They made their deadline and Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza And Grill is now open in El Segundo Plaza. Read more at https://toddrickallen.com/2011/06/27/sammys-woodfired-pizza-and-grill-el-segundo-update/.
To soothe the jangled nerves of the upcoming Carmegeddon, Susan Fenger’s Street is offering $4.05 beers and free kaya toast if you mention “Carmegeddon” when making a dinner reservation. (Trust me, you’ll want the kaya toast!) Deal only available Saturday and Sunday, July 16th and 17th.
Susan Feniger’s Street
742 N. Highland Los Angeles, CA 90038
Phone: 323.203.0500
It looks like they’ve quietly changed the sign shielding the construction on the upcoming Charley’s Grilled Subs in the Westfield Century City Shopping Center. As you can tell by looking at an older photo, the previous opening was scheduled for July 1st. That has been pushed back to September 1st.
Before…
After.
If you haven’t come across the name Yotam Ottolenghi yet, you’re just not paying attention. He seems to be everywhere lately. Despite four London restaurants and constant contributions to the food press there, the chef and restaurateur has been extremely busy promoting his popular vegetarian cookbook Plenty, and has finally arrived in Los Angeles. He’ll be cooking a four course veg meal at Animal this Thursday, July 14th (see http://la.eater.com/tags/yotam-ottolenghi for info). But if you can’t make that, you can get a chance to meet him on Friday, July 15th from 12:00pm to 2:00pm for a book signing at Anthropologie at 1402 Third Street Promenade (corner of Santa Monica and Third). Refreshingly, although they encourage you to buy your book there, the manager assured me that you’re not required to purchase it there in order to get your copy signed. I’ve had a chance to make a few things from the book already. His technique of preparing individual components of a dish separately and then layering the flavors to create a complex yet unified whole produced some amazing results. This is a great opportunity to check out the future of vegetarian cooking. Read more at http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/
With the recent explosion of new food places in the Century City Shopping Center, here’s one I overlooked. It looks like a new Yogurtland will be opening on August 1st right next to the incoming Vanilla Bake Shop on the first floor.
The busy folks at Veggie Grill have just added a new item to their menu: buffalo wings. Made from their proprietary “chillin’ chickin’ “, house-made buffalo sauce, and served with ranch dressing, these spicy little vegetarian numbers would be the perfect TV snack…
This week’s Cart for a Cause will feature Chef Gordon Drysdale from Pizza Antica of Santa Monica. $10 will get you choice of sandwich (such as warm grilled fontina sandwich with fresh morels and sherry-braised cipollini), drink, and a cookie with the proceeds going toward Meals on Wheels. Chef Drysdale will be cooking this Tuesday, July 5th from 12:00pm until 2:00pm in the parking lot of the Helms Building at 8800 Venice Blvd.
Do you ever dream about the bavette cacio e pepe at Osteria Mozza and wonder how they produce such perfection rivalled only in Italy? Now’s your chance to find out! Here is the July schedule for Mozza Scuola di Pizza pizza and pasta classes:
Pasta Class will be held on Tuesdays July 5th & 19th 7-10:00pm
Pizza Class will be held on Thursdays July 14th & 28th 7-10:00pm
Cost is $150 per person. Make reservations by calling 323.297.1133. http://www.mozza2go.com/calendar.cfm
641 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 323.297.0101
Fax: 323.297.0109
Obika Mozzarella Bar in the Westfield Century City Shopping Center has made some new summer-y additions to its menu: a variety of new bruschette from various regions around Italy including the Piemonte: mozzarella & roasted peppers, or the Lazio: plum tomatoes and olives. Additionally, the have a new Neapolitan Pizza, the cunzato pizzato. http://www.obika.it/
A lot of you are interested in the progress at Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza And Grill the upscale pizza chain that is going into the space once occupied by Smith & Hawken in El Segundo Plaza on the corner of Rosecrans and Sepulveda in El Segundo. The chain hails from San Diego (where they were the first to bring wood fired pizza oven to the scene there) and has since expanded to Nevada as well. I had a chance to drop by recently and chat with a rep. As you can see by the photo, they are now hiring and work is nearing completion. The official opening day is going to be July 14th. You can read a sample menu on their website here: http://www.sammyspizza.com/, however it was explained to me that the menu in the new location will be different from their San Diegan counterparts. Chef Sami Ladeki not only created the menu for Sammy’s, but for another venture as well, Roppongi Restaurant & Sushi Bar in La Jolla. The menu at the El Segundo location will be a combination of the two: Mediterranean and Asian-Fusion (apparently the onion rings are legendary). I’ll keep you posted…
You can’t beat this.. According to Rosti Tuscan Kitchen’s (Santa Monica and Encino) Facebook page, you can win pizza for a year by submitting your favorite pizza recipe. You have to hurry though, contest ends tomorrow, June 24th.
“Tell us your favorite Pizza recipe before it’s too late! Post by Friday for your chance to win Free Pizza for a year..and have your pizza featured at our restaurants. Be creative and have fun! The winner will be announced July 1.”
Go to their Facebook page for complete info: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rosti-Tuscan-Kitchen/61344105305
As per The Santa Monica Mirror, Tuesday June 21st, the Santa Monica city council will be addressing the future of food truck lots, affecting the Tuesday night cavalcade of trucks that park in the lot at the corner of Ocean Park and Main, and possibly even ending the weekly event. The issue here appears to be that food trucks parked along city streets are one thing, but this congregation of trucks sits on private property and therefore constitutes a zoning concern. Apparently the city has been operating a trial period for the trucks while they conducted a study of the effects on the neighborhood. The results of the study are to be presented tonight after which the city council will decide the fate of the lots. Here’s the agenda for the meeting:
http://www01.smgov.net/cityclerk/council/agendas/2011/20110621/a20110621.htm.
I’ll keep you posted as more unfolds…
Well, it was a nail-biter, but it looks like they’ve pulled it off. After a protracted battle with the City of Santa Monica, California Monster Salads, the build-your-own salad shop, is now open at 411 Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica.
After months of sitting idle (since at least August of last year), construction has finally begun on what will be Italian import market and specialty store Ferrarini at 9622 Brighton Way in Bev Hills in what used to be the old Le Croissant coffee shop. What the delay has been is unclear, but the posters in the window of children cavorting through a bucolic Italian countryside chased by giant Parma hams have been replaced by particle board and scaffolding. I’ll keep my ear to the ground for a potential opening date, until then you can find some of their products (Parmigiano Reggiano) at Vicente Foods in Brentwood.
Before…
Construction has begun..
It looks like Pici Enoteca the new self-described “rustic NY-style Italian eatery” going into the old Bossa Nova space at 212 S. Beverly Drive is officially hiring. After an expected opening of late last year, things must finally be coming together for owner Jeff Vespa and chef Jason Harley at the small restaurant with an equally diminutive price range: all dishes are under $12! Check out more (but not much more…) at their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=152034411491316
Open since October 2009, Famous Cupcakes on the corner of South Beverly and Charleville in Beverly Hills is now closed. The sign on the door suggests that they are putting their efforts behind two new locations in Long Beach and Hollywood instead. If you need your Famous Cupcake fix, the small chain still has stores in North Hollywood and Van Nuys and retails in various other locations or, as a consolation prize to Beverly Hills, they are offering a $5 delivery special to the bereft city. http://www.famouscupcakes.com/
As we gear up for summer, the Century City Shopping Center has been a flurry of activity: BJ’s opened this week, Vanilla Bake Shop and The Counter are coming soon, as are two newbies in the food court. And yet one more… It looks like Jamba Juice will be opening in the old Anat B. space on the second floor sometime this summer. http://www.jambajuice.com/
Update: Jamba mania continues! A tipster just informed me that JJ will be opening this summer in the Fox Hills Mall as well.
Touted as a way to… “get through your work day, the right way”, Susan Feniger’s Street is offering a special lunch deal starting today and ending next Wednesday, June 15th. When you order an entrée and eat at the bar, Street will give you a free glass of wine, or for the less inclined to imbibe at lunch, a free dessert.
742 N. Highland Los Angeles, CA 90038
Phone: 323.203.0500
Today, Wednesday June 8th, at the brand spanking new Veggie Grill in Farmer’s Market at Third and Fairfax is “Virgin Day”. If you bring in someone who has never been before (the virgin), Veggie Grill will comp their entrée. But they have to be accompanied by an “experienced” VGer (that’d be you, you tramp), no solos and only at this location. http://www.veggiegrill.com/
After a training weekend, it looks like BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse officially opens at 11:00am today, June 6th at the back of the Westfield Century City Shopping Center. After a busy day of shopping at Tiffany and Louis Vuitton, who doesn’t need a pint of Nutty Brewnette ale and a Giant Stuffed Potato? http://www.bjsrestaurants.com/
Toddrickallen 