What would a new season be without some restaurant-week action? DineLA has announced its winter dates, January 24–29 and January 31–February 5. While details haven't been finalized, expect a similar showing of more than 200 restaurants, most likely offering three tiers of three-course prix fixe meals. Check back here for more information soon.

At Voyeur, an S&M-themed A-lister in WeHo, the usual Young Hollywood suspects wouldn’t dream of keeping their eyes wide shut while performers enact bondage scenarios on elevated platforms and in a glass booth; dark, ornate furnishings upholstered in haute fabrics add a loungey element to proceedings dominated by a DJ-driven dance floor and top-tier promoters.

7969 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood; 310-255-1110

• See more details
• Snuck a look at Voyeur? Write a review
• See more new nightlife in Los Angeles

The biggest restaurant news of the week is the opening of Thomas Keller's Bouchon in Beverly Hills. Running a close: the opening of a second location of Nate 'n Al. After 64 years of serving corned beef and pastrami, lox and bagels to the movers and shakers of Beverly Hills, the most quintessential of delis has expanded to the 'burbs – and the deep 'burbs at that, in a Rick Caruso developed maxi-mall (2200 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks; 805-494-3354).

• – By 2018, 43% of Americans are expected to be obese. [NYDN]
• – Gordon Ramsay has lost his right-hand man. [Bloomberg]
• – The Senate is considering requiring beef to be tested for E. coli. [NYT]

• – Top Chef contestants aren't being paid for the TV dinners that feature their faces (and recipes). [Time]
• – First canned pumpkins, now an Eggo shortage looms. [NYDN]
• – The art of complaining to a restaurant. [Guardian]
• – A modest proposal for fixing restaurant and bar smoking bans. [Eater]
• – Related: the science behind banning smoking outside. [Time]
• – Ever wonder what it would be like to cook dinner for Thomas Keller? [Esquire]
• – Talking cooking with Coolio. [Fork in the Road]
• – NBC's newest cooking show, United Plates of America, will give away a four-restaurant chain. [Reuters]
• – Hey, so, while you eat that sushi, this guy here is going to swallow a sword. [WSJ]
• – Starbucks continues to roll out its unbranded coffee shops. [Diner's Journal]
• – If New York loses its lawsuit, Tavern on the Green will become Tavern in the Park. [Crain's]
• – Restaurants embrace Twilight. [NRN]
• – Martha Stewart is not a fan of Rachael Ray. [ABC News, via EMD and GS]
• – The Rolling Stones, the wine. [Examiner]
• – Pork belly and other over-served dishes. [Between Meals]
• – Students arrested for not paying their tip. [Philly]
• – Plastic wishbones: what will the kids fight over? [SE]

Marked5 food truck

Photo: courtesy of the truck

In the U.S., we eat our burgers on fluffy, puffy, white-flour buns. Apparently in Japan, they prefer rice buns. Which are not so much "buns" as they are "patties" made from handfuls of long-grained rice, formed into White Castle-like squares. At the food truck Marked5, they're quickly cooked on a grill until they're tannish-brown, and then used to support slabs of Angus beef marinated in torraku ("truck") sauce – teriyaki with a fiery overlay of peppers – along with pork katsu, tofu burgers and piles of chicken curry. There are shrimp spring rolls and shrimp chips and fried lotus root as well as Japanese soft drinks (which look like bottles filled with melted crayons) to wash it all down. For dessert, there's Pocky – pastry sticks coated with sweet, crunchy things. The Marked5 truck journeys through the streets of LA – and in turn takes us on a journey to Roppongi and Shibucho. To find the truck, check www.marked5.com and twitter.com/Marked5.

– Merrill Shindler

Photo: courtesy of FI:AF

It's that time of year again. On Thursday, November 19, the latest crop of Beaujolais Nouveau begins pouring into wine glasses the world round. To try it, head to the Petersen Automotive Museum where $20 in advance ($30 at the door) buys you a glass of 2009 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau served in a souvenir wine glass, and $3–$5 buys you dishes to match prepared by chefs from the Club Culinaire of French Cuisine. To sweeten the deal, there will be free entertainment from 7 PM–midnight (6060 Wilshire Blvd.; 323-656-6083).

Bouchon's roast chicken

Photo: courtesy of the restaurant

Nearly two decades after he cooked at Checkers in Downtown LA, über-chef Thomas Keller is returning to SoCal, bringing the third edition of his upscale French bistro, Bouchon (the others are in Yountville and Las Vegas), to an elegant Beverly Hills space across from the Montage Hotel; expect high ceilings, ornate wall treatments, a raw seafood bar – and the sort of buzz Keller generates wherever he goes; N.B. this location doesn't have a bakery, though one is planned for the future.

225 N. Canon Dr., Beverly Hills; 310-271-9910

• See more photos
• Been to Bouchon? Write a review
• See more new restaurants in Los Angeles

• – Marcus Samuelsson will be working the kitchen at Obama's first state dinner. [Obama Foodorama]
• – The fight for Cadbury intensifies. [WSJ]
• – Chipotle sets its sights on London, Europe. [NRN]

• – Costco drops Coke. [AP]
• – Related: Coke bottles, 1899–1986. [Pixdaus]
• – Milk producers wish they could sell their product "raw." [NYT]
• – Hooters is having trouble in Vegas. [Eater]
• – A canned pumpkin shortage looms. [Diner's Journal]
• – Putting things in perspective with the Fat Map. [HP]
• – Jamie Oliver wants to help you find a date. [Marketing]
• – A Shake Shack in Boston looks increasingly possible. [GS:B]
• – What a $20 Thanksgiving feast from Walmart gets you. [The Awl]
• – A word we'd like to quickly forget? "Koodie." [SE]
• – Foods named after people. [Mental Floss and Cakespy, via SE]
• – They found water on the moon...can you drink it? [Slate]
• – Making mushrooms with coffee grinds. [Chronicle, via Coldmud]
• – Making art with meat, some wires, a videocamera and a stove. [EMD]

Froma on Melrose

Photo: Claire Thomas

Opened by sommelier (and Wolfgang Puck alum) Francine Diamond, Froma on Melrose, a combination cafe, wine bar and market in West Hollywood, covers three squares a day, offering inexpensive Continental fare like a tuna tartar salad, bruschetta and panettone French toast; N.B. it’s open till 9 PM Monday–Saturday and 7 PM on Sunday.

7960 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; 323-653-3700

• See more details
• Fan of Froma? Write a review
• See more new restaurants in Los Angeles

Sona

Photo: courtesy of the restaurant

To celebrate the seventh anniversary of his New French flagship, Sona, chef David Myers is serving a special tasting menu Tuesdays–Thursdays throughout the month of November – seven courses for $77, including Maine lobster risotto with kaffir lime leaf, roasted duck with celery root–shiso salad and braised short ribs with cardamom-boniato purée. Feeling like there's not enough time to try it out? Though the restaurant is closed next week, good news: the offer has been extended through December (310-659-7708; reserve online).