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There's a lot of life coming to Little Tokyo right now, but perhaps no space has more energy at the moment than the still under-construction Baldoria on San Pedro. Situated at the base of a mixed use building in the former Aburiya Toranoko, the upcoming David King-backed cocktail and small plates shop is already starting to build buzz, thanks to a few key hires like sommelier Matt Bostick and chef Duke Gervais, plus some great timing. Here's your first look inside the construction zone, and what you can expect moving forward.
First, you should know that Baldoria will be all kinds of casual, with plans for lots of communal seating down the middle of the room and an ample patio out front. There's going to be an extended bar to one side, and nearly all of tables will bar-top height, meaning guests can stand or sit equally.
The back run against the wall (the part with the white tile) will have lower seating, but that's it. The long wooden top back that way is where the food will come from too, making that part of the restaurant a bit more of a 'sit down and enjoy' experience, though the whole restaurant will be open to diners looking to snack away.
As you can see the place is still under heavy construction (and they've got some scraps from the former tenant to get rid of still), but has plans to open roughly sometime in late April or early May. Once it arrives, Baldoria will join new next door neighbor Gingergrass in helping to anchor the southern edges of Little Tokyo along San Pedro Street.
Baldoria
243 S. San Pedro St.
Los Angeles, CA