The dramatic renovation of the Manhattan Village on the corner of Rosecrans and Sepulveda in Manhattan Beach has a new casualty. Self described “true mediterranean” restaurant Sesame Moe’s has pulled up stakes. Not sure what happened, but you can read their goodbye message here.
Manhattan Beach’s popular purveyor of “New Zealand’s coffee culture” is continuing to expand. Signs are up on the space at 321 Main St. in El Segundo that used to be the home of Steve’s Burgers announcing that Two Guns Kitchen will soon be plying the locals and captive industry folks with flat whites. I’m not sure when they will be opening, but it looks like they’re not too far off…
As you know, I’ve been carefully watching the developments during the renovation of the Westfield Century City Shopping Center. As we get closer to the unveiling of the glitzy new dining and shopping destination, here are the latest developments. While much of this has already been reported, this is what you can actually see:
What’s Now Closed:
Coral Tree Express finally closed in the mostly boarded up food court.
Tenacious Breadbar vacated its first floor location.
The Hillstone Restaurant Group’s Gulfstream is now gone.
What’s Coming:
California Pizza Kitchen has an ABC license posted on the second floor.
Manhattan Beach’s Petros Benekos will be bringing his Greek/Californian cooking north with an outpost of Petros Speakeasy on the second floor.
Signs have gone up confirming that Orange County’s wildly popular Mexican restaurant Javier’s is indeed moving into the old Season’s 52 space.
And if you look carefully at the Gulfstream photo above, you’ll see mentioned that Taiwanese noodle and dumpling experts Din Tai Fung is coming along with the wildly-anticipated and oft reported Eataly.
What’s now open:
LA’s latest branch of New York’s popular Shake Shack opened last week to long lines.
Recently I told you about the move of Johnny Memphis’ Smokehouse from its location in the Manhattan Village Shopping Center to Downtown El Segundo. A reader was quick to let me know that the move was necessary to make room for the upcoming expansion of the mall. One other casualty was the popular Eastern European restaurant Doma Kitchen (the name means “home” in Slavic), that sat just to the right of Johnny Memphis’. But the plucky little eatery isn’t done yet… They have indeed pulled up stakes in Manhattan Beach, but they’ve landed in a brand new location. Doma Kitchen is now open in Marina del Rey in the Villa Marina Marketplace at 4325 Glencoe Ave. #8.
Originally located in Redondo Beach, little charmer Doma Kitchen is now up and running in their new location at 3562 N. Sepulveda Blvd. in a spot that has sat vacant for a while after the former tenant Baja Fresh moved out. Doma (the name means “home” in Slavic) offers a warm and welcoming environment with communal tables and an open kitchen. The menu of salads, sandwiches, small plates, and entrees is globally inspired and market driven with an emphasis on European and Central Asian techniques. Check out their menu and read more here.
Remember back in January when I told you about the impending arrival of Flights Craft Beers + Sports Grill, the new bar with 40 beers on tap, an interesting menu, and odd location (5119 W. El Segundo Blvd, in Hawthorne)? I’ve been carefully watching this story because the Manhattan Beach/El Segundo food scene is exploding right now and Flights is the farthest east of all of the new upcoming restaurants. Well, after delaying their opening a few weeks, they eventually opened for business on March 25th. Shortly thereafter however, they had to close their doors due to health and safety code violations. A letter pasted under the notice of closure on the front door explains that the moving of an ice machine and installation of a new washing machine required new permits that they simply didn’t know about. But they are planning on reopening as soon as they can.
Toddrickallen 