Irvine's New $5 Million Food Hall, Dinner With Timothy Olyphant, More A.M. Intel

Irvine's $5 million food hall bet

Irvine is getting into the food hall business, locking in eight separate concepts across a few different OC chefs for a new market to be called TRADE. Though nearby 4th Street Market in Santa Ana has at times struggled to hold onto tenants, the new venture in Irvine plans to open big this fall with hopes of catching lots of curious diners in the area.

Eating healthy when you own a fast food chain

LA Times has an interesting look at Young Lee, the 56 year old CEO of Flame Broiler, and his attempts to eat healthy these days. It’s no easy task for the man given his position at the top of a franchise food model that offers nearly 180 outlets, but surprisingly there are some healthful options to be found on the Flame Broiler menu. Mostly, Lee says, he’s here to help folks think about how they eat, and to offer alternatives to the grease-laden restaurant traps of similarly-priced restaurants.

Super amazing social media

The Super Amazing Restaurant Show, a podcast by Eggslut and Easy's chef Alvin Cailan plus brothers Arjun and Nakul Mahendro of Badmaash, discuss the all-important topic of social media in the restaurant world this week. Among the best one-liners: "Teach me how to snapchat!" and "people think they know you based on social media." This podcast, currently only on Soundcloud, might be the most compelling inside look into the Los Angeles restaurant industry right now, with an unbridled, unfiltered take on hot topics. Get on it.

Chez Tex arrives tomorrow

Venice’s Chez Tex is nearly ready to roll. Per the company’s own Instagram page, the Venice wine bar (with lunch and morning coffee to follow) opens to the world tomorrow with a simple menu of smaller snack items to start. Take a gander at the interior below.

literal blood, sweat and tears, but here she is:: #CHEZTEX None of which would have been possible without the incomparable @texfel and @ashkan58, our family, and friends. See you all Wednesday!

A photo posted by Chez Tex (@cheztex) on Aug 21, 2016 at 5:22pm PDT

AMMO is a leading museum restaurant

Feel like sharing the love for AMMO at The Hammer? You can do so over at the Leading Culture Destination Awards, where the restaurant is up for museum restaurant of the year. Yep, it’s a very real (and prestigious) award, and you can lend your voice to the cause if you so choose.

Have dinner with Timothy Olyphant

Want to have dinner with a bonafide celebrity? Want that dinner to be cooked by Suzanne Goin, Dahlia Narvaez, Jon Shook, and Vinny Dotolo? All you’ve got to do is bid on this winning dinner as part of the larger upcoming LA Loves Alex’s Lemonade event. Just donate some money and you could be the lucky winner — or spend $10,000 and you’ll automatically win a night out drinking cocktails with Olyphant himself.

Rustic Canyon's big chef celebrations

If you can believe it, Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica is turning ten this year. To celebrate, chef Jeremy Fox and team are hosting a series of dinners with other chefs from near and far. October 3 kicks off the first one with Carlos Salgado and others, with an in-town party featuring Josef Centeno, Jessica Koslow, Walter Manzke, and and Ori Menashe on November 7. In December there will also be a dinner filled with alumni chef like Evan Funke too. Tickets are $125 a pop.

Isa Fabro's pastry prowess

Seems like Isa Fabro is on everyone's mind lately, as KCRW becomes just the latest media outlet to bend the pastry maven's ear. Her Unit 120 pop-ups and ongoing Filipino-inspired dessert specialties earn a closer look from the Good Food team.