Innovative Dining Group (IDG), the people who've given us BOA and Katana, are going the route of the sushi conveyor belt with Luckyfish, which will debut in Beverly Hills by the end of the year; they have promised a lower check point – compared with their other restaurants – of "$18 per person at lunch, $25 per person at dinner" (338 N. Canon Dr., Beverly Hills).
IDG is also working on Robata Bar, a robata-yaki pub serving grilled robata dishes from one bar and ceviche and tartare from the other, which will be adjacent to their Sushi Roku in Santa Monica; it's slated for a late October opening.
Also in late October – but not from IDG – Raku will open in the Little Tokyo mini-mall space last occupied by Grill Lyon, where the cooking was French-Asian; the pendulum will once again swing back to Modern Japanese with this blond-wood, sake-and-small-dish restaurant (424 E. 2nd St.).