On Monday June 3rd at 7:00pm, Italian mozzarella specialist Obikà in the Century City Shopping Center will be hosting a special Sicilian wine dinner highlighting the flavors and wines of Sicily. $40 will get you four traditional courses redolent of the Island’s flavors including citrus, pistachio, fennel, and capers paired with three Sicilian wines, a 30-year-old Marsala, and limoncello. Make your reservation by calling (310) 556-2452 or click here: obikala.com.
This Memorial Day Sunday May 26th, Susan Feniger’s Street is hosting an über-cool event just dripping with hip… Starting and 12pm and running until 9pm, Street will be setting up a Korean BBQ and kimchi station on the patio, but there’s more: there’ll be a sake/soju lounge by Yoshi Murukami of Boutique Sake, and a pop-up shop by Giant Robot. Now how cool is that? Cost at the door is $45 and includes 3 drinks, but advance purchase is $35 and includes 4 drinks, so what are you waiting for? Click here to find out more…
Festival season is off and running… The 22nd Annual Santa Monica Festival takes place from 11am to 6pm on Saturday June 1st in Cloverfield Park at 2600 Ocean Park Blvd. Scheduled events for the “zero waste” event include a variety of eclectic dance and music presentations, workshops, a marketplace, eco-zone, Juneteenth celebration, and a culinary stage with various Santa Monica chefs leading demos culminating in a Chef Challenge between Josie Le Balch (Josie, Next Door) and Nyesha Arrington of Wilshire Restaurant. The challenge? Create an innovative vegetarian meal for four for $15. And what festival is complete without the de rigueur Food Trucks? Here’s a partial list of the line-up: Border Grill, Coolhaus, India Jones, Juice Crafters, Let’s be Frank, and many more… Admission Free. Check out their Facebook page here.
You could be forgiven for thinking that there already was a branch of ubiquitous mall pizza chain Sbarro in the food court of Santa Monica Place. But there wasn’t… it was a branch of Stephano’s Pizza, the very same as is located on the corner of The Promenade and Arizona, just blocks away. Well, Stephano’s has quit the food court and in its place will shortly be a brand-spanking new branch of the aforementioned Sbarro that you can read about, if you must, here.
This Monday, May 20th at 7pm, Native Foods in Westwood is hosting a “Tour of Asia” cooking demo. Featuring vegan recipes from Korea, Vietnam, China, and Thailand, there will also be prizes and samples. Cost is free but space is limited… Secure your spot by clicking here.
With all the big “Taste of…” festivals in SoCal, it’s easy to overlook some of the smaller ones, but they’re often not without their charms… This weekend affords you the opportunity to go off the beaten path and discover a different world. Taste of Hawthorne is this Sunday, May 19th from 10am to 6pm at the Hawthorne Airport at 12101 S. Crenshaw in Hawthorne. A rather remarkable 40 plus Hawthorne and South Bay restaurants are represented, as well as food trucks, Food Network and Travel Network stars (i.e. local son Chris Cognac, the Food Network’s Hungry Detective), artisan beer and wine gardens, and entertainment headlined by local fave band Ozomatli. And with brand-spanking new Eureka! Tasting Kitchen on site, what more could you want? Another bonus? Admission free. Check out more at: tasteofhawthorne
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Nutrition and supplement experts LA Urban Fitness at 3015 Main Street in Santa Monica (corner of Marine) is currently remodeling a portion of their store to install a brand-spanking new cafe to be called, surprisingly, LA Urban Fitness Cafe. The new cafe will feature bar, table, and outdoor seating and offer a menu of smoothies, cold-pressed juices, coffee, and “snacks”. They’re shooting for a June opening. laurbanfitness.com.
Dust off your seersucker sports coat… On Sunday, May 26th, Coast Beach Cafe just steps from the beach in the swanky Shutters Hotel in Santa Monica is hosting a very civilized viewing party for the Monaco Grand Prix racing event. Now here’s the genius part: Due to the time difference in Monaco, Coast is opening their doors at 4:00AM and luring guests in with promises of a continental breakfast and unlimited champagne! Quelle bonne idée! Secure yourself a table here.
Those succulent little heralds of Spring, white asparagus, have arrived from Provence in all their plump, sweet glory and are currently featured as the stars of the menu at Josiah Citrin’s Melisse in Santa Monica. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to try them in their signature dish, White Asparagus “Cocotte” with Morel Mushrooms and Yellow Wine Sauce as well as other preparations. Time is extremely limited so move fast… melisse.com
Purveyors of all things tea, Birdpick has flown the coop in Santa Monica. Their ground floor Santa Monica Place location is now closed. If you find yourself desperately in need of a good cuppa, they still have tea shops in Pasadena and Culver City. Read more at: birdpick.com.
With so many people doing gluten-free these days and restaurants increasingly accommodating them, gluten-free is becoming a national craze. Now is your chance to try it yourself. Cookbook author, culinary expert, and food editor of Bon Appétit magazine for 20 years, Kristine Kidd, author of Weeknight Gluten Free: Simple, Healthy Meals For Every Night Of The Week, will be teaching a cooking class on Tuesday, May 7th at Let’s Get Cookin’ in Westlake Village. Some of the recipes you’ll be learning: Soft Socca (Mediterranean chickpea crepes) with Summer Squash, Basil & Gruyère, Sautéed Scallops and Quinoa with Orange-Avocado Salsa, and Ginger-Cherry Oatmeal Cookies. Read more about the event here and check out Kristine Kidd’s blog and find out about more events here.
With 72 locations throughout California and Nevada (albeit mostly far east and south of Downtown LA), breakfast and burger chain Farmer Boys is making its first inroad into West LA. Known for its generous portions, the new restaurant is taking over a repurposed fire department outpost at 2161 E. El Segundo Blvd. (corner of Nash) in El Segundo, a city quickly adapting to meet the noontime meal requirements of the aerospace industry. Look for a May opening. Until then, read more here: farmerboys.
This Sunday, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, Susan Feniger’s Street has planned a special taco night with a wide selection of veg and non-veg tacos, toppings, and sides all served on Border Grill homemade tortillas. Included on the taco menu: chipotle jackfruit, fried duck egg, beer battered okra, and smoked octopus. Tacos are either a la carte or as plates and can be washed down with margaritas and aguas frescas. Check out the entire menu and read more here: eatatstreet.
For those who’ve been worried sick that there simply aren’t enough places to procure frozen yogurt in Santa Monica comes this happy news… Relentlessly expanding icy treat chain Yogurtland has just opened yet another SM location just off the Third Street Promenade at 304 Santa Monica Blvd., in the old Jamba Juice location. yogurt-land.com
Signs went up recently on the space that used house long-gone Ummba Grill in the Century City Shopping Center announcing an upcoming brand new Chinese restaurant. Meizhou Dongpo is a chain of Sichuan restaurants in China that is looking to make inroads in the US. Not much info yet, except an undeveloped website linking to a Chinese site, and an artist’s rendering of what the future restaurant will look like. Look for a summer 2013 opening. dongpous.com. Update: This website no longer works… try http://www.meizhou.com.cn/?lang=en. -TRA
Promoters of plant-based diet Veggie Grill is celebrating Earth Week with a special free food offer. The rapidly expanding chain will give you a card good for a free entrée on a subsequent visit if you present them with either a bicycle helmet or the actual bike. The “Ride in, Veg out” offer is good from now until April 24th. Read more at: veggiegrill.
After much confusion (and a brief stint selling bicycle parts), purveyor of raw foods to the stars, restaurateur, and cook book author Juliano Brotman’s Santa Monica palace of veganism Planet Raw is officially closed on the corner of Broadway and 6th Street. Rumor has it that he is looking to move the whole operation to Marina del Rey. No word of a replacement yet, but I’ll keep my eye on it…
You’ll soon be spoiled for choice if you live in Culver City near the intersection of Sepulveda and Washington Blvds. Chipotle and Pei Wei are now open in the Culver Crossroads shopping center. Under construction in the same shopping center is a new branch of “fast fire’d” gourmet pizza restaurant Blaze Pizza at 4114 Sepulveda. Look for an August opening but in the mean time, read more about them here: blazepizza.
You may have noticed that the plebian Albertsons grocery store at 3105 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica had closed and construction had begun on a new project at the site. Turns out, the market will soon be a brand spankin’ new branch of upscale grocer Bristol Farms, providing further evidence of the rapid gentrification of the formerly sleepy seaside town.
Toddrickallen 