New Restaurants
New Nightspots
| Name |
Address |
City |
Phone |
| Bar 21 |
4108 W. Magnolia Blvd. |
Burbank |
818-972-3990 |
| Lou |
724 N. Vine Ave. |
Hollywood |
323-962-6369 |
| Republic |
650 N. La Cienega Blvd. |
West Hollywood |
310-360-7070 |
| Safari Sam's |
5214 W. Sunset Blvd. |
Hollywood |
323-666-7267 |
Coming Soon
Hatfield's
This spin-off of San Francisco's popular Cortez is the latest addition to what's quickly becoming LA's hottest Restaurant Row (7458 Beverly Blvd.), joining high-profile eateries like Grace, Angelini and Buddha's Belly; expect the kitchen to start cooking a Mediterranean–New American mixture by late May.
Spitz
Add one more destination to the increasingly cool dining scene in Eagle Rock when this doner kebab specialist (2506 Colorado Blvd., 323-257-5600) opens in June. A schwarma variation that's a cult dish in England, the doner kebab features lamb, chicken, falafel and the like served in a warm pita and topped with jalapeños, hummus, tzatziki or chile sauce.
The ubiquitous Wolfgang Puck is planning to open a new restaurant early next year in the Pacific Design Center space (8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood) that was last home to Charlie Palmer's Astra Restaurant, to be redesigned by architectural stars Thom Mayne and Cesar Pelli. As a spokesperson observed, "Nothing has worked in there, because no one knew there was a restaurant in the Center. When Puck opens a restaurant, people take notice."
Good Deals and Other News
Chef Christian Shaffer and his business partner, TV producer John Langley, are expanding into the wine business. Released at the end of April, the first vintage of their Magpie winery is a Sauvignon Blanc produced exclusively from grapes grown in the region between Ojai and Santa Barbara. In addition to Avenue, it is also carried at the Buffalo Club, Café Pierre and the duo's other restaurant, L'Auberge at Ojai.
After years of swearing it would never expand, this North SF Valley institution (long rated the top deli in the LA Survey) has announced it will open an outpost in the restaurant-poor Conejo Valley (2799 Townsgate Rd., Westlake Village) by early summer. Fressers, start your stomachs!
Chef Jean Pierre Bosc has added some of the most popular dishes from Mimosa, his bistro on Beverly, to the menu at his somewhat-more-casual Cafe des Artistes, which means Hollywoodians willing to toss their diets to the wind can now indulge in cassoulet, bouillabaisse, moules frites and boneless beef short ribs. In a secondary development, the new host at Cafe des Artistes is Ang Saint Jacques (Bistro Garden); Bosc and Saint Jacques last worked together 15 years ago at the long-closed Fennel.
After a decade of feeding garlic noodles and garlic crab to the rich and richer, this stylish Beverly Hills Vietnamese has opened a full catering service offering "everything from food, floral and invitations to entertainment, staging, lighting and decor – no event will be too small or too large." That includes Oscar parties as well.
Blair Salisbury (El Cholo, Barn Burner Texas BBQ, Dona Rosa) has opened a second branch of this casual taqueria in the Westfield Shoppingtown (400 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia; 626-215-0372), directly next to Santa Anita Racetrack.
The several branches of this central-casting bistro (Laguna Beach, Irvine, Burbank), along with sister restaurant Rouge (Newport Beach), are now offering a family-style supper on Sunday nights for a bargain $19.95 per person; the menu changes weekly but always includes a choice of soup or salad and an entree like boeuf bourguignon or coq au vin, with a side dish and vegetables to match.
This recently remodeled Westside Italian has instituted a series of Tuesday night wine tastings (with an Italian finger-food buffet). The Veuve Clicquot champagne tasting on May 9th is at a premium of $50 per person. Otherwise, it's $25 for a tasting of the wines of the Piemonte on May 16th; for Rocca delle Macie from Tuscany on May 23rd; and for Santi Wines from Veneto on May 30th.
In more venerable cities, a restaurant hitting the 40-year mark wouldn't raise an eyebrow – but in LA, that's an age worthy of Methuselah. To celebrate, this Sinatra-esque Italian is attempting to bring elegance back to the Beverly Hills dining scene with "To the Nines Tuesdays," when gents are asked to wear a tie and jacket, and women to dress in cocktail attire – a fashion statement for which they'll be thanked with a complimentary glass of champagne.
This casual Montana Avenue brasserie has headed west with the opening of Le Marmiton Marina (4724 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey; 310-773-3560), where chef Jean Marc Kiffer is bringing the gospel of simple French cooking – along with a taste for butter and cream – to well-exercised locals, who can stop by for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as a Gallic brunch on weekends.
Owner Larry Nicola has introduced his VodBox – an "excessively showy walk-in exhibition vodka freezer" that sits dead center in the middle of his dining room like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, only in this case, there's a vodka sommelier who escorts you in to shiver (it's 10° F inside) while warming you with flights drawn from an encyclopedic collection of spirits.
The two local branches of this manly steakhouse now offer a $21.95 weekday business lunch special – soup or salad plus a potato preparation, a vegetable of the day and a choice of tenderloin au poivre, poached salmon, seared ahi, Cajun meatloaf, chicken parmigiana or a dish of the day, followed by Starbucks coffee.
Chef James Boyce returned from a journey to Japan convinced he should do more with our local abundance of citrus, leading him to create an ongoing series of meals built around Meyer lemons, Murcott tangerines, Key limes and the like; newly introduced dishes include aged soy-marinated flank steak with Meyer lemon caponata, and drinks like strawberry and Meyer lemon-ade.