A Valley Restaurant Is Selling Legit Chicago-Style Hot Dogs for Memorial Day

The San Fernando Valley location of Gino’s East has become a haven for Chicago-loving food fans drawn to staples like deep-dish pizza, tavern-style pies, and Italian beef sandwiches. Now the Sherman Oaks restaurant is getting (albeit briefly) into the hot dog game with the introduction of its classic Chicago hot dog for this long Memorial Day weekend only. The ownership group behind this location swears that they’re going to be doing things the right way, meaning a poppy seed bun, Vienna all-beef dogs, and the usual assortment of vegetable toppings like sport peppers, bright-green relish, a pickle spear, and chopped onions — and don’t forget the celery salt. The dogs are available at Gino’s East this long weekend only, priced at $5.95 individually or at $10.95 as a combo with fries and a drink.

A drink and a show in Downtown

Woody cocktail and piano bar the Stowaway has officially opened in Downtown Los Angeles. Expect lots of dim lighting, Art Deco touches, leather, and candles inside the space at 416 S. Spring Street. Follow along on the company's Instagram for weekly rotating performers.

Talking food between LA and NY

Eater New York’s food critic Ryan Sutton recently appeared on The Amateur Gourmet, a podcast run by longtime Angeleno and food writer Adam Roberts. The discussion centers on where to eat in New York right now, while also diving into Sutton’s overall work as a food critic in 2022. Roberts has had lots of other food personalities on his podcast over the years (including Los Angeles Times critic Bill Addison), and also recently launched a home cooking YouTube channel.

OC news and events to know

The Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) is hosting its Next Generation dinner on June 5 at 6 p.m. The evening event at the South Coast Plaza penthouse space features food and drink from big Orange County names like Terrace by Mix Mix, Tableau, Popular, and Hamamori, in addition to a multi-course dinner from chefs Amar Santana (Vaca Group) and Tony Esnault (Knife Pleat). The high ticket price (starting at $475 for the all-inclusive night) helps C-CAP to continue its mission of offering funds, mentorship, and culinary arts job training to underserved high school students, including over $600,000 in scholarships just last year.

Elsewhere in Orange County, cookbook author and chef Nandita Godbole — operating under the name Curry Cravings — is hosting a monthly series of pop-ups called the Great Biryani Flip. The idea is part cooking class, part dinner series, with attendees actually learning the nuances of regional biryanis over the course of the evening. Seatings for the Irvine events are limited and the menus change, so diners (only 15 at a time) can book the next event for June now.

And finally, the well-known Newport Beach-based River Jetty Restaurant Group is on the move again. The team behind A Restaurant in Newport Beach and the forthcoming A Sunset along the Sunset Strip will open their newest project A Crystal Cove today. The upscale lunch and dinner spot features plush booths, plenty of seafood, and a glowing central bar that comes complete with artsy lighting and room for two dozen diners at a clip. All told the project holds 200 diners inside and more out on the patio, and is meant to be an anchor for the Crystal Cove Shopping Center at 7864 E. Coast Highway in Newport Beach. Chef Elvis Morales’ menu will move from starters like barbecued heirloom carrots to pizzas, pastas, skirt steak, and seafood, spread across daily lunch through dinner hours, plus brunch on the weekends.