The Grove is next up for macaron shop
Pretty, proper French macarons: Ladurée, the Parisian pastry shop and tearoom known for its colorful macarons, has plans to open a store in Los Angeles at the Grove. The store will be located next to the J. Crew Men’s Shop, across from the Elizabeth and James store. This will officially make the Grove, already home to a Dylan’s Candy Bar and Sprinkles Cupcakes, heaven for tweens with a sweet tooth. This will be the first West Coast location for the brand. Its other U.S. stores are in New York City and Miami. 189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, www.thegrovela.com.
More cocktails in DTLA: Brack Shop Tavern, a new bar by Last Word Hospitality (the team behind Same Same Thai wine bar in Silver Lake) is scheduled to open mid-September near the corner of 7th Street and Grand Avenue in downtown L.A. Brack Shop Tavern will take over the space previously occupied by Barrel Down. The bar will feature craft cocktails, beers on tap and seasonal snacks. 525 W. 7th St., Los Angeles.
Truffle sashimi in WeHo: Catch, the New York City restaurant known for truffles sashimi and lobster mac and cheese, is scheduled to open a location in West Hollywood later this month. The 12,000-squarefoot restaurant will feature a retractable rooftop, so you can eat your miso black cod lettuce wraps and sip cocktails under the sun. Catch is located on Melrose Avenue near San Vicente Boulevard. Other Catch locations include Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 8715 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. www .catchrestaurants.com.
Wine by the beach: Chez Tex, a wine bar and restaurant, has been open for a little more than a week on Main Street in Venice. The menu, by Ashkan Ghassemzadeh (most recently sous-chef at Republique) reads much like what you’d expect from a small wine bar by the beach: heirloom tomato and avocado salad, crudites, wild grain risotto. The restaurant is named after co-owner Jesse Feldman’s grandfather Tex. Chez Tex is open only for dinner and does not take reservations (but you can book a private party). 218 Main St., Venice, (310) 314-1314, www.cheztex.com.
The chicken or the egg: That’s the actual name. This Playa Vista restaurant, scheduled to open later this month, is called the Chicken or the Egg. It’s the brainchild of Mendocino Farm alums Hunter Pritchett (partner and head chef at the new venture) and Sean Krajewski. The idea is to create a restaurant that serves breakfast egg sandwiches, salads and fried chicken. Eggs will come from Chino Valley Ranchers, bread will come from BreadBar in El Segundo and the chicken from Mary’s, in the California Central Valley. 12150 Millennium Drive, Suite 101, Playa Vista.
More Venice ice cream: Look out for a Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams shop in Venice Beach toward the end of September or the beginning of October. This will be the Columbus, Ohio-based shop’s second Los Angeles location (the first opened in Los Feliz in 2015). The shop features ice cream by James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Jeni Britton Bauer, known for flavors such as “brambleberry” crisp (oat streusel with blackberry and black currant jam) and goat cheese with red cherries. 540 Rose Ave., Venice Beach, www.jenis.com.
More good eats Bar Moruno at Grand Central Market is finally serving alcohol. That means you can order wine from managing partner David Rosoff ’s list, which includes four sherries, Vermina vermouth and a Basque cider on tap. Chicago-based Potbelly Sandwich Shop has plans to expand to Los Angeles, and is looking to open a first shop along Westwood Boulevard.