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Cecconi's
Photo: Amy Murrell
You know we're in "interesting" financial times when Cecconi's, one of the trendiest, most celeb-obsessed restaurants in town, offers a "Sunday Family Supper" for $50 for four (read: $12.50 a person). The family-style deal consists of two large bowls of your choice of pasta and two pizzas – with additional guests welcome for $12.50 apiece and house wine going for $25 a bottle. Nonetheless, we're not complaining (5–11 PM; 310-432-2000).
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Open all night and tastes like it.
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- – Michelle Obama's obesity initiative has sent some food companies scrambling. [Atlantic]
- – Organic food sales may have hit their peak. [Reuters]
- – Bad news for bluefin tuna from the U.N. [Atlantic]
- – McDonald's is contemplating $1 drinks. [WSJ]
- – The Yelp extortion class-action lawsuit gains nine more businesses. [Eater]
- – Country ham, the new bacon? [Salon]
- – Cheese is trendy now. [AP]
- – Ostrich eggs for Easter? [Daily Mail]
- – Foods the chef loves may not sell well. [P-G]
- – Here's hoping that Obama's second state dinner goes better than the first. [Obama Foodorama]
- – Top Chef, the tour. [GS: P]
- – Ruth Reichl is in on the joke. [Eater]
- – What will the first Indian astronauts eat? [DNA, via ColdMud]
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Wolfgang Puck
Photo: Lisa Romerein
Come mid-April the Ritz-Carlton in L.A. Live – which just opened on March 15 – will have its own restaurant, WP24. The "WP" stands for Wolfgang Puck while the "24" is the floor his next restaurant is on – and to separate it from his Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill downstairs at L.A. Live (which serves Spago food for the masses). WP24 will be a high-flying sibling of Chinois, with a menu of Asian fusion dishes – a culinary direction the Puckster hasn't pursued in awhile. David McIntyre, most recently at Spago, will be the executive chef (900 W. Olympic Blvd.).
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Food trucks are so last week – now it's all about the food bus. A vintage London-style double-decker has been turned into a restaurant-on-wheels – a Bustaurant. It's the creation of Travis Schmidt, Jason Freeman and Andi Van Willigan, who spent the past four years working for the Michael Mina Group. Under Mina, Willigan opened 11 restaurants in eight states. As executive chef for the World Fare Bustaurant – well, she still gets around, albeit within Los Angeles.
Rather than standing at the curb, diners climb on-board for dishes made with ingredients like Piedmontese beef, Jidori chicken and veggies from the various farmer's markets around town. The signature dish, The Bunny, is a South African dish consisting of a hollowed-out roll filled with things like Worcestershire-braised short ribs and horseradish crème fraiche; chicken curry with chickpeas and cilantro; or braised pork butt with sweet corn jalapeno relish. There are truffled mac 'n' cheese balls available as a side dish – and a red-velvet cheesecake Bunny for dessert. You can find the bus at worldfare.com, Facebook and Twitter. Hop on by…
– Merrill Shindler
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Grace
Photo: courtesy of the restaurant
To celebrate the seventh anniversary of Beverly Boulevard destination restaurant Grace, chef-owner Neal Fraser is offering a choice of special "Seven Year Itch" menus – three courses for $47 (with wine for $27 more), five courses for $57 (wine, $37) and a full-on "Chef's Menu" for $97 (wine, $57). The menus were rolled out yesterday and will continue for the next, yes, seven weeks, and dishes will change weekly. At the same time, Grace pastry chef Mariah Swan is offering a Saturday morning series of doughnut-making classes (9 AM–noon; $75 per class, $200 for the series). On April 10, the focus is glazed doughnuts, April 17 is filled doughnuts and April 24 is plain-old doughnuts (323-934-4400; reserve online).
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- – Why all the food giveaways lately? They're good for business. [WSJ]
- – New York restaurateurs are nonplussed that the city is really going to force them to display health-score letter grades. [Eater]
- – Fallout from Florida's winter freeze won't stop until mid-April. [NRN]
- – Praising the restaurant critic. [Time]
- – Starbucks will soon offer the ability to completely customize their Frappuccinos. [WSJ]
- – Related: the Times' exclusive deal with the coffee chain is over. [AdAge]
- – The potato industry is ready for America's decreasing taste for french fries. [The Star]
- – Calorie counts loom in Illinois. [S-T]
- – Foodies on food stamps. [Salon]
- – Restaurant trends that have to go. [Eater]
- – What goes into your OJ might surprise you. [Culinate]
- – Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron is getting a show on SyFy. [EMD]
- – Not content with a menu in Toronto, Wilco gets a beer too. [The Stew]
- – One woman's dream to weigh 1,000 lbs. [Gothamist]
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Da Vinci
Photo: courtesy of the restaurant
Photo: courtesy of the restaurant
After closing for a year and a half, old-school Beverly Hills watering hole Da Vinci has reopened with new owners and a new chef, who's moved the menu from Classic Italian to Modern Mediterranean (fried artichokes, grilled asparagus with eggplant purée, house-cured bacon); the space has been redone too, boasting a massive marble bar and an illustration of Leonardo Da Vinci gazing benevolently at diners.
9737 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; 310-888-0090
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Drai's Hollywood
Photo: courtesy of the restaurant
More than a decade after leaving LA to find fame and fortune in Las Vegas, restaurateur (and Weekend at Bernie’s producer!) Victor Drai returns with Drai's Hollywood, a restaurant-***-nightclub on the 12th floor of the W Hollywood, where former Ma Maison chef Claude Segal oversees the pricey Continental menu; the elegant setting boasts a dazzling view, a VIP lounge and a massive rooftop deck with a swimming pool, around which guests can assemble for cocktails and nibbles.
6250 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; 323-962-1111
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The 25th Los Angeles Marathon will be run this Sunday, March 21, on a completely new course. Instead of threading its way through historic neighborhoods like Koreatown and Hancock Park, this year the route travels through territory much beloved by fans of TMZ. After beginning at Dodger Stadium,
the race goes through Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Century
City, Westwood, Brentwood and finally through Santa Monica to the sea. So where are spectators to dine before and after the race?
Those who go to Dodger Stadium to watch the race begin can wait for the dim sum palaces of Old Chinatown to open – Ocean Seafood and ABC Seafood begin serving at 8 AM, and Empress Pavilion at 8:30 AM. And for those who need a classic American breakfast, both The Original Pantry and The Pacific Dining Car are open 24 hours a day – show up before the race or after, as you wish.
For those who opt to cheer on the runners as they slog their way through Hollywood and West Hollywood, tasty options open early Sunday morning include Canter's, Nate 'n Al, Barney Greengrass, bld, Clementine, Duke's, The Griddle Café, Toast and Newsroom Café.
Since the bulk of the runners will probably wind up in Santa Monica close to noon, the options for a good meal are more substantial, with noteworthy brunches served at Gjelina, Joe's and Lilly's French Cafe in Venice, and Ocean Ave. Seafood, One Pico and Whist in Santa Monica. Also open at the Santa Monica end for lunch on Sunday is Anisette Brasserie, Cora's Coffee Shoppe, Huckleberry Café, Maxwell's Cafe and Swinger's.
Finally, for those who find themselves longing for the cooking of the Lake District of Italy after a 26-mile run, Locanda del Lago in Santa Monica is offering double portions of dishes (at single portion prices) to dashers who show up with their number after the race. Selections on the "Body Refurbishing Menu" include braised calf foot salad, beef tongue with salsa verde, osso buco alla milanese and caramelized beef bone marrow. Non-runners who show up get 15% off if they mention the marathon (310-451-3525).
– Merrill Shindler
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From March 21–27 (aka World Water Week), the UNICEF Tap Project is coming to a restaurant near you, offering diners a chance to give water to children in need while enjoying a nice meal. Here's how to get involved: during that time, donate $1 (or more) for the tap water you normally drink for free at hundreds of participating restaurants. By doing so, you'll be helping provide children around the world with safe, clean water. You can also donate online or by texting "TAP" to UNICEF (864233) to contribute $5. Before you head out, be sure to peruse our handy guide to participating restaurants, complete with ratings and reviews. To learn more about the UNICEF Tap Project, click here.
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- – Gordon Ramsay, always in the news, is picking up the pieces of a bad year – and owing the taxman. [Guardian, DR]
- – The Chilean wine industry continues to take stock. [WSJ]
- – Oh, no! Gloucestershire's annual cheese rolling has been canceled due to health and safety fears. [Guardian, via EMD]
- – The anti-HFCS campaign hits success with the return of sugar in products like ketchup and Gatorade. [Ad Age]
- – It isn't just about making healthy foods cheaper – you have to make the junk more expensive. [NPR]
- – NYC restaurants are turning their expansions toward DC. [WBJ]
- – For love of shad roe. [WSJ]
- – Bobby Flay heads to prime time. [Eater]
- – Gross: 13,780 lbs. of spaghetti. [KTLA]
- – How to annoy your server. [CNN]
- – A McDonald's that doesn't serve food? [Jaunted]
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Horrible waitress, awesome nachos!
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Chaya Downtown
Photo: Claire Thomas
There are new developments afoot at these three eateries.
Catch: This Californian seafooder in the Hotel Casa del Mar has repositioned itself with a "Not So Big Plates to Share" menu, including tapas options such as “today’s grilled cheese slider and soup” ($10) and flatbreads like wild mushroom with sweet corn ($11) and Gulf prawn with pesto ($12). The restaurant has also replaced its sushi bar with a new wine bar – but unchanged is the view of the Pacific and the nightly sunset, which makes everything they serve taste that much better (310-581-5533).
Chaya Downtown: Starting March 22, on Monday nights the Downtown outlet of the Chaya chain is creating a Japanese beer garden on its outdoor patio, featuring pitchers of Kirin and an authentic à la carte Yakitori menu, including skewers, sake-steamed mussels, albacore tuna poke and more (5–10 PM; 213-236-9577).
Checkers Downtown: This Downtown Californian (remembered by many as the restaurant where Thomas Keller cooked before leaving to open The French Laundry) is offering happy hour from 4–8 PM every Thursday, with four cocktails and four tapas going for $4 each. In light of such tempting prices, we'd feel remiss if we didn't remind you to drink responsibly (213-624-0000).
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Zagat To Go for the Palm webOS
Zagat released its mobile application, Zagat To Go (ZTG), for the Palm webOS. Similar to ZTG for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, the webOS application works with the Palm Pre, Pixi and Pre Plus and includes the ability to use GPS to find nearby restaurants; sorting by food, decor, service and cost; instant reservations; and browsing top-rated lists. Zagat To Go is available through the webOS app catalog for $9.99.
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