Check out who The Argonaut readers voted Best of The Westside 2024. I wrote short bits for the 109 winners.
Read the entire issue.
Best of The Westside 2024
Jessica Koslow
A Running Commentary About the Arts
Author Archives: jessicakoslow
Raise a Glass: Ettore Vino e Cucina brings the flavors
Ettore Vino e Cucina, now the largest sit-down restaurant at LA’s Original Farmers Market, is open for business. The Italian wine and culinary destination is a collaboration between Osteria Mamma, the cherished family-owned Italian restaurant in Hancock Park, and Ettore, a boutique organic winery in Mendocino owned by Ettore Biraghi that uses the scientific Purovino method to eliminate sulfites from its wine.
Filippo Cortivo, the co-owner of Osteria Mamma, explained that his partnership with Fabrizio de Falco, Ettore’s managing director, is a natural extension of their shared philosophies about ingredients, production and lifestyle. Both businessmen are passionate about handmade food, hand-harvested grapes and the use of sustainable practices to deliver authentic products. Chef Mònica Angelats Coll was brought on board because she, too, is cut from the same cloth.
“When Filippo came to us with an idea for the farmers market, we thought it was a perfect place for us,” stated Falco. “We are proud to be part of this family.” . . .
Read the full article at LA Downtown News.
Grand Entrance: Hall’s asterid welcomes new executive chef
A new executive chef is feeding Downtown.
After a little more than two years, asterid — the restaurant at the base of the Walt Disney Concert Hall — has brought on chef Mazen Mustafa to continue the culinary legacy of Ray Garcia, who will remain as chef partner. Mustafa, who has worked around the world, will manage the kitchen and spearhead menu development.
“Walt Disney Concert Hall is a legendary space in LA,” Mustafa said. “To be able to work in that space and help create a new identity and new legacy is humbling, rewarding and exciting.
“I look at it as an extension or continuation of what Ray was already doing. The restaurant was designed to be a celebration of Los Angeles, and I’m trying to take that a step further.” . . .
Read the full article at LA Downtown News.
Lots to Celebrate: The Lobster invites the public to its party
In honor of its 25th anniversary at its second-story location and October’s National Seafood Month, The Lobster offers a special $25 anniversary menu with four of its signature dishes for $25 each.
Located at the top of the Santa Monica Pier, The Lobster has been open for 25 years under its current ownership, but some incarnation, beginning with the Seafood Shack, has been in operation in its current location since 1923. . . .
Read the full article in The Argonaut.
‘Art of Competition’: Secret Walls’ tour brings paint battle to DTLA
In 2022, Secret Walls toured the United States with its “Support Your Local Artist” Tour, visiting 30 markets in 60 days.
“It was like a rock ‘n’ roll bus tour,” stated Kevin Collins, the three-year CEO of Secret Walls. “We would battle and drive overnight to the next city. It was one of those post-pandemic moments. We wanted to go everywhere and remind people what we do. But what we learned is that we want to stay longer in each city.”
Secret Walls produces competitive live art events. It began in 2006 in bars and warehouses in Shoreditch, East London, and over the past 18 years the Secret Walls Universe has hosted 2,000 battles in more than 100 cities in 50 countries. The featured contemporary artist performers include graffiti writers, muralists, illustrators, cartoonists and digital artists. . . .
Read the full article at LA Downtown News.
Lodestar flies off the shelves: Cousins debut female-owned whiskey
Whiskey is Anna Axster and Wendelin von Schroder’s drink of choice, and when they decided to make their own brand to sell, they knew exactly what they wanted to put in the bottle.
“We knew how we liked to consume whiskey,” von Schroder said. “It needed to be something that worked well, neat and with a rock in it. It should not water down too quickly and has enough character and backbone that it will stand up to other ingredients in a cocktail.”
As cousins and business partners in the music and film world for more than a decade, the two women already knew that they loved working — and worked well — together. When the film and music worlds came to a screeching halt during the pandemic, they looked at each other and made a quick decision: Step away from work and pivot to try to make whiskey for people like them. . . .
Read the full article at The Argonaut.
Training has begun at LA’s first Ninja Warrior Academy
Upon entering the Los Angeles Ninja Academy, guests are greeted by the Mega Wall, Triple Salmon Ladder, Pipe Coaster, Spider Wall, and Devil Steps, obstacles that may look familiar from the reality TV show, “American Ninja Warrior.” The 7,000-square-foot facility filled with black and red obstacles on Jefferson Boulevard in the Del Rey section of Culver City is the first ninja warrior training facility in Los Angeles. Owner Madelyn Scarpulla is hoping to turn the West Coast into a hotspot for ninja warrior training.
“On the East Coast, ninja warrior is popular as a sport for kids,” said Scarpulla, who traveled hours with her son from her home in New York to train at ninja warrior gyms before opening her own in New York City. “Kids compete in the World Ninja League, which is prominent in New England and the Northeast and is growing in the Southeast. My goal is to bring awareness to the sport for kids and adults and to help grow the league.” . . .
Read the full article at Playa Vista Magazine.
Eat Your Greens: Agents Only celebrates National Guacamole Day
Hotel Dena’s Agents Only restaurant is celebrating National Guacamole Day (Sept. 16) all weekend long.
According to Asher Siles, the hotel’s director of food and beverage, the celebration felt natural now that Agents Only serves modern Mexican cuisine. The shift from a more American menu happened in March 2024, when celebrity chef Pablo Salas joined executive chef Raul Martinez’s culinary team. Salas brought his guacamole recipe with him.
Salas has gained recognition for his brand of “Mexiquense cuisine” in his hometown of Toluca, Mexico, and Fort Lauderdale. Various publications have named his first restaurant, Amaranta, as one of the best restaurants in Mexico. Agents Only is Salas’ first partnership in Los Angeles. . . .
Read the full article at Pasadena Weekly.
All-You-Can-Eat Wagyu: Chubby Cattle BBQ arrives in Little Tokyo
Entrepreneur David Zhao was not even 21 when he opened his first restaurant, Chubby Cattle Hotpot Las Vegas. Ten years later, Zhao has grown his Asian food empire to include 30 restaurants, with another 10 opening before the end of this year and an additional 60 planned for 2025.
Chubby Cattle BBQ Little Tokyo, which opened on Aug. 23, is Chubby Group’s 30th location.
“We are very excited to bring yakiniku, a true Japanese BBQ experience usually offering Wagyu beef, to Little Tokyo,” Zhao said. . . .
Read the cover story at DTLA News.
Refreshed Look and Taste: Hotel Erwin celebrates 50 years with makeover
Hotel Erwin is revving up to celebrate 50 years of hosting Venice Beach tourists and neighbors.
Throughout the past half century, the property has watched restaurants come and go. In September 2023, Springboard Hospitality, a hotel management company that owns 47 properties in 13 states, acquired Hotel Erwin. The Sokol family, including 89-year-old Erwin Sokol, still owns and operates it.
Springboard has set out to reimagine, refresh and revolutionize the culinary options in Hotel Erwin’s three eateries: a reopened Barlo Kitchen downstairs, a reimagined High Rooftop Lounge and the first brick-and-mortar location of Pizza Girl in the lobby.
Read the cover story at The Argonaut.
Jessica Koslow 