A New Santa Monica Coffee Shop Transforms Into a Natural Wine Bar at Night

In a smart use of space not before seen in these parts, Please Enjoy, a just-opened coffee shop at 3008 Santa Monica Boulvard in Santa Monica from Jared Meisler (Bar Lubitsch, the Brig) and film producer Marius Markevicius, transforms into a wine bar at night. Offhand Wine Bar is also a Meisler project, but his nighttime partners are the founders of the wine and music collective Westside Winos (Khalil Kinsey, Justin Leathers, and Teron Stevenson). While the coffee shop is already operating daytime hours, Offhand will officially open tomorrow night.

The wine list will offer a rotating selection of natural wines by the glass, as well as craft beers, natural sakes, and wine-based cocktails. A food menu courtesy of chef Ralph Johnson (the Spotted Pig, the Pikey Public House) will feature snacks like marinated olives, cheese and charcuterie boards, a grilled cheese, and a leafy heirloom tomato salad. There will be a retail section of bottles available to purchase to-go, as well.

Offhand’s walls are currently decked out with artwork from photographer and film editor Vic Brown; the minimalist space will spotlight rotating works from local artists. In the coming months, Offhand also plans to host events with local chefs, restaurants, vendors, winemakers, and DJs. Offhand’s hours will be Monday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Detroit-style pizza for the college crowd and beyond

USC students (and those working or residing near the South LA campus) have a new Detroit-style pizza place to satisfy cheesy cravings: Detroit Pizza Depot is the brainchild of three Michiganders and offers crisp-edged square pies with standard and specialty topping combinations like the Stafford (Italian sausage, whole-milk ricotta, caramelized onion jam, Parmesan) and Easter Market (mozzarella, tomato sauce, mushrooms, feta, onion, and banana peppers). The pizzas are available for takeout and delivery via the Grand Food Depot shared kitchen space.

Detroit Pizza Depot

In other pizza news...

De La Nonna in the Arts District is launching a new Saturday-only lunch service this weekend, with a handful of new menu items that include focaccia sandwiches, a chopped salad, and a pizza topped with house-smoked trout, garlic cream, pickled onions, everything spice, and herbs. Come for the daytime garden patio vibes from noon to 4 p.m., when the menu will switch over to dinner service until 11 p.m.

Respected winemakers come to the Valley

This Thursday, October 20, Vintage Wine + Eats in Studio City is hosting legendary winemakers Rajat Parr and Abe Schoener (Scholium Project) for an in-depth tasting of wines from Parr’s regenerative Phelan Farm in Cambria, as well as Los Angeles River Wine Co. The event runs from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets ($80), available here, include tastings of eight wines, as well as cheese and charcuterie.

The Cat & Fiddle turns the big 4-0

Legendary Hollywood British pub the Cat & Fiddle turns 40 this week. To celebrate, it’s offering a series of specials on fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, and more starting this Thursday and running through Sunday. There’s also a lineup of live music, DJs, afternoon tea, and more; follow the pub’s Instagram for information.

Dunsmoor is now daily

Over in Glassell Park, chef Brian Dunsmoor’s self-titled, live-fire restaurant Dunsmoor has extended its hours to offer dinner service nightly; the restaurant previously only served dinner Wednesday through Sunday. The new hours are Sunday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. In addition, the restaurant has upped the number of seats on its outdoor patio.