Still More News From El Segundo… The first restaurant in the new Elevon complex has been announced, and it’s a surprise on multiple levels. Petros Saloon will be an upscale steakhouse with a sports theme, a new concept for Petros Benekos. The Petros Café in Downtown El Segundo will remain open, a bet that the dining scene in that town will be robust enough to support both places…
Sausal opened last week, the room transformed into an elegant, sophisticated space, the menu unlike any other in the South Bay. The inspiration is from the California ranchos, the execution modern, and the result looks fabulous. Memo to the rest of the South Bay – there is now a restaurant in El Segundo that you really must visit. And soon there will be more…
Gradual Progress At The Point… More eateries are up and running at The Point each time I go by, and Hopdoddy and Mendocino Farms have joined North Italia, Shophouse, and True Food to serve the throngs of visitors. There are more to come, but they’re not in a hurry – Superba Food & Bread and Smitten Ice Cream will only say that they plan to open sometime this fall. Smitten specializes in ice cream made to order using liquid nitrogen, and the people I know who have tried it say it will be worth waiting for…
Slider Go!… Slider Stop is open on Artesia, and until I walked in I didn’t realize how scruffy some of the other burger joints in the area are. It’s a welcoming, bright space serving some innovative twists on fast food. Any new opening on Artesia is to be welcomed, as the boulevard has had little innovation compared to the rest of the South Bay…
Goodbye Antigua… The Antigua Café in Torrance, which I wrote about a few months ago, has closed due to a dispute with the landlord. Part of the problem was their signage – it’s a very secluded space, but the building management reportedly didn’t like their directional signboards. It was a bravely eccentric operation, and downtown Torrance is a bit less interesting with their departure…
Event Alerts… Terranea will be hosting an all-day “Celebration of Food and Wine” on September 26th, featuring gourmet lunch, four seminars on wines of the world, a cooking demonstration, and a grand tasting with an opulent dinner. The total price is $174.00 per person, and it sounds like an amazing day – look for details and tickets on their website. On the 28th you can attend a dinner at Chez Melange featuring five courses cooked by chef Brendan Collins, who worked at the top restaurants in London before moving to Los Angeles as chef de cuisine at Melisse. Collins likes cross-cultural oddities like rabbit baklava and monkfish tikka masala, so there’s no telling what he’ll do – Call 310-540-1222 for details and reservations…
Globalized Fast Food… Pollo Inka in Hermosa has been offering an unlikely special called salchipapas, the Peruvian twist on the American hot dog. In this case the dog is grilled, sliced, and served atop french fries, then topped with mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup. Peruvians have been enjoying these for decades, and if you like hot dogs, you should try this variant…
Any events I should know about, restaurant openings and closings? I’m at Richard@richardfoss.com…ER
