Can’t Get Into Pijja Palace? Order the Souped-Up Delivery Menu for Instant Gratification

While it might be tough to snag a table at Eater LA’s restaurant of the year, Pijja Palace’s relaunched delivery menu is available to scratch everyone’s Indian sports bar itch. The delivery menu offered through Caviar includes the restaurant’s best-selling green chutney bar pie, as well as a slew of brand-new dishes like a pineapple chutney bar pie and a habanero chutney bar pie. On the pasta front, chef Miles Shorey and the culinary team have created three hearty offerings including keema lasagna, malai baked ziti, and masala mac and cheese.

The restaurant previously offered a delivery- and takeout-only pan pizza known as the thicc boi, but retired the build-your-own Sicilian-style pies with the introduction of this new menu. The restaurant’s full menu is always available for takeout as well.

A dim sum legend is down for the count

Popular dim sum palace Elite Restaurant caught fire on Monday morning on the 700 block of South Atlantic Boulevard in Monterey Park. The blaze, which was reported around 8:30 a.m., ignited in the kitchen and spread to the building’s attic space, a chief with the Monterey Park Fire Department tells KTLA. The Alhambra Fire Department, Montebello Fire Department, and Los Angeles County Fire Department extinguished the fire in about 45 minutes.

Free Korean rice cake soup on New Year’s Day

All six Southern California locations of the highly regarded Korean barbecue chain Baekjeong Korean Barbecue are giving away complimentary samplings of tteok-guk on January 1, 2023. The savory soup is made with beef stock and rice cakes and garnished with julienned egg, seaweed, green onions, and black pepper, and is traditionally eaten on Seollal (Lunar New Year). The soup’s white color signifies purity, cleanliness, and a fresh start for the new year, while the round rice cakes symbolize wealth and prosperity.

Baekjeong Korean Barbecue

A new executive chef at Birdie G’s in Santa Monica

Matthew Schaler is the new executive chef at Birdie G’s in Santa Monica. Schaler launched the restaurant’s fermentation program and will continue to develop Eastern European-inspired dishes for the menu. Previously, he served as the restaurant’s opening sous chef and chef de cuisine. Before joining Birdie G’s, Schaler worked as a lead line cook at Fishing with Dynamite and sous chef at Michael’s. Chef and co-owner Jeremy Fox will continue to oversee both Birdie G’s and Rustic Canyon restaurants.

Christmas Eve specials at Ryla in Hermosa Beach

Swing into Ryla this Christmas Eve for a duo of festive specials including a koji-glazed prime rib with mashed potatoes and a matcha bouche de noel with mascarpone cream, dark chocolate bark, and black sesame macarons. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

Rugelach-inspired ice cream at Genghis Cohen

Genghis Cohen, the Chinese American restaurant on Fairfax, is bringing back its Hanukkah ice cream collaboration for the third year running. This year the restaurant’s owners teamed up with Konbi on a limited-edition Hanukkah flavor called Thuggish Ruggish Cohen. The rugelach-inspired flavor features milk bread ice cream, chocolate fudge ripple, and toasted-salted-cracked almonds. The pints ($17) pint are available for pick-up orders via ChowNow.

Genghis Cohen