The NYC Restaurant Openings You Should Know About This August
August 14
Nolita: The Thai Diner's next trick is Mommy Pai's, a new casual takeout window dedicated to chicken fingers, which opened on Friday, August 8. There are grilled or fried chicken fingers, with flavors like lemongrass or Muay Thai, with garlic, soy, fish sauce, and coriander, along with sauces like Heavenly BBQ (capturing the flavors of the Thai beef jerky known as heavenly beef), or the noom green sauce. There are also sides like a Thai take on Johnnycakes and fruity drinks. 203 Mott Street, at Kenmare Street
Penn District: Serano's Italian opened on Tuesday, August 12, joining the growing dining district around the Javits Center, with house-made pastas like spinach ricotta ravioli, Sicilian-style square pizzas (developed with help from a Roberta's alum), panini, and tomato and burrata salads. Serano's, a sibling spot to nearby Friedman's, carves out lots of room for gluten-free diets on the menu. 132 West 31st Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues
Sunnyside: A new scone-dedicated bakery, the Sconery, opened in Queens on Tuesday, August 12. Expect flavors like cinnamon and fruit ones. Owner and founder Sheila Connolly was previously baking her scones at farmers markets in the city and Westchester. 39-39 47th Avenue, between 39th Place and 40th Street
Upper East Side: Meet Libbi, an upscale Mediterranean restaurant from the team behind Midtown East's kosher Italian spot Abaita, which opened on Monday, August 11. The brightly lit space with room for 50 starts with a marbled counter outfitted with delicate pastries. Chef and owner David Donagrand leads a polished sit-down menu full of pesto pasta, egg-topped asparagus, and fluffy pancakes. 205 East 81st Street, between Second and Third avenues
August 7
Pastas galore at Tortelli. Tortelli
Carroll Gardens: There's a new Brooklyn pasta shop courtesy of a trio of Italian food experts: Tortelli opened on Wednesday, August 6, from co-owners James Mather (who worked as a cook and chef at places like Lilia, Misipasta, Maialino, Roman's, and Lupa), Silvia Barban (the owner and chef of LaRina Pastificio and Briscola Trattoria, from Italy), and Vincenzo Ruggiero (owner of Mozz Lab). The menu features the namesake stuffed pasta, among others. There are dine-in and takeout services, as well as uncooked pastas and other Italian food products, and tiramisu. 359 Sackett Street, near Smith Street
East Village: The East Village Indian restaurant Ishq co-owners opened a new neighborhood fast-casual spot, KebabishQ (styled as KEBABISHQ), on Wednesday, August 6. The menu features halal charbroiled kebabs, hutneys, dahi puri, kulfi, and more. 128 Second Avenue, near St. Marks Place
East Village: Glorious Pakistani chopped cheeses are now available in New York courtesy of Nishaan, which opened in early August. Owner Zeeshan Bakhrani's approach to building the halal menu stems from his upbringing — the sandwich is made of a patty-shaped kebab and a chopped cheese, taking the chapli kebab spices like adobo and cinnamon, cooking the meat on a griddle, mixing in pepper jack and American cheese, and dropping it all in a hoagie. 160 First Avenue, between Ninth Street and 10th streets
Greenpoint: Lower East Side's Mexican-themed La Contenta added a second location in Brooklyn on Thursday, August 7, taking over the old Hungry Burrito space with a menu full of tacos, nachos, enchiladas, and margs.1079 Manhattan Avenue, between Eagle and Dupont streets
Greenpoint: Kub Kao, which opened on Thursday, August 7, brings Brooklyn bowls of warm jasmine rice and fragrant Thai staples like spicy green curry, tangy papaya salad, and crispy fried fish. 988 Manhattan Avenue, near Huron
Hell's Kitchen: Hudson Local, which opened on Tuesday, August 5, brings a new spot to the neighborhood for sampling cheddar cornbread, Hudson Valley steelhead trout, and steak all in one sitting. Well-traveled chef Samuel-Drake Jones also oversees Hudson Vu, which opened in May. Opening highlights include home-made fettuccine, Benton's country ham with summer melon, and grilled cabbage with tomato curry, which channels his time in London. The bar team is Los Angeles's Alta Adams, and a wine list curated by a former L'Atelier de Robuchon sommelier. 653 11th Avenue, near 11th Avenue
Upper East Side: A new below-street-level Cambodian cafe, Artara Coffee, opened in early August, as reported by East Side Feed. Along with standard coffee and espresso drinks, there are matchas with options like matcha floats, mango matcha lattes, and ube matcha foams. 214 East 82nd Street, near Third Avenue
Earlier this summer
East Village: The new Baos & Bowls specializes in hand-pulled Shanghai noodles, which are wok-fried and tossed in soy sauce, bok choy, and scallions. The sleek red restaurant, which opened on Monday, July 28, also offers a cucumber salad slathered in house-made garlic sauce, rice bowls, and a dim sum section starring soup dumplings. A liquor license is reportedly en route, per EV Grieve. 401 East 13th Street, at First Avenue
East Village: The bar formerly called Heaven Can Wait transformed into Lucinda's Honky Tonk + Juke Joint in late July. The reimagined space, once home to other music venues like Coney Island Baby, Lola, and Brownies, is a partnership between Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, Laura McCarthy, and Kelley Swindall. Lucinda's describes itself as a soulful Southern honky-tonk, with live country music Fridays, live-band karaoke Saturdays, and a jukebox packed with country classics. 169 Avenue A between 10th and 11th streets
Flushing: Billed as a modern American restaurant with Asian flair, Blu Ember is the latest project from Balance Hospitality Group (Moli, Hinoki, and Miku Sushi in Greenwich, Connecticut), which opened in June. Situated at the foot of the new Westin Flushing LaGuardia Airport Hotel, Blu Ember showcases prime steaks, sushi, a raw bar, an omakase counter, and items cooked on a charcoal-fired Japanese binchotan grill. 137-49 Northern Boulevard, between Linden Place and Leavitt Street
Jackson Heights: Angel Indian Restaurant expanded with a second location in the same neighborhood on Tuesday, July 22. 75-18 37th Avenue, between 75th and 76th streets
Midtown: Hospitality vet Josh Kessler (Barnea, Bonito, Lotus Room) brings fancy Italian fare to the heart of Grand Central with the late July debut of Bucatini. Along with its namesake noodle, home-made with a choice of sauces, there's lots of antipasti like seared octopus and eggplant rotolo, skillet-based focaccia, and pizza from its Brazilian-born chef Augusto Ferreira. 2 East 45th Street, near Fifth Avenue
The corn, goat curry and oxtail at Lélé. Lélé
Midtown: This huge new Afro-Caribbean restaurant Lélé, which opened in late July, is led by chef Rúnar Pierre Heriveaux, an alum of Iceland's Michelin-starred Reykjavík's Óx. He showcases his Haitian heritage and French training across a menu full of green curry shrimp, fruity hamachi, and hot honey peanut chicken. The bar, which claims to be the city's first equipped with a robot bartender, delivers beachy cocktails complete with coconut water ice cubes and ginger wine floats. The three-story dining room is covered with velvety, tropical-themed furniture and chandeliers, all set to an Afrobeats soundtrack and sporadic live music. 237 Madison Avenue, between East 37th and 38th streets
Mott Haven: A do-good cafe called Nourish opened for all-day service on Wednesday, July 31, in the Bronx with a catch-all menu featuring baked goods, steak frites, Korean fried chicken bites, and creative cocktails. All proceeds help support youth in the Bronx via the nonprofit Oyate Group. The site that formerly housed Chocobar Cortes features a bakery that opens at 7 a.m. until everything is sold out, with breakfast and lunch served until 4 p.m. Dinner goes from 5 p.m. to late. 141 Alexander Avenue, at East 134th Street
Upper East Side: Uka Omakase slides into the uptown neighborhood in late July with 16-course tasting menus priced at an approachable $56 per person. Rotating highlights include uni flown in from Hokkaido, smoked kampachi, raw scallops, and seared salmon with foie gras. 238 East 60th Street, near Second Avenue
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hypebeast
2 hours ago
- Hypebeast
Dsquared2's "ICONique" Milan Fashion Week Song Celebrates 30 Years of Business
After a show-stoppingMilan Fashion Week runwaythat featured a performance of 'Atler Ego' fromDoechiiandJT, Dean and Dan Caten'sDsquared2is digging deeper roots in the music space, with the release of a new song, 'ICONique.' The single, which first debuted during the label's 30th-anniversary celebration in the Italian fashion capital this June, featuresLatto, JC Chasez, Jimmy Harris, and the twin designers themselves. Originally, the track 'debuted as an unexpected surprise, amplifying the spirit of the celebration and further cementing the house's legacy at the intersection of music and fashion,' according to the label. Now, the song is a permanent fixture in the brand's history, scoring a new music video documenting Dsquared2's most iconic moments, from archival footage to never-before-seen clips, over the last 30 years. Dsquared2's 'ICONique' is now available as an official sound across both Instagram and TikTok. Watch the label's official music video above.
Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Dogs, kids, pizza and fine wine: A new Altadena gathering spot
The feel of an Italian festa in Altadena, the South Bay's 'time capsule' Japanese food scene, delivery drones, a tasting menu hidden in a parking lot, more downtown L.A. closures, a Basque restaurant's last days. Plus, recycle or reuse? And a bar that celebrates burlesque and red Solo cups. I'm Laurie Ochoa, general manager of L.A. Times Food, with this week's Tasting Notes. When I first started going to Italy for summer vacations with my late husband, Jonathan Gold, and the extended friends and family of chef Nancy Silverton, we'd get to know different areas of Umbria and Tuscany through festas or sagras, local gatherings centered around a specific regional dish or ingredient — maybe cinghiale (wild boar), porcini mushrooms, summer truffles or various pastas such as strozzapreti (which is being celebrated this week in the Umbrian town of Paciano). These are kid-friendly, come-as-you-are parties, typically on a soccer field or town square with long tables, local wine poured into plastic cups and food often served by volunteer cooks pitching in to help raise money for a good cause. Until recently, the closest I'd come to experiencing that sagra spirit in Los Angeles was the run of summer movie nights that Leo Bulgarini used to host outside his Altadena gelateria and restaurant Bulgarini Gelato Vino Cucina. He and his crew piled plates with pasta and salad before sunset signaled the start of the movie, often an Italian comedy or melodrama, projected onto an outdoor wall or a large, jerry-rigged screen. People would bring their kids and dogs, meet up with neighbors and settle into camping chairs or benches with their wine or cups of gelato once the movie began. Bulgarini's restaurant, which escaped the flames of the Eaton fire in January, has yet to reopen because of smoke damage and the loss of so much of the neighborhood around his shop — not to mention the fact that he, his wife and their son lost their home in the blaze. But two other Altadena business owners have joined forces with local restaurants to create one of the most welcoming neighborhood gatherings with the soul of an Italian sagra. As senior food editor Danielle Dorsey wrote in the guide she and Stephanie Breijo put together on the 21 best new bars in Los Angeles, a summer pop-up series has emerged outside Good Neighbor, 'the first cocktail bar to open in Altadena in 40 years,' and West Altadena Wine + Spirits, both opened last year by Randy Clement and April Langford, the couple behind Everson Royce Bar in the Arts District, Silverlake Wine and the former Pasadena wine shop Everson Royce. On Tuesday nights, Brisa Lopez Salazar's Casa pop-up serves tacos with a different handmade tortilla each week — maybe white heirloom corn with beet juice or masa infused with turmeric or activated charcoal. On Thursdays, Triple Beam Pizza shows up; Fridays there are oysters, poke bowls and lobster rolls from Shucks Oyster Co.; Saturdays you can get smash burgers from For the Win and, new to the line-up, Altadena's recently reopened Miya Thai restaurant is serving on Sundays. Two weeks ago, an Instagram post from Triple Beam about its newest heirloom tomato pizza drew me to the outdoor space just outside the Altadena burn zone. I found the patio packed, sagra-style, with groups of families and friends from the neighborhood and beyond. Kids chased each other in and around a wood-chip-bedded play area fitted with reclaimed tree stumps; more freshly sawed stumps were repurposed as stools and tables around the outdoor space. Dogs sat on laps or at customers' feet. A roving Good Neighbor barkeep took cocktail orders at the picnic tables. And on the side of the building, at a takeout-style window, a West Altadena Wine merchant was selling glasses and flights of wine. Almost as soon as I arrived, I reconnected with a friend I hadn't seen in years as well as a family from my daughter's old high school. The San Gabriel mountains in the near distance turned pink and purple during sunset, framed by a U-Haul sign as we ate our pizza, which arrived with all colors and shapes of tomato. With it, we sipped Sébastien Bobinet and Émeline Calvez's Piak blanc de noir from clear plastic cups. It was a perfect summer evening, made poignant with a stop on the way out at the wall-sized map created by Highland Park production designer Noel McCarthy marking the more than 9,000 homes and businesses destroyed or damaged in the fire, and the places where people died. The map, as writer Marah Eakin reported in April, has helped people visualize the shocking extent of the fire's devastation, even as Good Neighbor's summer gatherings have brought people together, a reminder of why so many want to rebuild this community. Food's summer intern Lauren Ng is headed back to school soon, but before she left to resume her studies at New York University, the Torrance native finished a project examining the 'time capsule' nature of Japanese food in the South Bay. The area is 'home to the biggest suburban Japanese community in the United States,' thanks in no small part to three of Japan's biggest automakers — Toyota, Honda and Nissan — establishing their U.S. headquarters in the region during the 1960s. The car companies are now gone, but many of the restaurants remain, with a new generation of South Bay places opened in recent years. Ng visited many of them and wrote a guide to 18 of the best Japanese restaurants and food producers in the South Bay. In 2019, when former Times columnist Frank Shyong reported on the changes in Chinatown that contributed to the closure of Ai Hoa Market and G and G Market, he wrote that one of the few places left to buy affordable fruits and vegetables in the neighborhood was Amy Tran's Yue Wa Market. Now, as columnist Jenn Harris wrote this week, Tran and her family will close Yue Wa next month after 18 years serving Chinatown. A spate of robberies, slow pandemic recovery, ICE raids and the forces of gentrification contributed to the family's decision. 'I don't feel ready to let go of the store, but there's not much I can do to bring more people in,' Tran told Harris. 'Business was booming and a lot of people used to come around, but now there is no foot traffic and a lot of people have moved away from Chinatown.' More downtown losses: It was only a couple of weeks ago that I was at downtown L.A.'s Tokyo Fried Chicken, where, I must admit, the dining room was sparsely populated but four-wheeled robot carts were kept busy with takeout deliveries. Yet as Karla Marie Sanford reported this week, after owners Elaine and Kouji Yamanashi announced they were closing the restaurant Aug. 10, customers suddenly showed up and waited in an hours-long line for one last chance to eat the chicken known for its super-crisp skin and soy sauce-ginger marinade. It was a brief return to the restaurant's days in its original Monterey Park location where lines for a table were constant. The downtown location had the bad luck to open just before the pandemic and never had a chance to reach its full potential. Elaine Yamanashi told Sanford that she and her chef husband hope at some point to find a new location for Tokyo Fried Chicken. 'We're taking this time, not off,' she said, 'but to reflect.' Meanwhile, Angel City Brewery, founded in 1997 by Michael Bowe then acquired in 2012 by Boston Beer — a year after the company established its downtown brewpub location notable for its distinctive neon signage that acted as a welcome to the Arts District — announced that it will close next April when the building's lease is up. 'The brand no longer lines up with our long-term growth strategy,' said a Boston Beer spokesperson, adding that the company plans to focus on its 'core national brands,' which include Samuel Adams. And LA Cha Cha Chá in the Arts District, with its lush, tropical rooftop, is also set to close sometime this fall according to co-owner Alejandro Marín. There wasn't an empty seat at Glendora Continental when contributor Jean Trinh stopped into the 45-year-old restaurant on Route 66, 'a reminder,' she writes, 'of fading connections to the Basque diaspora in California.' Now that the owners have put the restaurant up for sale, its days are numbered so regular customers have been showing up for live music and the Continental's 'mix of Basque, French and American food,' including lamb shank, prime rib, pickled tongue and escargots à la bourguignonne. 'I would say it's Basque with a sprinkle of American,' co-owner Antoinette Sabarots told Trinh, 'or vice versa.' Despite all the closure news, as Stephanie Breijo reports, good restaurants keep opening in Los Angeles, including Baby Bistro from chef Miles Thompson and his sommelier business partner, Andy Schwartz. They call it an 'Angeleno bistro,' with inspiration from Japanese, Korean, Italian, Mexican, French and more cuisines. 'I think the food is really defined by the cultures of Los Angeles,' Thompson told Breijo. 'If you already eat at any of the regional or international restaurants in this city, you'll find inspiring foods that go into this menu.' And chef Jeff Strauss, of the Highland Park deli Jeff's Table and OyBar in Studio City, has set up a weekend-only six-course tasting menu spot called Vey in the back parking lot of OyBar. As Strauss described it to Breijo, he thinks of it as 'a casual, rolling omakase.' Another hidden spot is Evan Funke's new Bar Avoja (slang for 'hell yeah'), a Hollywood cocktail lounge accessed through the dining room of the chef's Mother Wolf restaurant. In addition to drinks, Roman street food is on the menu. Meanwhile, the chef's namesake Beverly Hills restaurant, Funke, is temporarily closed due to a fire in the kitchen's exhaust system on Tuesday. As Breijo reported, no one was hurt and there was minimal damage. Also, Hong Kong's Hi Bake chain has opened a pet-friendly branch in Beverly Hills serving 'banana rolls, thousand-layer cakes, meat floss rolls and egg tarts. And San Francisco's Boichik Bagels, which opened in Los Feliz earlier this year, is now serving at downtown L.A.'s landmark Bradbury Building. Former L.A. Weekly nightlife columnist and Los Angeles magazine editor Lena Lecaro writes about Uncle Ollie's Penthouse, a new downtown L.A. bar with 'wild, color-saturated decor, potent cocktails served in red Solo cups and a soundtrack that inspires stomping the floor with pals or singing along with strangers.' 'I can't remember the last time I felt so connected to my hometown as an L.A. native,' musician Taleen Kali told Lecaro. 'I also love that you get to keep your own party cup all night — it's a total vibe, plus it's less wasteful and more sustainable.' When Mei Lin, chef and proprietor of 88 Club in Beverly Hills and former 'Top Chef' and 'Tournament of Champions' winner, demonstrated her spicy mung bean noodle recipe in the Times Test Kitchen for our 'Chef That!' video series, we all wanted to try making the noodles. It's a lot easier and fun to do than most of us thought. You start with a startchy base that thickens into jelly in a bowl. After you unmold the gelatinous blob, you scrape a grater over the mound, forming the noodles. Then it's just a matter of seasoning the noodles with chile, peanuts and herbs. The Times' Food Bowl Night Market, this year presented by Square, is taking place Oct. 10 and 11 at City Market Social House downtown. Among the participating restaurants announced so far are Holbox, Baroo, the Brothers Sushi, OyBar, Heritage Barbecue, Crudo e Nudo, Hummingbird Ceviche House, Rossoblu, Perilla LA, Evil Cooks and Holy Basil. VIP tickets that allow early entry always go fast. Check for tickets and info. And at this year's LA Chef Conference on Oct. 6, an all-day event taking place at Redbird and Vibiana in downtown L.A., I'll be on a panel with Roy Choi, Nancy Silverton, Ludo Lefebvre and Evan Kleiman talking about the legacy of Jonathan Gold. Find information on tickets and other events at the conference here.
Los Angeles Times
9 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Find a hidden weekend-only bar and tasting menu at one of the Valley's favorite restaurants
If you can't find Jeff Strauss in his Highland Park deli, Jeff's Table, or inside his Studio City bar-restaurant, Oy Bar, you should probably check the parking lot of the latter. The ex-television writer — now chef and restaurateur — is channeling more of his creative energy into a new, weekend-only bar and tasting menu called Vey, Oy Bar's new alfresco space built in the back parking lot. 'I wanted to do something that had as much delight and surprise without being the same experience,' Strauss said. 'We're sitting in a parking lot in Studio City, in the Valley in the summer. It was 92 degrees back here today! So I said, 'How do we celebrate that space, the night sky?'... The other idea, since we're on effectively asphalt, we're on the street, is to pay tribute to street food both here and all over the world.' He fashioned new walls from his storage unit behind Oy Bar, while artist Nick 'Sick' Fisher painted them as a kind of home interior in surreal, almost cartoon-like fashion. At one corner, Strauss and sous chef Esteban Palacios grill crisp-edged onigiri, yakitori-style chicken liver with egg and hot honey, and scallops dripping with gochujang butter over binchotan charcoal, while a pizza oven warms whole heads of mushroom in soy and butter in cast-iron skillets. Sometimes they offer small plates, other times, like this weekend, a reservation-only, six-course tasting menu for what Strauss likens to 'a casual, rolling omakase.' On Friday and Saturday nights, guests fill the tandem concept while waiting for indoor tables, or use Vey as their meal and cocktail destination for the evening. The experience, like Vey's culinary inspirations, is meant to be flexible and fluid. 'People have taken to that very nicely,' Strauss said. 'It feels fun to me. I hope it feels fun to them.' Vey is accessed through the back of Oy Bar, and is open Friday and Saturday beginning at 6:30 p.m., with variable hours. Strauss hopes to expand its days of operation in the future. 12446 Moorpark St., Studio City, They call it a California bistro, but really, chef Miles Thompson said, it's 'an Angeleno bistro.' The new 36-seat restaurant from Thompson and his sommelier business partner, Andy Schwartz, debuted earlier this year in Victor Heights with hyper-local sourcing and a wide-ranging menu that draws on Japanese, Korean, Italian, Mexican, French and more flavors. 'I think the food is really defined by the cultures of Los Angeles,' Thompson said. 'If you already eat at any of the regional or international restaurants in this city, you'll find inspiring foods that go into this menu.' It began as a pop-up, which debuted at the base of Koreatown's Hotel Normandie in June 2023. Thompson, a former Michael's and Konbi chef, teamed up with Schwartz, formerly of Lolo Wine Bar, to serve a tight menu of seasonal dishes by candlelight. Now in its permanent home, the duo are leaning into their creativity and finding their footing. Thompson ages wild-caught squid for five days before slicing it and tossing it in a cucumber and yuzu kosho salad. His ginger-marinated prawns come plancha-seared and served over a puttanesca-leaning sauce, then garnished with Hot Cheetos-inspired fried enoki mushrooms. He drapes burnt eggplant over house-made chicken sausage with fish sauce, Hungarian wax peppers and chile de arbol. Even Thompson's signature planks of lightly fermented, fluffy house bread update with local produce. The dough is packed with sweet caramelized onions; in one iteration it's topped with Liptauer cheese and more marinated onions, and in another, it's Franklin's Teleme cheese and marinated squash. The three compact rooms in a converted bungalow — part of the reimagined courtyard that also houses Perilla, Bakers Bench and Cassell's — offer the soft glow of candlelight with a view of the open kitchen. On the patio, take in the small grove of century-old banana trees. Baby Bistro's à la carte menu is designed to share between two people, and many customers order it all. 'If you're looking to really experience the beating heart of the restaurant,' Schwartz said, 'it's in the menu.' Daily specials might involve items more flexible to the whims of the farmers market, either in small plates or a larger meat dish. The intimate new setting also allows for Schwartz to rotate his wine offerings frequently. His list spotlights natural wines, often small producers making esoteric flavors or blends. He's enjoying creating pairings for Thompson's cuisine, which he characterizes as 'classically challenging to pair with': unique concentrations of flavors, attention paid largely to acidity. The challenge is part of the fun. 'That speaks to the connection between the wines that I like, and the ones that we serve at the restaurant, which can taste different every day,' Schwartz said. 'That's sort of the nature of real cooking and real wine.' Baby Bistro is open Tuesday to Saturday from 5:30 p.m., with its last seating at 9:30 p.m. 1027 Alpine St., Los Angeles, With laminated egg tarts, whimsical pastries, lines out the door and plenty of cute puppies, a prolific China bakery chain has touched down in Beverly Hills. Hi Bake, founded in Hong Kong, has expanded to more than 60 shops in China over the last 12 years, and thanks to a new partnership with Chubby Group (Niku X, Chubby Cattle), it just landed in the U.S. Its first American location takes over the former home of Sur Le Vert and Bouchon, and offers a number of the signature items found overseas: Tokyo banana rolls, thousand-layer cakes, meat floss rolls and egg tarts. Loaded toasts, flattened croissants, Dubai-chocolate tarts and fluffy matcha rolls all line the pastry case, while a separate pickup counter for cream-top matchas, pistachio lattes and other caffeinated beverages can be found next door. Hi Bake is extremely pet-friendly, hosting adoption events for cats and dogs around the world; the bakery's own emblem is a drawing of Dà Mài, the founder's own rescue dog. In Beverly Hills, expect house-made pet treats in the near future. Hi Bake is open Monday and Wednesday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 235 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, It's not every day that Evan Funke opens a new concept, let alone a dedicated cocktail bar, but the celebrated pasta-focused chef recently launched Bar Avoja, a new semi-hidden cocktail lounge inside his Hollywood restaurant, Mother Wolf. Much like the restaurant, Bar Avoja is a partnership with co-owner Giancarlo Pagani, and it's accessed only by walking through the lounge area of Mother Wolf. It fills the former Mars bar space (which was also owned by Pagani), and features separate food and cocktail menus in a setting inspired by a Roman villa: jewel-tone curtains and pillows meant for lounging, while a disco ball reflects off the walls and gold-gilded mirrors. On Thursdays, find vinyl DJ sets, but every night of service find spuntini informed by Roman street food, including an oxtail-meatball sandwich on pizza dough; fried carbonara bites; flatbreads piled with salad, salmon or sugo; and grilled octopus skewers. Bar Avoja — slang for 'hell yeah' — is open Thursday to Saturday from 6 to 11 p.m. 1545 Wilcox Ave., Los Angeles, This popular Bay Area bagel outfit made its L.A. debut earlier this year, and it's already expanding. Boichik Bagels, from former engineer Emily Winston, serves the New York-style bagels she enjoyed throughout her childhood in the Northeast. Now it serves them at the base of one of L.A.'s most iconic buildings, downtown's Bradbury Building. The new bagel shop offers the same range of bagels found in the Los Feliz location — including bagel sandwiches, more than a dozen bagel flavors, and schmear in options like hatch chile, chive or lox — with its own unique menu of daily specials. Look for whitefish-salad sandwiches, kippered salmon, frozen take-home bagels, coffee and more. Boichik Bagels is open downtown daily from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. 304 S. Broadway, Los Angeles,
