started around 5:20pm. The restaurant was full. From the LAFD blog:
Firefighters arrived quickly at the popular 'Off Vine' restaurant to find nearly 90 dinner patrons and staff safely evacuated from the 1,652 square-foot building, a century old one-story craftsman style residence with a modern attic conversion to form a two-story restaurant.
With much of the restaurant well-involved with fire, Firefighters mounted a bold offense against the stubborn flames that had taken hold of many recesses within the much-remodeled structure. The progressive fire attack, combined with strategic vertical ventilation, allowed Firefighters to confine the damage and extinguish the flames in just 34 minutes...Loss from the fire has been estimated at $450,000 ($300,000 structure & $150,000 contents). The cause of the swift-moving blaze was determined to be electrical in nature.
An eyewitness told LAist: "You could feel the heat taking over. It was scary how fast the fire engulfed the upstairs." Two firefighters suffered injuries, and dozens stayed to help salvage valuables like the wine collection and business records from the basement.
NEXT: Owner Richard Falzone says they will reopen >>
As opposed to the New York joints replicating across LA, George Abou-Daoud creates his version of New York for LA. Delancey is his second venture in a long line of plans, and it finally opens to the public tonight. Part of what we call the the Delancey Compound, the space, with its pressed-tin ceilings, dark wood floors, brick arches, leather booths and bistro tables, shows nothing of its former self. He calls it an "Italian gastropub" with an East Coast vibe, meaning it's the same kind of service as his other place, the Bowery, a few blocks away (no reservations or hostess, but table service), and a menu full of classics like spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parm, zeppole, and, as we tasted at a preview party last night, some excellent homemade cannoli. The chef gets a little fancy with dishes like speck with quail egg and tallegio cheese, homemade pastas, and filet mignon with procini butter, but only one passes the $20 mark. In the bar, there are even more spirits than the Bowery, 20 beers on tap, great wines by the glass. It might not be the old neighborhood, but once Abou-Daoud's done with Hollywood, it will certainly be a neighborhood.
Mario Batali explains why West Coast pizza pales in comparison to New York; until he makes some changes, that is: "Water is huge. It's probably one of California's biggest problems with pizza..." Batali himself encounters the water problem at his upscale New York restaurant Del Posto, where he makes traditional Italian food. The tap water in Manhattan is far different from that of the motherland. His solution: create his own mineral-water composite. Working from a chemical analysis of l'acqua italiana, Batali's team basically clones the H2O that gives the food in Italy its — well, its gestalt. He plans to do this at Pizzeria Mozza in LA... [Wired]
HOLLYWOOD: Getting testy with signage: "You know that Farmer's Market Kitchen that's supposed to have moved into the Sunset/Vine condos, like, forever ago? Staring at that dumb sign and empty storefront pissed me off enough to call the number on the sign: Someone actually answered and said the Kitchen will open in September." Delayed, again. [EaterWire Inbox]
VENICE: From a long-time reader, first-time tipster (but probably a shill): "A friend of a friend of a friend is working on a new restaurant on Abbot-Kinney in Venice set to be called Pascho to be opened in June. It's on the end of AK that is closer to Beechwood, on the block just beyond Stroh's. Great design with an OUTDOOR PATIO (!!!) in the back. The chef is from the W and they are planning charcuterie (no word on whether it's house-made) and tapas. To be casual yet high end. It should fit right in." [EaterWire Inbox]
EVERYWHERE: California Pizza Kitchen is saying "Thank You" to its fan base through May 16 by giving a "surprise" envelope for every check---which must remain sealed until the giftee's return to a CPK---with prizes that range from discounts to a whopping $25,000 payout. Either is better than the "surprise" topping Mike recently found on his chipotle chicken pizza. [EaterWire Inbox]
Sometimes there's just too much Plywood in Hollywood right now, and the only way to tackle it is in one fell swoop. Consider these mostly updates of projects we've been tracking over the last year or so. We're barely scratching the surface here, so if you know of something coming, changing, debuting, do let us know. Now on to the Ply:
1) Loteria Grill: The GM for Jimmy Shaw's Farmers Market offshoot says everything is full steam ahead for the Hollywood Boulevard Loteria, that opening should be mid- to late-May. We noted much cleaner Plywood than the last time we swung by, which is always a good sign, and peeking through the cracks you can see a lot of progress inside. Some early details from Shaw: There will be a counter like at the Farmers Market location, plus table seating and servers, an open kitchen, full liquor license for beers and good tequila, and a slightly expanded menu but all the favorites from the original. We noticed Walk of Fame stars for Perry Como and Jimmy Hendrix serve as borders for the storefront. That has to mean something. [PLYWOOD]
2) East: Just a few doors from Loteria is David Judaken's (Mood, Garden of Eden) new Asian-inspired concept. He tells us he basically built a new space from two elongated retail spaces. The chef he's been working with, Kevin Lee from Vegas, "thought out of the box…didn't regurgitate other people's menus." This means Chinese family-style, with Japanese and Thai-influenced dishes. Opening probably late-July to early August. [PLYWOOD]
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La Vida Sake
Last year, Skip Young told us all about bringing 
HOLLYWOOD: Wait, is 
HOLLYWOOD: Getting testy with signage: "You know that Farmer's Market Kitchen that's supposed to have moved into the Sunset/Vine condos, like, forever ago? Staring at that dumb sign and empty storefront pissed me off enough to call the number on the sign: Someone actually answered and said the Kitchen will open in September." 
