Downtown’s Next Opening Raises the Question: How Much Italian Is Too Much?

More (and more) Italian

It looks as though there’s even more Italian food coming to Downtown Los Angeles — a neighborhood that already has every name from Bestia to Rossoblu to Maccheroni Republic to Knead & Co. to Colori Kitchen to Terroni on down. This one’s called Nadine, and it takes over the former The Briks space near L.A. Live in South Park.

There’s not much to know about Nadine at the moment, but other than an ABC license for a full line of alcohols and a few scattershot job postings that describe the restaurant as a “market driven and affordable plates inspired by multiple regions of Italy.”

Work at Eataly

Want to work at one of the most anticipated new openings in Los Angeles? Eataly is hiring up at the Westfield Century City, and they’re even doing an open call today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for prospective employees.

Soom Soom to Beverly Hills

One Mediterranean restaurant swaps for another in Beverly Hills, as the now-closed Couscous a GoGo flips into Soom Soom, says Toddrickallen. Expect shawarma, falafel, and the like.

More pasta talk

Here’s a fun Q&A with Felix lead Evan Funke. The Robb Report piece details Funke’s obsession with pasta, his time spent learning the craft, and the culmination of it all into his hit Venice eatery.

A passing

Longtime local chef Toribio Prado has died. Prado was perhaps most famous for his Caribbean cooking, despite growing up in Michoacan, Mexico. He opened the long-running Cha Cha Cha on Virgil Avenue. Prado was also the opening chef of the famed Ivy restaurant many years ago.

Prado reportedly left home at 14 and ended up in Florida, moving to California two years later and taking a job at Hugo’s in West Hollywood. From there he moved to French-loving Le Restaurant, and ultimately to the Ivy. Despite the recent demise of Cha Cha Cha in Virgil Village, Prado remained an important part of the greater Los Angeles restaurant scene. His nephews still run the Pinches Tacos empire as well. He will be missed.

Cha Cha Cha