Ari Taymor Part of Forthcoming West LA Torrisi Knockoff

On Friday afternoon chef Ari Taymor (Alma pop-up) met with Kaveh Karimi of Santa Monica Pizza Kitchen and Kristina's Italian Kitchen to discuss overhauling the latter, on Overland in West LA, into a new to-be-named Italian eatery modeled after Torrisi in NYC. Though Taymor says he is still in negotiations on this deal, Eater hears it's pretty much inked. Concept specifics are still up in the air at this point, but supposedly the plan is to create a more affordable version of Torrisi where, in Manhattan, the Italian deli by day and white hot prix fixe by night charges $65 per head for a menu like this.

While still several months away from inception, the plan is to retool Kristina's into an entirely different eatery with about 65 seats and probably 18 beer taps. In the meantime, as the space undergoes its facelift, Taymor will likely stage pop-ups at Santa Monica Pizza Kitchen to test out his multi-course menu. [EaterWire]