Silver Lake Wine, Heirloom LA, Intelligentsia, and Pizza Shop All Hitting Highland Park

Just when you thought gentrification might be sullying Highland Park, think again. Hold your breath because breaking today is a super group of eateries and shops hitting Highland Park: Eastside stalwarts Silver Lake Wine, HPPO (by Heirloom LA), Intelligentsia Coffee, and a new pizza shop called Super Charley are all opening along Figueroa Blvd some time in the next year.

The Eastsider previously reported that Silver Lake Wine will open in a 7,500 square foot, one-story building on the corner of Figueroa and 60th Avenue. Silver Lake Wine's Randy Clement and Matthew Poley (Heirloom LA) teamed up to acquire the building and also occupy some of the spaces. Silver Lake Wine will indeed open a second outlet of their popular wine shop, offering tastings, bottles, and spirits for purchase.

Matthew Poley and Tara Maxey will coordinate with Clement to open a new full service restaurant named HPPO (for Highland Park post office, pronounced either "hippo" or by the letters), with outdoor patio seating, full cocktails, wine, and more, with space for up to 108 patrons. This makes the first public brick & mortar by Heirloom LA, who's been running a food truck and catering company on the Eastside for years.

In addition, the team will create an affordable by-the-slice and delivery deck oven pizza joint called Super Charley, a nod to the Silver Lake Wine team's past as sommeliers and front-of-house staff at the now defunct Campanile. "Super charley" was the code name for VIPs at the old Campanile.

Finally, Clement convinced Doug Zell to open yet another Intelligentsia outlet in the space, offering a key specialty coffee outlet just a few miles from the L.A.'s roasting operations in Glassell Park.

Together, these four concepts will surely energize the already burgeoning Highland Park, which has concepts like Kitchen Mouse, Donut Friend, The Offbeat, and Town Pizzeria open in the past year or so. In addition, The Juice and Recess are currently slated to open this year.