It was about two years ago that I noticed that the corner space at Santa Monica Blvd. and Wilshire in Beverly Hills was about to get a branch of tea purveyor Teavana. Sadly, it appears that they have closed and vacated the space, as evidenced by the large for lease sign affixed to the front. I’ll keep my eye on it and see what will move in…
House of Music & Entertainment has certainly had its share of the blues. I first noticed that H.O.M.E. was taking over the cavernous old Camden House space at 430 N. Camden Dr. in Beverly back in February of 2012. But after a kerfuffle involving their liquor license, the plucky supper club reopened with new owners and management in December of last year. Well it appears that H.O.M.E. is finally gone for good. While there’s no official notice, the place is completely gutted and locksmiths were changing the keys to the doors on Thursday, so I’m calling this one. I’ll keep my eye on the space to see if any other brave soul gives the difficult location a try…
In other Beverly Hills news, I recently noticed a sign taped to the front window of the space at 9533 S. Santa Monica Blvd. that used to house Frankie & Johnnie’s Pizza indicating a new eatery is on the way. According to the sign, we can soon expect Mediterranean food from a cleverly named Couscous A Gogo. Not much information out there, just a Facebook page that you can check out here.
I just noticed that signs have gone up on the space at 9667 1/2 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills indicating that a new coffee shop, Mr. B Coffee.Bread will soon be opening. I can’t seem to locate information about the new eatery, only just a Facebook page with not much on it, and a Yelp listing with one review raving about “Asian style cookies”. I’ll keep my eye on this one…
The space at 368 N. Camden in Beverly Hills can’t seem to hold on to a tenant. The latest casualty was the US’s promising first branch of Canadian smoothie and juice company Liquid Nutrition, which opened in November of 2014. I’ll keep my eye on the space to see who will be the next to roll the dice…
Recently, I told you about the closure of longtime resident Euro Caffe at 9559 S. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. An ABC application posted on the front door indicates that the replacement restaurant will be a suspiciously similar-named Oro Caffe, about which I can find little information. But as it turns out, there’s more to the story. Euro Caffe isn’t riding off into the sunset. It appears to be relocating to The Courtyard at 427 N. Canon Dr. I’ll keep watching both locations for more news…
Sadly, I’ve yet another closure to report. Purveyor of sugary treats Beverly Hills Brownie Company has iced its last blondie at 315 N. Beverly Dr. in Beverly Hills. The for lease sign in the window indicates that they haven’t lined up a new tenant quite yet.
It looks like a sleek new coffee purveyor is coming soon to the space at 100-A S. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. The papered-over windows inform us that the new coffee shop will be an outpost of La Colombe Coffee Roasters. Originally hailing from Philadelphia and founded by Todd Carmichael and Jean Philippe Iberti, La Colombe has been spreading its message that “America deserves better coffee” across the East Coast and Chicago areas for 20 years. Read more about the philanthropic and committed company here.
It looks like after 21 years of supplying the good folks of Beverly Hills with carbohydrates and cleverly flavored cream cheeses, St. Urbain Street Bagels has closed its doors at 451 N. Beverly Dr. A sad note taped to the front door thanks customers for support and reminds them that they have another location on W. Olympic Blvd. Windows are papered over, but there’s no indication of what may be replacing it so I’ll keep watching.
I don’t know what is going on with that particular block of Beverly Hills, but this is the third restaurant closure in recent months. It appears that long-time resident Euro Caffe, at 9559 S. Santa Monica Blvd. has closed its doors. The place is gutted and the windows are papered over. And while there’s no indication anywhere that it actually has closed (not even Yelp users have reported it closed yet), the “for lease” sign in the window is a fairly good indication that it ain’t coming back…
Back in 2013, I noticed a new yogurt shop had opened on Bedford Dr. in Beverly Hills. Since then, Go Greek Yogurteria has opened two more locations and has two more on the way. One is coming to Corona Del Mar, and the other is set to land in Santa Monica. Signs are up in the window of what must be a very choice location at 1431 Ocean Ave. (in the Pacific Plaza building) indicating that creamy treat shop is on the way. Go Greek offers a menu of frozen and fresh Greek yogurt with toppings or in combination bowls that you can read more about here.
Back in mid-September, I told you about a new tenant coming to the old L’Amande space at 9530 S. Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills. Turns out, the new restaurant was none other than Sushi Yu/Mi (or Sushi Yu-N-Mi) from just up the street at 9475 Santa Monica Blvd. Well, the move is complete and they are now dishing fish from their fresh new digs.
It was only back in July when I noticed that longtime Beverly Hills fixture Papa Jake’s Sub Shop had permanently closed its doors at 9527 Santa Monica Blvd. Wasting no time, it appears that a new resident is settling in. Signs are going up indicating that Beverly Hills Beignet will soon inhabit the space. There’s not a lot of information out there yet, and I’ve no idea when the pillowy doughy treats will commence, but until then read more at their Facebook page here.
Swanky jazz club H.O.M.E. (House of Music & Entertainment) burst onto the scene back in 2012, taking over the cavernous old Camden House space at 430 N. Camden Dr. in Beverly Hills. Then, earlier this year, they hit a sour note. We never completely knew what the kerfuffle was, but the prominent notice posted in the window did provide a clue. Well, H.O.M.E. is back up and running with new owners and management according to a spokesperson. We wish them the best of luck.
Beverly Hill’s preeminent purveyor of all things tea has closed down for a major redo. American Tea Room at 401 N. Canon Drive is covered with plywood and large banners indicating that the facelift will be complete sometime in 2016. Until then, check out their new Downtown LA location or follow the progress of their upcoming Newport Beach location here.
Stop the presses, this just in… While we’re on the subject of new buzz-worthy Japanese restaurants on the Westside, a great deal of you were extremely excited by the news I told you back in May that Yazawa Meat was going into the old BierBeisl space at 9669 Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Well, you’ll be ecstatic to learn that straight from Japan, our own local branch of the ultra-exclusive chain Yazawa Meat soft opened last night (October 29th) after a brief run of invite only, with an expected grand opening of December 1st. What took so long? According to a spokesperson, permits from LA County held them up. But all that’s behind us now. Expect the absolute end-all of routinely flown in Japanese wagu expertly cut (the name Yazawa refers to a legendary Japanese butcher) (and yes, I’m assured there are vegetarian options). But with all this attention, good luck getting a seat in the dark, intimate, diminutive dining room. In the mean time, check out their website and explore the menus at one of their other glitzy outposts in Milan, Tokyo, and Singapore here.
Back in February, I told you about a second location of Melrose’s glamourous purveyor of meringues and cakes, Bo Nuage, that was under construction in the old Shoe Wiz space at 9523 Santa Monica Blvd (near Rodeo) in Beverly Hills. Bo Nuage is now open and set to charm your knickers off with its adorable French pâtisserie themed décor and delightfully darling desserts on display. Pop by for a sample of their lighter than air confections and read more about this little slice of heaven here.
It wasn’t that long ago that the French cafe L’Amande quit the space at 9530 S. Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills. And already, it looks like a new tenant has been lined up. Signs are up indicating that long-time Beverly Hills sushi restaurant Yu-N-Mi will be moving out of their current diminutive and dark digs a block away at 9475 Santa Monica Blvd and taking over the bright and cheery new space by late Fall, according to the sign.
Surely one of the loveliest places in LA to savor a balmy summer evening is on the patio at celeb fave Culina in the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Recently, Culina got a serious Italian makeover. Under the direction of assistant general manager and sommelier Luca Bruno (Providence, Bouchon), the always crowded restaurant recently took on a new and talented young sous chef, Denis Dello Stritto. Originally hailing from Sardinia and after cutting his teeth for a year at Il Grano, the effervescent and creative Stritto has already begun to transform the menu. Look for serious Southern Italian flavors here, with an emphasis on Campagna; house-made pastas, fish, fresh and local ingredients. And if you’re extremely lucky, you just made get a chance to sample pizza montanara, which is a Neapolitan pie with toppings on deep-fried dough that Stritto serves as small, individual hors d’oeuvre. What could be better for a late summer al fresco dinner?
Dennis Dello Stritto & Luca Bruno
Pizza Montanara
I recently noticed that signs are up in the window of a tiny space at 412 N. Bedford in Beverly Hills that used to house a hair salon announcing that West Hollywood’s Rawberri will soon be bringing raw acai bowls to the land of Spago, Cut, and Mr. Chow. Rawberri offers a menu of superfruit bowls that are organic, dairy free, gluten-free, and soy free. But that’s not all. They will also be the first vendor in the US serve Australia’s CocoWhip. What’s CocoWhip, you ask? A vegan and bio-fermented coconut soft serve frozen yogurt that comes in flavors such as matcha slim, and cacao bliss. No word on when this temple of Hygeia will open, but in the mean time, check out their website here.
Toddrickallen 