Apparently, the James Beard Awards Found No Good Restaurants in Los Angeles

Los Angeles chefs, restaurant owners, and workers were snubbed hard last night at the James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago. The prestigious annual ceremony (save for the past two years, when the awards program went on hiatus to reevaluate its approach) recognizes the restaurant industry with a variety of awards, including best new restaurant, restaurateur of the year, best wine program, and so on. Despite four nominees across various categories (Bryant Ng of Cassia and “Jazz” Singsanong of Jitlada for Best Chef: California; Angry Egret Dinette for Best New Restaurant; and Margarita Manzke of Republique for Outstanding Pastry Chef), all the Angelenos left completely empty-handed. The city was even shut out of the JBFA media awards for writers and broadcasters over the weekend.

It’s the first time since 2017 that no restaurant in the second biggest city in the country has come away with any hardware at the Beard Awards, though there are two overall bright spots with local connections. Phoenix-famous Chris Bianco did win for Outstanding Restaurateur, and he’ll be opening his Pizzeria Bianco at the Row DTLA very soon. Casa Vega was also previously awarded an America’s classic designation for its decades of excellence.

Everyone hearts the Horse

The New York Times is out with a new review of Hollywood hot spot Horses. Tejal Rao writes that while the celebrity-favorite, hard-to-score-a-reservation restaurant can feel “faraway and inaccessible” because it’s so popular right now, that should not discourage diners from trying to get in. The food and the energy inside are good enough to justify an attempt at a table, where on a good night “pure deliciousness and warmth” await.

A Sunset sandwich to savor

Picnic, the sandwich pop-up cooking out of Smorgasburg every Sunday, is popping up this summer at Hey Hey on Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park. Find East Coast-style heroes, baguette sandwiches, and sides for lunch starting Thursday, June 16, through the end of July.

New menus from Sunset to Downtown

Lavo Ristorante on Sunset launches both brunch and lunch this month. Lunch (beginning Monday, June 20) means a sub-$35 three-course prix-fixe menu with options like grilled branzino and wood-fired pizzas. Brunch starts Saturday, June 18, with options like a burger, salads, a zucchini blossom torta, and cocktails.

Meanwhile, the Belvedere at the Peninsula Beverly Hills has a new summer menu to know about. There’s an all-new brunch in addition to redone lunch and dinner menus that move through luxury touches like lobster and caviar flatbreads as well as staple dishes like a croque madame, nicoise salad, and truffle-rich risotto.

In Downtown, Rossoblu is starting up a pizza happy hour on Wednesday, June 15. Diners can score either a margherita or cheese pizza plus a drink (choice of beer, wine, margarita, martini, or spritz) for $25 at the bar daily, starting at 5 p.m.

Go Get Em Tiger is rolling out a robust new all-day menu at its Santa Monica location at 930 Montana Avenue. Expect the usual drip coffee and espresso drinks in addition to breakfast burritos, salads, slow-cooked lentils, sandwiches, and more. Check out the new menu below, and expect to see some (or all) of these items across other GGET locations in the near future.