A happy new food choice is coming to Santa Monica soon… There’s window paper up on the space at most recently occupied by Luna Grill at 3001 Ste 103 Wilshire Blvd. announcing the impending arrival of Jin Cook. Promising “Authentic Korean Soul Food”, Jin Cook has locations in Glendale and Santa Clarita and offers an exciting menu of soups, “hot stone” dishes, pancakes, and katsu.
Update: Jin Cook is now open.
Short-lived Honeyboba abandoned the space at 11573 W. Santa Monica Blvd. (corner of Federal) in West LA (officially Sawtelle) quite some time ago. Now a plucky new contender is going to give the tricky corner a chance. Signs are already up announcing the arrival of Bonsai Coffee Bar. Not much info yet on this establishment, so if you know more, pass it along…
Update: A rep for Bonsai reached out to me with more information. ” [Bonsai is] owned by two first-generation Asian Americans, and it’s a spacious, minimalist cafe serving Andytown Coffee (from the owner’s old neighborhood in SF) and Ippodo matcha (the legendary tea house in Kyoto). They have some really cool specialty lattes that might not be familiar to a lot of LA coffee drinkers–like a mango espresso latte and a matcha/espresso combo latte. There’s a range of seating inside from the hightop bar (tons of outlets, great wifi) and cozier nooks for coming in with friends or meeting for work.” They are currently in soft opening. (02/07/2024)
Well, I can’t exactly say this was a surprise… While other locations of Mexican party spot Kalaveras are quite popular, Santa Monica’s branch has long struggled to attract crowds. Perhaps this was because of the cursed location (it was previously the doomed home of Belcampo), or its proximity to perennially popular El Cholo across the street. But whatever the reason, Kalaveras has abandoned this location at 1026 Wilshire Blvd. I’ll keep watching the tricky space to see what may develop…
This story saddens me… When local institution Stan’s Donuts closed their longtime home at 10948 Weyburn in Westwood during COVID in 2020, locals were literally devastated. Then came a plucky new contender to fill the historic shoes, Primo’s Donuts. I can personally vouch for how hard this business worked to remain relevant to the community. They frequently sent me information on special promotions and deals they were offering. So it is with a heavy heart that I let you know that, after a little over two years, Primo’s Donuts has closed down this location (Their Sawtelle and Topanga Social locations remain open). Read more about their reasons for the closure here…
If you’ve been paying attention, you know that the stretch of Overland that runs through Palms is getting a major transformation. New, tall multi-use buildings are under construction all along the boulevard. One of these projects, Venue at 3688 Overland, is getting a new neighborhood shop, Millbrook Market. 
Culver City is getting a whole lot sweeter, with the arrival of Handel’s Ice Cream and now this…. There’s a banner up on the space at 3865 Overland announcing a branch of Nothing Bundt Cakes is setting up housekeeping. Nothing Bundt Cakes’ handcrafted ultra moist confections inspire legions of fans. They began in 1997 in Las Vegas and have since expanded to 500 locations.
(Thanks Andrew!)
It appears that bakeshop Peace of Cake will be getting a permanent home in a second-floor kiosk of Westfield Century City, previously occupied by Brique and Brandini Toffee before that. They had a pop-up in this season’s Holiday Market at the shopping center. Peace of Cake offers customizable cakes with various fillings, frostings, and drizzles. Take a peek at their menu below at the Holiday Market to get an idea of the concept. They’re shooting for a Winter 2024 opening in their new location.
The second-floor space next to the AMC Dine-In Theater, at 13455 Maxella Ave Suite 270 in Marina del Rey, has sat empty for quite a while. In another lifetime, I believe it was home to Ra Sushi. But now it appears to be under construction again. A sharp-eyed reader (Thanks Jennifer!) spotted the name of the new eatery on the notice of nonresponsibility taped to the front door. The notice names the new restaurant as NAMOO Korean BBQ. I don’t have any information on this business, so if you know more, pass it along…
Toddrickallen 