Bring Your Own Truffles to Valentino, East LA Burrito Fears, and More A.M. Intel

Valentino debuts a BYOT option

That’s Bring Your Own Truffles. Rather than taking on the initial cost of all those truffles, Piero Selvaggio's Valentino in Santa Monica says guests can now bring their own Alba white truffle to the table — they’ll even display it on a little table pillow while it waits to be shaved. There’s a $30 charge for the service, of course, but if you’re the type of person bringing your own truffles places, that seems like a small price to pay for luxury. Of course, you can also just do the $295 six-course truffle experience, should you not feel like bringing your own.

What’s up at Twain’s?

Remember when Twain’s in Studio City went away and never came back, leaving the Googie dreamboat to fall into the hands of corporate healthy Mexican chain Sharky’s? Well there was some worry at the time that Sharky’s would tear down the popular icon, but then came news that they planned only to rehab the place.

Except… now that’s apparently not happening. If you’ve driven past the restaurant lately you certainly won’t see a brand new gleaming Sharky’s sign, and rumor has it the company has backed out completely now. So the question remains: what’s up with Twain’s?

Turn it down

Need a quieter evening out, maybe for some older folks or young children who can’t stand being pounded with noise and music? The LA Times went ahead and put together a list of whisper-worthy restaurants, from JTYH in Rosemead — they serve dumplings and bap and noodles — to The Raymond, the upscale dinner spot in Pasadena.

It’s almost San Pedro drinkin’ time

Brouwerij West, which has taken over an old warehouse at the Port of Los Angeles, is moving along swiftly, installing their brewing equipment and their upcoming taproom details simultaneously. Below is their mash filter, which means they should be able to get started in just a few weeks.

Mash filter installed. We hope to get this brewhouse started in the next couple weeks. #whenwillyouactuallyopen #brouwerijwest

A photo posted by Brouwerij West (@brouwerijwest) on Nov 6, 2015 at 10:02am PST

An ugly way to ask

One hapless Redditor, who apparently is moving to L.A. next week, asked the Reddit Los Angeles community what the "crime to burrito ratio in East LA" was. As in: is it safe enough to eat burritos in one of Los Angeles’ most historic and important neighborhoods? Commenters rightly backed up East LA as a welcoming place for all — and repped LA Azteca Tortilleria pretty well, too.

No more Buttercelli’s

After taking over the former Leda’s space in Sherman Oaks, Buttercelli’s Bakeshop enjoyed a four year run doling out organic-only pastries and desserts. Now they too have fallen by the wayside, with a quiet shutter that went down back in September.