Downtown’s Next Bar Will Be a Super Intimate Bespoke Cocktail Journey

More bar

Hotel Figueroa’s Bar Alta is close to coming online. The Dushan Zaric-led cocktail space is far more intimate than Veranda or Breva, the airy 92-year-old hotel’s dining spaces, and seats far fewer people than Rick’s, the two-level cocktail club at the back of the property. Instead, this 28-seat intimate experience will feature lots of direct interaction with bartenders, and the use of functional tables and handmade roaming carts to bring the action to each drinker directly. There’s no official opening date for the project just yet but the space is largely complete, and (given its limited capacity) will be reservation only.

The OC side

The Daily Pilot tells the story of Jonathan Gold’s influence on Orange County, especially in light of his naming of Taco Maria as this year’s Restaurant of the Year.

Noodle deal

Silver Lake’s Wat Dong Moon Lek Noodle is celebrating nine years in business today. The popular Thai spot is doing half-off food all day long, but it’s for dine-in customers only.

Many miles

Menuism has a deep-dive into all nine important miles of Valley Boulevard through much of the San Gabriel Valley. That stretch (of over 25 miles in total) is in many ways the enduring lifeblood of the entire Chinese dining scene for the region.

Gwen for more

Hollywood hotspot Gwen is now open seven days a week. Curtis Stone’s elegant dinner destination is welcoming in new Sunday evening hours with complimentary pours of champagne ever Sunday this month.

Bake names

Long Beach Post loves Gemmae Bake Shop, the longstanding Long Beach bakery that’s been turning out Filipino dishs for more than a quarter century.

Oysters galore

Want inexpensive gin martinis and free oysters? Get to the Ace Hotel rooftop bar Upstairs on August 8 at 5 p.m. for a full-on seafood and gin bonanza thanks to Ford’s Gin. Yes, they really will be shucking 300 free oysters just about as fast as humanly possible.