Miles Thompson Emerges With New All-Outdoor Dinner Pop-Up In Echo Park

In the neighborhood

Miles Thompson is back in Echo Park, working on a new all-outdoor barbecue pop-up at Valerie Confections. The daytime cafe spot doesn’t usually offer any kind of dinner, but for the next several weekends (starting August 16/17/18 and landing each of the next four weeks from there), Thompson, who was last seen on the Westside doing finer dining food and tinkering with a tasting menu, will be working a grill serving what he and owner Valerie Gordon are calling “Angeleno fare cooked over open fire.” Gordon will be providing pies and cakes. Also, on August 30, Moo’s Craft Barbecue will be popping up on site as well.

Tough times

Marie Callender’s continues to shutter locations left and right as part of its new bankruptcy plans, including a slew of California outlets in cities like Arcadia, Placentia, Buena Park, Torrance, Whittier, and beyond.

Another one

Dogtown Coffee is expanding its footprint, adding a small new cafe space inside the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica tomorrow. Expect breakfast and lunch food as well as drip coffee and espresso drinks.

They like it

The NY Times spent a few nights at the new Palihotel in Culver City, checking out the amenities and dining inside. While the writer enjoyed a “perfect bar meal” at Simonette, the lobby French bistro, but comes away a bit perturbed at one particularly bad seating arrangement.

Goodbye Gratitude

Newport Beach’s Gratitude is closing on September 3. The restaurant will instead undergo some renovations to reopen as another location of Gracias Madre, run by the same parent company.

Newcomer alert

A popular Valley hot chicken specialist is taking over the former Rusty Mullet bar and restaurant space in Hollywood. Hot Motha Clucker in Sherman Oaks says it’s just about ready to roll, and that they’re hoping for an opening as soon as Monday.

A big feast

Lunetta is hosting an East Coast clambake on Wednesday, August 14. Expect loads of seafood (including mussels, clams, lobster, and more) on tables covered in butcher paper, plus lots of drinks and sides for $70 a head.