Oscar Winner Joaquin Phoenix Celebrates Award With Vegan Burgers

As seems to be a ritual after big Oscars wins, actor Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, his fiance, enjoyed some vegan burgers last night after his Best Actor win for Joker. Though In-N-Out was the often the pick of post-awards snacks, Phoenix and Mara chose to eat Monty’s Good Burger, likely delivered from its popular Koreatown location. Phoenix gave a confusing but ultimately heartfelt speech about everything from gender inequality and racism to queer rights, focusing a large part to animal rights. Looks like the two enjoyed their plant-based burgers in style.

In other news:

Stan Lee

— Phorage, the Westside popular Vietnamese restaurant from Perry Cheung and Eric Cho, opened February 3 inside a mixed-used development in West Hollywood next to their other restaurants Dumpling Monster and Tikifish. While this outpost will feature much of the same menu as the Palms original, Cheung tells Eater that he’s also built out a totally separate pop-up kitchen where both he and visiting chefs can host dinners in coming weeks and months. In addition, Devon Espinosa has developed a 10-drink cocktail menu here so that locals can imbibe something a bit more interesting than iced tea with their pho, vermicelli noodles, or banh mi. Opens 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., (11 p.m. on weekends), with the bar serving from noon to 11 p.m. (midnight on weekends). 7326 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood.

— A new Mexican restaurant with inspiration from Guadalajara, Jalisco goes into the former Sonny’s Hideaway space in Highland Park called Nativo, reports L.A. Taco. Owners Paredes and Corrissa Hernandez also own Xelas bar in Boyle Heights.

— Despite their best efforts to build a solid fanbase, Grand Italiani is closing in Canoga Park. The owners attempted a “hail mary” to generate enough buzz on social media, but the last night of service was February 9. Grand Italiani was a San Fernando Valley offshoot of the popular Andre’s in Beverly Grove.

— Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho was still drinking by 2 a.m. when he spilled out of SoHo House in West Hollywood, at least doing his best to “drink until the next morning,” in its speech. [TMZ]

— Coral Tree Cafe has closed in Beverly Hills, according to Toddrickallen. The popular sandwich spot still has outposts in Brentwood and Encino.