This sultry new jazz club is hidden in one of the world’s most famous Italian restaurants
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- Plus, Curtis Stone’s pie pop-up goes permanent
- There’s caviar-topped carpaccio at a new restaurant in the Valley
- A pop-up residency is serving cocktails and wine with a side of Southern comfort
Enter Cipriani through the main entrance but head straight for the staircase toward the back of the dining room. Walk past the guests tucking into pastas and truffle-laced risotto, and up the staircase with the lacquered-wood walls, a signature design element of the world-famous, Venice-founded restaurant and bar that debuted in Beverly Hills earlier this year. At the top of the stairs is a host stand and closed doors. You’ve reached your destination: a new Cipriani jazz club that hides above the restaurant’s main dining room, where trios, solo vocalists and other musicians fill the stylish space with music Thursday to Saturday.
Inside the Jazz Café, small palm trees bend in S-shapes from the walls over zebra-patterned banquettes in a space meant to evoke both Hollywood’s Golden Era and the supper clubs of the 1930s and ’40s. Servers in white tuxedo jackets ferry some of the world’s most iconic dishes to small tables, including items that Cipriani’s founder, Giuseppe Cipriani, created in Italy: the Bellini cocktail and beef carpaccio.
The nearly century-old Cipriani brand now operates roughly two dozen restaurants, bars, clubs and hotels around the world, but few offer jazz cafés. Beyond the new outpost in Los Angeles, New York offers a members-only version, while a Bahrain iteration is open to all. After months of fine-tuning, the Beverly Hills version is open with an abbreviated menu of the dishes found downstairs, including caviar service, plus Jazz Café-only snacks such as sandwiches filled with anchovies and eggs and other finger foods.
Performers might rotate over the course of the night and have included Stefano Langone of “American Idol,” singer-songwriter Ericka Guitron and the Chris Norton Quartet. The Jazz Café at Cipriani Beverly Hills is open Thursday to Saturday from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., with the kitchen closing at 11 p.m.
362 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 866-5060, cipriani.com/cipriani-beverly-hills
Wildcrust
Eagle Rock’s new pizzeria turned a home pop-up into a modern Italian restaurant in a buzzy strip mall. Chef-partner Miles Okabayashi (formerly of République and New York City’s Perry Street and Torishin) partnered with his brother and sister-in-law, Sam and Jean Okabayashi, to develop his pandemic-era interest in pizza into a full-fledged restaurant. Wildcrust, now open in the same complex as seafood spot Queen St. and croissant specialist Fondry, serves classic and inventive toppings on 48-hour-fermented pizza dough for options such as salami with fermented-chile honey and fior di latte; roasted mushrooms with raclette and garlic vinaigrette; and the house special, braised lamb pizza with tzatziki, feta, mint and Calabrian chile.
Beyond the Neapolitan-leaning sourdough pizzas are entrées and small plates such as spice-crusted pork chops and meatballs served over a chipotle tomato sauce.In their zero-waste efforts, the Okabayashis use whole Liberty Farms duck to prepare roasted duck breast, duck-leg croquettes and duck-liver mousse with apple relish and sansho. To pair, find sakes, wines and beers such as pilsners and rice lagers. Wildcrust is open 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday, with lunch service planned for the future.
4705 York Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 671-4364, wildcrustla.com
The Pie Room by Curtis Stone
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Curtis Stone’s Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant turned into a casual pie shop
After a spin as a pop-up and then as a residency within a Michelin-starred Hollywood restaurant, celebrity chef Curtis Stone’s Australian-inspired pie shop is now a permanent restaurant in Beverly Hills, with new pastries, puddings and house-made charcuterie. The Aussie chef began the Pie Room by Curtis Stone as a pandemic pivot, temporarily flipping his lauded tasting-menu restaurant, Maude, into an epicenter for his nostalgic savory pies filled with the likes of braised beef, curried lamb and chicken with vegetables, plus sweet options in individual and large formats (some of the best pies in L.A.).
The pop-up was so popular that Stone took over a 6,000-square-foot Mid-Wilshire commercial bakery to keep up with demand, and when Maude resumed service, used it to continue the Pie Room’s offerings at farmers markets and inside his Hollywood restaurant and butcher shop, Gwen. Maude shuttered in September, and since then Stone and his team have transformed the Beverly Hills space. In addition to pies, the new iteration boasts wine, sandwiches and sides such as English peas with mint and bacon, plus daily specials like fresh cavatelli in duck ragout from chef Serkan ?etinarslan, formerly of Maude and Spago. The Pie Room by Curtis Stone is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
212 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (323) 863-8220, instagram.com/thepieroombycurtisstone
Jim + James
With a taste of Southern comfort and a bevy of natural wine, East Hollywood’s newest bar is now open — at least for the next six months or so. Jim + James is a pop-up residency from chef Ally Raél, who spent years in the kitchens of Ari Taymor’s L.A. restaurants Alma and Little Prince. More recently Raél fronted plant-based Seattle restaurant Allyum, and though her Jim + James return to L.A. features plenty of fried chicken, pimento cheese and cornbread slathered with honey butter, much of the menu can be made vegan.
Look for red beans and rice, vinegar-laced collards, buttermilk-brined chicken, chicken-fried mushrooms, seasonal pickles, banana cream pie and late-night bites such as gravy-smothered fries to complement wine, beer and cocktails such as Oaxacan old-fashioneds, martinis, Negronis and a Gibson garnished with pickled sea beans. Jim + James also features a large patio and programming such as game nights, and is open Thursday and Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight.
4854 Fountain Ave., Los Angeles, instagram.com/jimandjamesla
Palma Ristorante
A European newcomer is bringing crudo, steaks, lobster gnocchi, tableside-carved Ibérico jam, escargots and more to downtown Burbank. The open kitchen and sprawling menu of Palma Ristorante are overseen by Roman chef Emidio Tidu (formerly of Urban Press Winery and Restaurant and Terra e Mare); his dishes highlight offerings from the raw bar, the Mediterranean and broader Europe, with a focus on Italy and upscale touches such as caviar-topped beef carpaccio and steaks crowned with black truffle butter. Palma redesigned the Milano Cafe and Deli space, removing the shelves of pantry goods and filling its 7,000 square feet with an oyster bar, a large dining room, seats overlooking the wood-fired grill, bar seating, a patio fire pit and a coffee bar with full espresso program, gelati and a pastry case displaying cannoli, layered cakes, flan and more. Planned lunch and brunch service will see items like a tableside Bloody Mary cart. Palma Ristorante is now open Sunday to Thursday from 5 to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight.
269 E. Palm Ave., Burbank, (818) 748-3000, palmausa.com
Goldburger Chinatown
Where one burger stand closed, another opened: Goldburger, the local chain turning out some of the city’s best smashburgers, bar burgers and patty melts, is now operating in Chinatown in the former home of Burgerlords. Owner-founder Allen Yelent turned his longtime burger passion into a pop-up in 2018, then later launched locations in Highland Park and Los Feliz.
After Burgerlords changed hands earlier this year and shuttered its space in Chinatown’s Central Plaza, Yelent took over the space; now the walk-up window and patio are offering Goldburger’s signature burgers, curly fries, house-made dipping sauces and more. Goldburger is open in Chinatown from Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. A Goldburger is planned to open in Granada Hills early next year featuring a drive-through and new items that could include breakfast and soft serve.
943 N. Broadway, Suite 102, Los Angeles, (213) 266-8147, goldburgerla.com
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