You’ll need a new BLD spot soon
From more hot chicken to the closing of an L.A. favorite, here’s what’s happening in the Los Angeles food and drink world:
Farewell, friend: BLD, Neal Fraser and wife Amy Knoll Fraser’s Beverly Boulevard restaurant, will close Tuesday. BLD, whose name stands for breakfast, lunch, dinner, helped transform Beverly into its own restaurant row more than a decade ago. A popular brunch spot, BLD is also known for its Self Constructive Dinner, in which diners build their own meals by choosing proteins, sides and sauces. Its closing also means that the sister sweets shop next door, ICDC, will also be shutting. “We’ve been there for 10 years, and it was just really time for us to move on,” said Neal Fraser. “Business wasn’t what it was at the beginning. We loved being there and we appreciate all the support and continued support, but it was just time to move on to a different thing.” Fraser added that he and Knoll Fraser believe the BLD three-meal-a-day restaurant model and ICDC could be great components to a hotel. “We could do the same premise with an updated menu and design and would love if the opportunity came across our desk, but for right now we’re not looking to expand to another location.” Fraser’s other restaurants include Fritzi and Redbird in downtown L.A. and Fritzi Coop in the Original Farmers Market. 7450 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 930-9744, www.bldrestaurant.com.
Hot hot hot: Chinatown has just become home to even more hot chicken. Hotville, a Saturday-only pop-up run by Kim Prince, niece of André Prince Jeffries of the celebrated Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, has opened on Spring Street. The pop-up will serve chicken from noon to 9 p.m. Saturdays — and Super Bowl Sunday too. With Howlin’ Ray’s just a couple of blocks away, this makes Chinatown L.A.’s hot chicken capital. 643 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, (323) 335-0373.
Röckenwagner move: Hans Röckenwagner has announced the closing of 3 Square Café on Sunday after a decade on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. In a recent statement, he cited the space’s expiring lease and increasing rent. Röckenwagner also said he plans to expand Röckenwagner Bakery in Culver City with chef Danny Friedman (formerly of Mélisse). 1121 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, (310) 399-6504, rockenwagner.com.
Mezcal, please: Mezcalero, a new Mexican restaurant from Jay Krymis, who also owns Padre in Long Beach, is open in downtown L.A. Menu items include fried chicken tacos, beef tenderloin tacos and baby octopus nopales. Bar program director Nathan McCullough is making cocktails heavy on the mezcal and tequila, with ingredients such as charcoal-colored burnt tortilla syrup and roasted corn-infused Maestro Dobel tequila. 510 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, (213) 628-3337, www.mezcalerodtla.com. Hot dogs: Sumo Dog, the hot dog pop-up that started at Coachella, has opened its first brickand-mortar location in Koreatown. Chef-founder Jeffrey Lunak (former corporate chef for Masaharu Morimoto) and partner Mark Stone opened the restaurant in the former Romero’s space on Western Avenue. The menu features hot dogs influenced by Vietnamese and Japanese flavors, including a bacon banh mi dog (bacon-wrapped dog with pickled daikon and carrot) and a miso katsu dog (pankocrusted hot dog with tonkatsu sauce). The 25-seat restaurant was designed by Schoos Design Inc. 516 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, www.eatsumodog.com.
Still hungry? SpireWorks, the design-your-own döner restaurant with Kuniko Yagi (formerly of Hinoki & the Bird) as consulting chef, opened a location in Eagle Rock on Tuesday. Bone Kettle, the Pasadena restaurant specializing in bone broth and small plates from Komodo chef and co-owner Erwin Tjahyadi, will open in mid-February. Asian Box, the Asian street food restaurant, has opened a location in Irvine.