Formosa Cafe Looks Sad, Evan Funke Back in Action, and More a.m. Intel

— Did the Formosa Cafe ruin a good thing? The old-school WeHo spot recently underwent an inside paint job that left the place a dull cement grey. They also switched up the menu and the booths a bit — a touch of modernization, maybe, but there’s no denying the place feels like a prison cell inside right now.

— Recent OC Heatmapper Stonehill Tavern is switching up their ongoing Discovery series, which acts like Maude’s monthly menus by crafting dishes with a single ingredient as its underlying source. From mid-August through the end of September, it’s all about tomatoes with their six-course tasting menus, which are targeted at $110 apiece.

— Evan Funke has been low-key since leaving his position at Bucato in Culver City, but recently began popping up on Instagram at Marc Vetri’s namesake restaurant in Philadelphia, working the handmade pasta as always.

House of Vetri. Honored. Blessed. @vetricucinaphl @marcvetri #pastafattaamano #fuckyourpastamachine

A video posted by EVAN FUNKE (@evanfunke) on Jul 21, 2015 at 3:32pm PDT

— LA Weekly’s Burgers & Beer festival gets to the grillin’ on Saturday, August 8 at the Coliseum of all places. Expect 40 breweries and burgers from everywhere, including Cassell’s, Bouchon, Plan Chef, The Tripel, and more. General admission tickets are $75 now, $80 at the door, but apparently you can buy a four-pack for $199 right now.

— The Special Olympics World Games kick off this weekend around L.A., which is pretty great. And, apparently, if you want to help out, all you’ve gotta do is eat at any Wolfgang Puck restaurant location (the Bar and Grill at L.A. Live, Nest at WP24, or Express at LAX/UCLA), where they’re donating 10% of sales to the World Games cause. Not bad.

— Downtown’s The Regent is hosting an awesome-sounding Riot Grill party on Friday, August 7. There are punk bands like Babes in Toyland, comedians, and a pop-up from Nadia G’s Bitchin’ Kitchen. It’s going to be … fierce. Tickets are on sale now.

— Silver Lake shop Dinosaur Coffee has been quietly selling daily pies from Nicole Rucker and her Cofax team, but this weekend they’re going for the blue ribbon by taking pre-orders of Rucker’s now-famous huckleberry blackberry ginger pie.

— The Arts District is reaching its inevitable zenith with the addition of a "community-centered bicycle lifestyle shop" called The Wheelhouse that’s coming into Factory Place. Of course, there will also be a coffee bar, of with (who else) Tyler Wells leading the program there. Look for an end of summer arrival.

— Apparently Wood & Vine is adding a deep-fried cheeseburger to their list of summer offerings, which: 1) doesn’t feel like a very nice thing to do to a beef patty, and 2) can’t be going over well with the Pantages pre-show crowd.