With locations throughout the US, Canada, and the world, Fresh Healthy Café is moving into the space that used to house Sushi Itto in the food court of Santa Monica Place. The eco-friendly chain offers a menu of wraps, grilled panini, salads, soups, smoothies, and fresh juices. No word on an opening date, but until then, you can read more about them here.
The cold-pressed juice craze continues unabated… If you thought that Century City was a juice desert, think again. You can now get your fix on the first floor of the Westfield Century City Shopping Center at a free-standing kiosk selling various cold-pressed juices, shots, and blends by Downtown LA’s eco-friendly Juicelove.
Just when you thought the Westside couldn’t possible squeeze in another Starbucks, looks like the good folk of the Pacific Palisades Highlands will soon have their very own brand-spanking new one right on the corner of Palisades Dr. and Sunset in the Highlands Village shopping center…
The Beverly Hills outpost of ubiquitous Belgian café chain Le Pain Quotidien is hosting a children’s cookie decorating event in honor of Valentine’s Day. The little ones can try their luck with heart-shaped cookies this Saturday, February 8th from 4pm to 5pm. Space is bound to be tight so call (310) 859-1100 as quickly as your little fingers can dial to reserve your spot.
Construction is underway on a new Japanese restaurant, Moku Sushi, in the Highlands Village shopping center on the corner of Palisades Dr. and Sunset in Pacific Palisades. No word on an opening date, but it looks like they’re fairly close. Until then, you can read more and check out their menu here.
And while we’re on the subject of the Manhattan Village Shopping Center on the corner of Rosecrans and Sepulveda in Manhattan Beach, a new hole-in-the-wall, Toscana Café has recently opened inside the mall. With a menu of sandwiches, salads, bakery treats, and ice cream, the diminutive café is an offshoot of popular, nearby Toscana Deli, which you can read more about here.
If you’re heading to Manhattan Village for the Mediterranean food at local fave Open Sesame, you might be surprised to see that Open Sesame appears to have been taken over by a new place, Sesame Moe’s. But it hasn’t really… The restaurant has changed its name, but the owner, menu, and staff remain the same. Why? According to the owner Moe Bonakdar, he just needed “a little self-recognition”. sesamemoes.com
Having sat vacant for a while now, the space at 1026 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica that formerly housed the club Dakota Lounge is about to get a new tenant. Liquor license application notices recently went up announcing the impending arrival of the Belcampo Meat Company, a NoCal purveyor of premium meats making inroads across the state including Downtown’s Grand Central Market. Known for its high-end butchery, according to the notice the Santa Monica location will be featuring a “general eating place” as well. Read more at: Belcampo Meat Company.
Who knew? Turns out, Monday, January 27th is National Cake Day. And to celebrate, SusieCakes at 11708 San Vicente in Brentwood is giving away free chocolate cake slices to the first 200 guests, making this particular Monday just a little bit sweeter… SusieCakes
A few months ago, I told you about a new venture going into one of the stalls in The Market at Santa Monica Place. Santa Monica Merchant opens its doors today (Wednesday, Jan. 22nd). With a strong emphasis on home delivery of locally sourced produce, meats, and cheeses, they will also be offering retail products at their new location. Read more at: SantaMonicaMerchant.
Looks like the outpost of sandwich chain Charley’s Grilled Subs has quietly slipped out of the food court at the Westfield Century City Shopping Center. No indication of a replacement just yet, but I’ll keep my eye on it. Until then, if you find you can’t live without their Philly Steak sandwich, you can locate one of their other 500 locations here.
Taking over the prominent corner space that housed unfortunately named and recently closed local fave sushi restaurant Misofishy at 1928 Lincoln Blvd. (corner of Bay) in Santa Monica is a brand new venture, Sushi Hanashi. Wasting no time whatsoever, they are now celebrating their grand opening.
Boy… Now you see them, now you don’t, and now you see them again. Looks like mercurial frozen yogurt chain Yogurtland will be opening soon in Westchester at 8752 S. Sepulveda, directly on the corner of La Tijera. Apparently they’re shooting for a February 1st kick-off. Yogurtland
Vegan chain Native Foods has recently added some new winter items to its already spoiled-for-choice menu of soups, salads, and sandwiches. Included on the list are: bistro steak sandwich, “soul bowl”, bombastic tofu wrap, and sticky toffee cake. Check out the full menu and read more here.
After a rocky stint courting a dubious Chinese restaurant last year, the vacant Fraiche space at 312 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica has found a new tenant. With four locations already across SoCal, Stacked: Food Well Built is developing the site. Stacked is an innovative casual restaurant that allows you to customize the ingredients for your burger, salad, pizza, or mac and cheese on iPads. No word on an opening date yet, but until then, you can read more here.
In early December, I told you about the temporary closure of the Yogurtland at 1426 Montana Ave. in Santa Monica. At the time, they had signs posted that they were remodeling. Later in the month, I noticed that the space looked vacated. Well, as you can tell by the for lease notice in the window, Yogurtland will not be reopening on Montana. Furthermore, I heard from a former employee that the workers were not even notified. Sadly, they showed up for work and the place had been stripped. So, I think we can safely say that we’ve finally seen the end of the Yogurtland drama.
To those of you who have been closely following this story comes this welcome news: After what seemed like an extraordinary amount of time, the Westside’s very first outpost of burger and breakfast chain Farmer Boys opens today (Monday, Jan. 6th) in the repurposed fire department at 2161 E. El Segundo Blvd. (corner of Nash) in El Segundo. Check out their menu and read more here: Farmerboys.
As I reported last month, a branch of Canadian-based smoothie and juice chain Liquid Nutrition is moving into the space at 368 North Camden in Beverly Hills. A few days ago, signs went up in the window giving us a glimpse of what the new juice bar will look like…
It looks like we can look forward to another year of LA food scene craziness. And I’ll be right there with you in 2014… Let’s see what happens next. Until then, thanks for reading and Happy New Year! Cheers!
In September, I told you about the plans to renovate sports bar Yankee Doodles at 1410 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica after a fire closed it down. It appears they have abandoned their plans to re-open. All signs promising a return have been removed and their Yelp page lists the once popular bar as permanently closed. And as you can see in the photo, a sports memorabilia pop-up has moved in.
Toddrickallen 