As usual, we have our weekly roundup of Plywood around town. See something going in or coming out? Please do drop it in the tip jar. Photos welcome.
DOWNTOWN: On our last check in with Gabe Morales (Polo Lounge, Fenix, Boa, Republic/Romanov), he sounded hopeful that his modern Latino restaurant Provecho would open in May. Current status: "We are pushing to try and finish this place up. We are looking to possibly open the doors around the middle or last week in August." [PLYWOOD]
HOLLYWOOD: The phone message at the original Aroma Bakery & Cafe (the one in Encino, not the one on Tujunga in Studio City) still says this new location in the former Rock-n-Roll Denny's (7373 Sunset Blvd) will open "soon." A staffer tells us "in about a month." [POST-PLYWOOD]
MID-CITY/GROVE: It might not be opening until spring 2009, but here we have recent snaps of work-in-progress at Suzpree, Suzanne Tracht and Preech Narkthong's new pan-Asian street food concept on Beverly near the Grove. [PLYWOOD]
MID-CITY/GROVE: Now that the vegan bakery Babycakes NYC will open its first LA outpost in a former tire shop on Beverly and Gardner instead of the corner location at Beverly and Spaulding, the latter space was available. For what, we don't know, but there is work afoot. Anyone with details, feel free to drop in the tipline. [PLYWOOD]
CULVER CITY: Last year, Bruno and Florence Herve-Commereuc, founders of Café Angelique downtown, were going to openLe Saint Amour in West Hollywood, but that didn't work out. They found a home for the French brasserie on Culver Boulevard and hope to open this August. Florence says they'll have beer and wine, and will open for lunch and dinner six days a week. [PLYWOOD]
We ran into Let's Be Frank's Sue Moore and Larry Bain at Intelligentsia yesterday, and they told us the little hot dog cart they've been setting up across from H.D. Buttercup is now a full-scale catering truck that's, yep, ready for the road. Keeping in mind the one-hour limit the Board of Supervisors put on catering trucks in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, they had to pick their next neighborhood carefully and decided to set up next to The Other Room on Abbot Kinney in Venice. While the truck isn't painted yet (logo of Frank to come), people definitely found them, especially the drunks---one guy offered shots of Patron to the cook on duty, and Bain said he saw a drunk bicyclist smash into a wall. Ah, Venice. Look for the LBF truck around 7pm Thu-Fri-Sat nights, open late.
· Readers, Let's Be Frank [~ELA~]
· Let's Be Frank on Abbot Kinney? [Chowhound]
SANTA MONICA: The Hillstone Group, backers of Houstons restaurants, will finally open R+D Kitchen in July, so says this help wanted ad. The restaurant replaces the short-lived SBE-owned Montana Café and previously Yu Restaurant. Last we looked (in December) the space was completely gutted and reps said they were shooting for a summer debut. But note the name is now R+D Kitchen and not Cafe R+D like others already in operation. More details soon. [EaterWire]
SANTA MONICA: A Plywood update: Jason Travi says demo is complete and construction on the new Italian restaurant (in former Scarboni space) will start in a few weeks. For an opening date, he's just telling everyone "by the end of the year." [EaterWire]
WEST HOLLYWOOD: After talking with a few of the chefs from the 5x5 Collaborative this weekend, it's official that the next dinner, scheduled for Bastide, will be postponed. Since Walter Manzke is one of the five chefs who participate, and he's no longer at Bastide, they'll resked when he lands wherever he lands. The next one is in July at Melisse with special guest Douglas Keane from Healdsburg's Cyrus. [EaterWire]
A small item in today's Los Angeles Times mentions that Piccolo Ristorante has waged a campaign to get themselves removed from the Zagat Restaurant Survey, but the Zagat's won't budge. The tiny restaurant just off the Venice Beach boardwalk received a 27 in the 2008 survey for Southern California, which placed them one spot below Angelini Osteria and one above Tuscany in Woodland Hills. But owner Vittorio Vioni says the numbers "just don't add up." He tells us that Zagat ignored his first email and it was only after he sent the letters to the LAT and other publications that he got any response, which was at first "short and rude," but Nina Zagat herself eventually called to help rectify the situation. Tim Zagat tells the Times that Angelini's food rating was 27.0253, Piccolo's 26.8831 and Tuscany's 26.8325 and added: "[Piccolo's] obviously a very, very good restaurant. We would hate to not include it." Call it pride: Vioni cited U.S. right of privacy laws to Zagat, and still wants out of the book.
Hey, look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Mega Plywood! Welcome to tomorrow's restaurants today. Got something on deck and can't wait to tell us about it? The tip line is always open.
HOLLYWOOD: Everyone who ever walked, drove or stumbled past the Arclight over the last couple years has seen the Club Sushi sign hanging on the front space next to Charcoal. In 2007, it said "Coming in 2006," and recently it said "Coming in 2007." But it's 2008 and still nothing. A few tipsters saw some action recently, lots of construction workers, etc. We now know it's from the same owner as Club Sushi in Hermosa Beach, which has been around since 2006 serving everything from sushi to pizzas, pastas, salads and sandwiches. Peek inside: The space attached to the Arclight is huge. [PLYWOOD]
HOLLYWOOD:Tokio on the Cahuenga Corridor is slated to become Ecco, "Hollywood's first eco-friendly lounge." According to LAist, the lounge will have an organic menu, use eco-friendly cement, LED lighting, waterless urinals and air-pressure toilets. Entourage's Adrian Grenier will document the reconstruction for his new show Alter-Eco. [PLYWOOD]
For those that lament the fact that LA really has nothing like the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco, hopefully by 2010, we'll have the Westside Market Hall. Backers of this 60,000-square-foot compound for food artisans and vendors, restaurants, farmer's stalls and other purveyors are David Paris and Dave Reiss, investor and owner, respectively, of The Brig, Beechwood, The Del and the Alibi Room. From the project website:
Using a smart environmentally-sustainable design, we envision the Westside Market Hall as a place where singular vendors can come together under one roof to sell high quality products. The idea is to target local vendors that are best in their category. This may include a top echelon purveyor of artisanal cheeses and charcuterie, a bakery, and various vendors selling locally and sustainably grown produce. In addition, select purveyors of diverse and international product lines will complement the local farmers and artisans. These outstanding tenants will be situated on either side of a central corridor within a high-ceilinged market hall flooded with sunlight from the street-facing windows. We will construct and maintain an attractive courtyard and plaza area for casual dining and community events.
This is an exciting thought, for sure. No tenant announcements yet (although Reiss will do a restaurant, concept still unknonw), but what would you like to see there? Comments board is all yours.
· Westside Market Hall [Official Site]
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]
Here we have some bonus weekend Dish. Got a little debut dish dying to get out? Window #2, please.
CULVER CITY: Cafe, shop, art space all in one, Royal/T opened its doors for LA Art Weeekend. The menu is "influenced by Tokyo's Akihabara district"; they call it "Japanese comfort food with a California twist" i.e. rice bowls, sandwiches with wasabi mayonaise, green tea desserts. And it's true: The servers wear maid outfits. (8910 Washington Blvd., 310.559.6300)
MID-CITY: The former Soul Vegetarian is now Vegan Village Internet Cafe, still owned by Jewel Thais-Williams but under new management. The menu sticks to non-meat, no-dairy fixin's but includes BBQ dumplings, "hot wings," tostadas, burritos, tacos, "faux shrimp and fries," smoothies and ice cream. (4061 W. Pico Blvd., 323.766.9377)
BEV HILLS/VENICE: We heard rumblings about this last summer, but it's official: Conny Andersson left his exec chef position at the Beverly Wilshire hotel with plans to open his own place in Venice this summer. No specifics yet on the where or the what. Chef de cuisine Brian Moyers is now in charge at The BLVD. [EaterWire]
WEST HOLLYWOOD: The Wokcano on Third Street had a small fire today, noticed by the folks at Innovative Dining Group (who own Sushi Roku, etc.) who called the fire department. Wokcano staffer says there was some minimal smoke damage and they hope to reopen by tomorrow. [EaterWire]
SILVER LAKE: From a tipster: "Last night driving west on Sunset I saw that Cardone's Deli had newspaper on its windows. Seems that the scruffy Silver Lakers in this park of SL didn't provide enough business. I went there several times and was satisfied with my sandwich but parking was a pain and they were often out of ingredients. Hopefully another deli takes the space because we need it here in Silver Lake." [EaterWire Inbox]
VENICE: Today the LAT reported on all the chefs that traipse through the kitchen at Joe's, but they failed to mention that the new permanent chef de cuisine is Mike Bryant, late of Bin 8945 and Norman's. We're told he started a few weeks ago. [EaterWire]
TOPANGA CANYON: Another chef mentioned in that article is Mark Gold, who's been at Joe's after leaving his post at Leatherby's Café Rouge in Costa Mesa. In addition to opening his own place in Sherman Oaks, Eva, this spring, we heard Gold is about to start at the Inn of the Seventh Ray. Another interim post? [EaterWire]
BEVERLY HILLS:Matthew Gladstone just started as executive chef/director of culinary operations at the Luxe Hotel on Rodeo Drive, replacing Michelle Francis, who just started in at the beginning of the year. Gladstone swears he didn't know exactly what he was getting into when he helped launch Happy Endings in Hollywood, and he left after only a few months. New menu should start this week. [EaterWire]
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Know about a restaurant opening or closing in your neighborhood, or other LA scene gossip? Let's hear it.
SANTA MONICA: The Hillstone Group, backers of Houstons restaurants, will finally open R+D Kitchen in July, so says this 
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." 
CULVER CITY: Cafe, shop, art space all in one, 
WEST HOLLYWOOD: The Wokcano on Third Street had a small fire today, noticed by the folks at Innovative Dining Group (who own Sushi Roku, etc.) who called the fire department. Wokcano staffer says there was some minimal smoke damage and they hope to reopen by tomorrow. [EaterWire]
