Whittier’s Long-Awaited Brewery and Food Hall Combo Should Arrive This Fall

Whittier’s long-awaited day

Chef Ricardo Diaz is hard at work down in Whittier, hoping to bring his long-awaited craft beer brewery and on-site food hall called Poet Gardens to life. Despite permitting and construction delays, Diaz now says via social media that the project will indeed open this fall. L.A. Taco followed up with the longtime Whittier chef, who also owns places like Colonia Publica, to learn more about the variety of micro-restaurants opening inside. Each is based on recipes from Diaz, though they will feature a variety of different cuisines, including pizza, dumplings, bread pudding, and of course tacos. Check out the walkthrough video below.

Big wins

Echo Park sandwich hit Konbi has landed atop Bon Appetit’s annual list of best new restaurants, out today. The restaurant’s famous katsu sando even graces the cover of the magazine.

Change is good

The James Beard Foundation is changing the way it deals with its annual awards, chiefly by rejiggering some of the geographic categories themselves. Starting next year, the awards will drop all of California into its own category, pulling out the rest of the western states into their own competition. That’s good news for places like Hawaii, where the comparatively limited number of new and noteworthy (according to the Beards) restaurants is always dwarfed by San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The timing matters

Here’s an early heads up that Baroo will be closed later this month for a full week, as the two-person staff is heading back to Korea to spend time with loved ones. Better get those lunches in now, just to be safe.

Be safe

A shooting in Echo Park during prime dining hours on Friday night left three people wounded. The incident occurred near a variety of busy restaurants, including Bar Bandini, Mohawk Bend, and Silver Lake Ramen 2 Go, reports KTLA.

Eating for less

My Little Dumpling has a new happy hour to know about, running daily from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Expect reuben eggrolls, dumplings galore, and a Beyond Meat burger all on the inexpensive side, along with $6 glasses of wine and $5 beers.

Ice cream news

Wanderlust Creamery is opening in Pasadena this Friday, and the first 100 folks in line will get a free scoop of ice cream for their troubles. The travel-inspired shop lands a small footprint right in Old Pasadena at 59 E. Colorado Blvd.,