New Restaurants
New Nightspots
| Name |
Address |
City |
Phone |
| aqualounge |
424 N. Beverly Dr. |
Beverly Hills |
310-275-8511 |
| Guy's North |
12655 Ventura Blvd., 2nd fl. |
Los Angeles |
818-980-1399 |
| Saints & Sinners |
10899 Venice Blvd. |
Culver City |
310-842-8066 |
Coming Soon
Prana Café
As you'd expect from a restaurant with a name that means "life force," this easygoing West Hollywood eatery (650 N. La Cienega Blvd.) will lean toward the healthy, organic side of things with Eclectic breakfast and lunch fare that wanders from Cal-Asian to New American. It's slated to open in early spring adjacent to Republic, its soon-to-open sibling.
Three on 4th
Though it sounds like a variation on the old Abbott and Costello "who's on first" routine, the name of this Santa Monica restaurant actually refers to the three kinds of drinks it will serve (sake, wine and beer) and its location (at 1432 4th St., a block away from the Promenade). Complementing the liquid refreshment will be an Eclectic menu that stretches from America to Asia, with stops throughout Europe. Expect an opening in mid-spring.
Wolfgang Puck Steakhouse
More than two years after the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group took over the dining room at the Four Seasons Regent Beverly Wilshire (9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-275-5200), the long-awaited steakhouse, designed by Richard Meier (Getty Center), is finally set to open on July 1st – a year later than originally planned. And the restaurant still doesn't have a name, though as the hotel notes, "Everyone calls it the Wolfgang Puck Steakhouse."
Good Deals and Other News
This Downtown Nuevo Latino foodie magnet is offering a series of musically themed dinners, beginning March 16th with "Tango: An Argentinean Feast," followed by "Samba: A Brazilian Celebration" on June 22nd, "Mambo: A Night in Havana" on September 14th and "Flamenco: The Passion of Spain" on December 7th; each three-course dinner is paired with wines and live music (5–10 PM; $85 or $300 for the whole series; 213-486-5171).
Beginning March 21st, chef-owner Celestino Drago will offer a season-long celebration of the cooking of Italian mothers called "La Cucina de le Madri" ("Mother's Kitchen") featuring the recipes of five Sicilian mamas who have relocated to Southern California – including Mama Drago, who'll kick off the festival; though the menus will change from mother to mother and from night to night, the cost is $50 per person for a dinner ranging from five to seven courses.
Congratulations to chef-owner Neal Fraser, who roundly defeated Iron Chef Cat Cora with a pig-o-centric menu (grilled pork chops with hominy polenta and pancetta, pork belly with sweet-and-sour cabbage and cherry sauce, etc.) to become LA's first champion on Iron Chef America.
Chef David Lentz is now serving lunch from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM, Tuesday through Friday, at his quirky seafooder in the heart of Hollywood; for those in-the-know, the outdoor patio is the destination of choice.
This venerable Westwood deli has opened a Manhattan Beach branch called Junior's Deli Boys in the newly opened Metlox Plaza (451 Manhattan Beach Blvd., 310-796-0203), where it serves corned beef and pastrami to the toned and well-tanned of this underfed beach community.
This Santa Monica steakhouse is now hosting a scotch tasting the last Monday of every month (next up: March 27th) presented by master of scotch Rick Edwards, who'll lead imbibers through five well-aged samples, with passed appetizers to match every dram (6–8:30 PM; $65 per person; 310-828-3304).
The newest branch is freshly opened in the OC at 633 Anton Boulevard in Costa Mesa (714-546-7405) – convenient, we should add, to shopping at South Coast Plaza.
The latest wrinkle at this Conejo Valley American is "Tokyo Tuesday," when chef Robert Lia shows off his skill as a master of Japanese cuisine by serving an à la carte dinner selection of sushi, sushi rolls and Japanese seafood dishes that can be complemented by flights of sake.
After dazzling locals in Woodland Hills with his cutting-edge Pan-Asian/Hawaiian cooking, Roy Yamaguchi has opened a new branch in burgeoning Downtown (800 South Figueroa St., Los Angeles, 213-488-4994) that's convenient to the Staples Center, the Convention Center and the Disney Concert Hall.
The latest branch of this popular Armenian chicken chain is set to open this month at 1001 North San Fernando Boulevard in Burbank (818-238-0414).