From Truck Bagels To Sidewalk Oysters, Food Is Culture In Los Angeles

Forbes

14-05-2025

Chef Avner Levi opened Cento Raw Bar with co-hosts Sophia Ziskin and Celia Babini.
Food culture and entertainment culture and lifestyle culture constantly intersect in Los Angeles. So on the night of Saturday, May 10, after spotting scenester hospitality players like Joey Rubin, Sebastian Puga and Charlotte Lansbury during The Blaze's beautifully enveloping Cercle performance at the Los Angeles Convention Center, it was time to head to the West Adams neighborhood for the opening party of chef Avner Levi's Cento Raw Bar.
Shucked oysters and trays of cigarettes kept things lively outside while co-host Sophia Ziskin (the DJ/model who kissed The Dare on-stage at the Grammys) made the rounds. Guests including Emma Chamberlain (whose Chamberlain Coffee collaborated with Kendall Jenner's 818 Tequila on an espresso martini that's been served at restaurants including Elephante), Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis (the culinary power couple who previously employed Levi at Bestia) and Kate Burr (who is now debuting Bar Benjamin with Ben Hundreds and Jared Meisler) also circulated at the Carvingblock-produced party.
Cento Raw Bar, which is the sister property of Cento Pasta Bar and has a dreamscape design from Brandon Miradi that wouldn't be out of place near the Balearic Sea, should be a nice staycation destination for those who typically summer on Melrose instead of Mallorca.
After popping by Cento Raw Bar's party, it was time for a brisk stroll to Damn, I Miss Paris, a sultry West Adams cocktail bar owned by celebrity stylist/creative director Jason Bolden. The room and the velvet booths were packed as guests ate pomme frites and sipped Vesper martinis. Damn, I Miss Paris previously had an Oscars night Revolve x Forward afterparty co-hosted by Halle Berry, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union.
Feel free to make a mess with the 13 Hour Drip Fit, a collaboration between Chain and Arby's.
Anyway, this feels like an appropriate moment in Los Angeles for Chain, the nostalgia-loving food pop-up series and festival creator co-founded by B.J. Novak, to announce its new collaboration with Arby's. It's called the 13 Hour Drip Fit and it's a stylish red-striped button-down and shorts combo. Chain wants you to think of this outfit, which is made entirely of napkins, as an oversized barbecue bib.
You can wear it when you're trying the new Arby's 13-hour smoked brisket sandwich and six-hour pulled pork sandwich, both of which are topped with AC Barbeque sauce. Anthony Anderson and Cedric Entertainer are the smoked-meat-loving forces behind AC Barbeque, which has also just opened its own restaurant in Century City.
In many ways, food is the culture in Los Angeles. So this week, Yeastie Boys Bagels is collaborating with Netflix's Nobody Wants This on a special menu of bagel sandwiches. This two-day activation, at the Yeastie Boys Brentwood truck (11940 San Vicente Blvd.) on Saturday, May 17, and at the Studio City truck (12073 Ventura Place) on Sunday, May 18, is part of Netflix's FYSEE LA festival.
'Yeastie Boys has been the backdrop of a lot of dope L.A.-based productions over the years,' Evan Fox, founder of Yeastie Boys Bagels, says in a statement. 'But I have to say, the amount of attention and reach from being on Nobody Wants This was in a league of its own. It's a testament to how much it has resonated with people. I'm proud to have played a small part and I'm stoked to run it back to celebrate the show, its fans and LA food and street culture. On wheels.'
Yeastie Boys serves up sandwiches like The Hot Rabbi for its collaboration with Netflix.
The two-day menu will include sandwiches like the Hot Rabbi with soft scrambled eggs, American cheese and avocado on a toasted everything bagel. The Hot Rabbi is finished with Brave honey habanero hot sauce. Brave, not incidentally, is a brand started by fashion models.