Lunch at Daikokuya; Mercado on W. 3rd Opens Sept 4

WEST LA— Sawtelle newbie Daikokuya started soft serving lunch two days ago. Sure there's the tried and true ramen, but Midtown Lunch is especially keen on the rice bowls and also wonders who will now have the longest lunch line: Tatsu, Tsujita or Annex? [Midtown Lunch]

VENICE— With regard to BluePrint shacking up on Abbot Kinney, reps says that juice company will open its first brick and mortar this fall. [EaterWire]

MID-CITY— Mercado, the extension of Jesse Gomez's Mexican restaurant on 4th in the heart of Downtown Santa Monica, is set to hit W. 3rd Street on September 4. Seemingly a more promising concept that the ill fated Faux Pas Bistro, Rama, and Celadon. [EaterWire]

OUT AND ABOUT—Today in long reads: The NYT's FloFab and chef Thomas Keller sat down for a town-hall Q&A in Sag Harbor, where the duo discuss the changing food landscape, future trends, and Keller's distaste for the word "create": "I don't really think we 'create' anything. I think we are inspired about what we see, what we touch, what we smell, what we taste." [Sag Harbor Online via -EN-]