WEST LA: Is adding a full-service restaurant to full-service movie theaters the wave of the future? First Charcoal at the Arclight, and now we have Westside Tavern going in the the Westside Pavilion mall, near the new Landmark Theatre. From the official release: " Westside Tavern will be an upscale, chef-driven, modern interpretation of an American Tavern with fare of casual sophistication and classic American sensibility. The restaurant – themed in mid-century modern architecture and comprising approximately 10,700 square feet – is scheduled to open in June 2008." Consilient Restaurants, the parent company, is helmed by Tristan Simon who has several spots in Dallas. [EaterWire]
MID-CITY: Every few years some restaurants need to spruce up. Luna Park, the SF-import that opened on La Brea in 2003, has added outdoor dining, a new wood-burning oven, and a new chef, Todd Butler. The menu is basically the same but has a few additions (pizzas and basically anything that can be cooked in a wood-burning oven). Make your own s'mores are still on the menu, and we hope plastic monkeys still come in the mojitos. [EaterWire Inbox]
DOWNTOWN: In addition to Sunset Junction and the Tofu Festival, the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo takes place this weekend. Open only to those in the industry, be it an independent café or a homogenous chain, the expo showcases everything you could imagine for restaurants: food, wine, liquor, floor mats, chef uniforms, spices, exotic teas, coffee, cutlery, you name it (we went a couple years ago). There are panel discussions, speakers and other professional stuff, but we're excited to see Sam Talbot and Mikey from Top Chef Season 2 throwing down in a cooking demonstration on Sunday. There's also some woman from the show who we have very little recollection of. Boys...should we meet at Craft for drinks? [EaterWire]
DOWNTOWN: We stumbled across this note on blogdowntown: "I can't say that I was all too surprised to walk outside today and find that the Camille's at 7th & Hope closed up within the last few days. The cafe opened in the summer of 2005 as an example of the new healthier food options moving into Downtown, but had never struck me as being particularly well managed." No word yet on a replacement. [EaterWire]
HOLLYWOOD: A note from one of our readers about a place we didn't even know existed: "To no one's surprise, Bice at H&H died and no one even noticed. They finally relinquished their abc license and tucked tail, etc." We think this closed years ago, like the Bice at the Paseo Colorado Mall, so not news exactly. However, this means one more liquor license might be available. [EaterWire Inbox]
GLENDALE: The same reader alerts us: "Red Carpet Wine & Spirits in Glendale got sold. David Dobbs has tried to sell it for a coupla years, and did so last year, yet that deal fell through. In fact, he and his wife live in Bakersfield." With new owners, the wine store is still open for business and still has weekly wine tastings. [EaterWire Inbox]
