Only in Santa Monica does one require a remodel after being open less than a year… Anywho, it looks like Ugo Cafe, the fresh Italian eatery on the ground floor of Santa Monica Place is currently closed for a re-do. According to the wallpaper, they’ll be reopening on May 13th, with what well may be a slightly expanded menu. If you’re dying for a panini or gelato, you can still visit their Culver City locations. http://www.cafeugo.com/
To celebrate “Cinco De Macro”, M Café is offering a special deal: $5.00 breakfast burritos and enchiladas today only. Sadly, no macro-margs in sight…
9433 Brighton Way
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
7119 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90046
Below are some photos from the Global Steet Food event presented by KCRW and SMC Associates and hosted by KCRW’s Good Food host and Angeli Caffe owner/chef Evan Klieman on Sunday, May 1st. The event took the form of a panel discussion at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica that included the plain-spoken witticisms of Jonathon Gold (Who declared, “Taco is a verb!”), OC Weekly restaurant reviewer and columnist Gustave Arellano, and Jet Tila of Wazuzu in the Wynn Encore in Las Vegas. Evan’s smooth-as-butter voice lead a lively and oftentimes humorous exploration of traditional street foods with an emphasis on Asia and Mexico, but included Europe and New York as well. Afterward, the crowd adjourned to the sunny parking lot where, included in the price of the ticket, were samples of various local food trucks including Nom Nom Truck, India Jones Chow Truck, and Crepe’n Around. People lolled about what little shade they could find, nibbled various treats, and enjoyed a marimba band making for a glorious So-Cal afternoon.
L to R: Jonation Gold, Gustavo Arellano, Jet Tila, Evan Kleiman
The very sunny Evan Kleiman
India Jones Chow Truck
The very popular Nom Nom Truck
Nom Nom Truck’s lemongrass tofu banh mi
Crepes from Crepe’n Around
According to the sign on the door, La Focacceria TraDiNoi at 362 N. Camden in Beverly Hills is now open, if only just for breakfast Monday through Friday. Read more at https://toddrickallen.com/2011/04/19/la-focacceria-tradinoi-beverly-hills-now-hiring/.
If you’ve been following this blog regularly (and I much appreciate those of you that do), then you know that occasionally, I corner Wolfgang Puck and press him for news. Most recently I caught up with him a couple of weeks ago and posted this: http://wp.me/pIwAN-l8. He had described to me how he was anticipating opening his newest Cut at the Dorchester in London helmed by Spago alum David McIntyre on August 22nd, in addition to a new Mediterranean restaurant opening in Oct./Nov.at the freshly tarted-up Hotel Bel Air. Clarification came this week from the Dorchester Collection PR people in the form of an extremely polite email. Apparently, Wolfie’s newest in London is referred to as Cut at 45 Park Lane. Puck’s first European restaurant will not actually be in the Dorchester, but will debut in a sister property, the Dorchester Collection at, you guessed it, 45 Park Lane in the heart of Mayfair. And, it looks like we’re looking for a summer opening. I hope this clears the matter up for now…
Signs have gone up at the upcoming Taberna Mexicana at 369 N. Bedford in Beverly Hills. According to their website, the restaurant will feature “creative, modern interpretations of Mexican cuisine” by chef Alex Padilla. No word on an exact opening date, but there does appear to be a lot of work yet to be done. I’ll keep you posted… Read more here: https://toddrickallen.com/2010/08/09/taberna-beverly-hills/ or check out the menu from their Scottsdale branch here: http://tabernamexicana.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/dinner.pdf.
Easter brunch at The Four Seasons At Beverly Hills is always a glittering event. The parade of jewels, designer clothes, and restalyn is always entertaining as hell. But it’s the celebrities that everyone pretends not to see that have everyone whispering. Although I’m sure I missed some stealthier stars, this year I spotted Halle Berry, Seal and Heidi Klum, and Four Seasons fixture Larry Flynt.
The Puck empire continues to grow. I got a chance to catch up with Wolfgang Puck recently. He’s getting ready of open his newest branch of Cut at the famed Dorchester Hotel in London. To man the prestigious location, he’s sent over David McIntyre from Spago and WP24 as head chef. The new restaurant will have a different, bigger menu from the Beverly Hills location which will feature local and continental produce and meats and they will be serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As of right now, the opening date is set for August 22nd, but Wolfgang explained that it may get pushed back.
In other Puck news, he’s looking to open his still mysterious restaurant in the freshly remodeled Hotel Bel Air in October or November of this year. Still not much news, but I did learn the menu will be “mediterranean”.
UPDATE: Clarification on this information came in the form of an email from the Dorchester Group PR people. Read the facts (so far) about Cut in London in this updated post: https://toddrickallen.com/2011/04/29/update-on-cut-london/.
Today, Wednesday April 20th after 4:00pm, in celebration of Earth week, The Veggie Grill is offering a deal: bring in a friend who is a “Veggie Grill Virgin” and they will comp his meal. The deal only applies to one virgin when accompanied by an experienced Veggie Griller. (No solo virgins!) Check out more at http://www.veggiegrill.com/.
Work continues on the new La Focacceria TraDiNoi going into the old Prego space at 362 N. Camden in Beverly Hills. As well as a liquor license transfer, they have posted help wanted signs. I’ll keep you posted…
Read more at https://toddrickallen.com/2011/01/17/la-focacceria-to-take-over-the-prego-space-in-beverly-hills/
The Subway sandwich shop that took a strangely long amount of time to move into the old Patty’s Pizza on Montana near 7th has finally opened. While a new Subway wouldn’t normally be big news, this one catches the eye because it is the only fast food outlet to open on the swanky boutique-laden street. (Not the only chain though, as there are a plethora of coffee shops and frozen yogurt stores.) I wonder if they’ll be using locally sourced and market driven produce… Notice the Patty’s Pizza awning under the flags.
We’ve been promised a May 20th opening so I continue to nose around The Market at Santa Monica Place to follow the progress. As you can see, a few liquor license postings have gone up and construction workers are hard at it, but with only a month and a half before the opening, no one has moved in yet and there still seems to be a lot of work to be done.
I just learned from a tipster that famed Tuscan restaurateur, Georgio Baldi has passed away while on vacation in Ensenada. The news was released yesterday. He was thought to have been in his 60s. This one completely caught me off guard. I just saw him two weeks ago when I was in his eponymous Il Ristorante de Georgio Baldi on West Channel Rd. in Santa Monica and he looked quite robust. Long a fixture on the celebrity dining scene, one frequently had to step through lines of paparazzi to get into his restaurant. But it was really the food that was the star. He was a master of capturing the sunny, fresh quality of rustic Italian cooking. He will be greatly missed…
With the culinary hiring frenzy in Santa Monica, it was no surprise that True Food Kitchen, the “seasonal, sustainable, and local” restaurant being developed with natural health guru Andrew Weil, was looking for staff for its new ground floor Santa Monica Place location. (Three other locations exist in California and Arizona) But recently tacked up next to the help wanted posters was this announcement of an opening date of May 9th. So there you have it… Read more at http://www.truefoodkitchen.com/.
The lowly sandwich seems to be the focus of a lot of attention lately. Food trucks abound, restaurants devoted solely to sandwhiches are opening, and Saveur magazine is devoting its entire current issue to the staple. Check out this interesting article at Huffpost Food on vegan sandwiches…
Pizza Antica in the Santa Monica Place Mall was kind enough to let us know about a seasonal menu change: Gone is the beloved but wintery brussels sprouts salad (if you ask, they’ll give you a copy of the recipe). But hello artichoke fritti with lemon aioli, which are described thusly, “Fresh jumbo artichokes are trimmed to the heart and dipped in buttermilk and rice flour to make a crisp crust, then made succulent with the addition of lemon aioli.” Can’t you just feel summer in the air?
Ok, this isn’t exactly new news since The Parlor in Santa Monica has been closed since last fall, but rumors still fly about why the popular club at 1519 Wilshire Boulevard really did fall. (Read Grubstreet’s version here) Just this week however, the “Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition” (Known as Wilmont) Newsletter gave the facts. According to Wilmont, the residents living near The Parlor complained that the area around the club was zoned for a restaurant, but The Parlor was actually technically operating a sports bar, which the establishment was not zoned for. Appropriate business regulations were crafted by the city, but The Parlor chose to thumb its nose and not follow the regulations. Ultimately, the city closed it driving hundreds of 20-somethings desperate to hook up elsewhere. That’s not saying that all those rumors of threatened neighbors didn’t occur, these are just the facts ma’am.
I noticed as I passed by on Saturday, that LGO’s upcoming and much anticipated The Misfit restaurant in Santa Monica was holding a hiring event. Many people were busy filling out applications. I spoke with a representative who told me to expect a “contemporary American” menu and an opening in about 4 to 6 weeks. Although she refused to allow me to photograph inside, the interior, which I was told was completed, looked remarkably similar to Annisette’s.
Following the opening of the extremely busy Santa Monica location, Veggie Grill Torrance is now open in the Rolling Hills Plaza Shopping Center at 2533 Pacific Coast Hwy. This makes it the sixth location for the popular vegan chain. Next location will be in Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax opening sometime this summer. Check out more at http://www.veggiegrill.com/ or call 310.325.6689.
Today, Wednesday March 30th, Pizza Antica at the top of Santa Monica Place, will be donating a portion of their daily sales to the American Red Cross in order to help the children and families affected by the devastating earthquake in Japan. A great opportunity to do something good for people struggling in Japan, and have a great meal. (Try the brussels sprouts salad, they’ll do it without bacon…it’s amazing!) www.pizzaantica.com
Toddrickallen 