Jessica Koslow

Frozen sweet fans are in for a treat. It is almost too good to be true: Ice Cream Alley. Through Labor Day Weekend, Smorgasburg LA fans can turn left instead of right when entering and walk down a row of L.A.’s independent ice cream makers serving frozen treats. 

This summer marks the 10th anniversary of Ice Cream Alley, which made its first appearance at Smorgasburg LA on National Ice Cream Day in July 2016. In honor of the special occasion, on July 19 (this year’s National Ice Cream Day), Smorgasburg will host The Great Ice Cream Fair featuring exclusive treats, activities and DJs.

The evolution of Ice Cream Alley was very organic, according to Zach Brooks, Smorgasburg LA’s General Manager. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Eating outdoors has always been in style. The pandemic made patios mandatory. Nowadays, it seems like every eatery has an outdoor seating area, and some are more magnificent than others. Some offer views of the sand and sea, while others are perched atop tall buildings overlooking the city and expansive sky.

There’s just something special about eating outdoors. Sometimes the food even tastes fresher. Here are some spots to grab patio snacks while you’re out on the town or chillin’ at the beach.

Located in the Maguire Gardens right next to the Los Angeles Public Library, where Café Pinot operated for 25 years until 2019, Settecento DTLA is an Italian restaurant that honors every part of Italy and offers a big outdoor patio. Its pizzas and pastas are made from scratch in-house with flour imported from Italy. The handful of salad options include insalata de farro, Caprese, insalata de Settecento (lettuce, raddichio, frisee, cucumber, radish, tomato, carrot, hardboiled egg and balsamic dressing) and prosciutto crudo e melone with 24-month aged parma prosciutto. Happy hour is every day from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. featuring menu items like bruschetta trio and Napoletano sliders with wagyu beef. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Laura Francisco’s father was a welder. Her mother was a seamstress and stay-at-home mom of four. Once they arrived in California from New Jersey, the couple became quite successful restaurateurs. Their influence, from vibe to veal cannelloni, is felt everywhere at Radici Ristorante and Wine Room, Francisco’s very own establishment in Hermosa Beach.

Francisco’s mother, Lucia Gasbarri, is Radici’s executive chef, and she has her hands in everything. Gasbarri grew up in Pacentro, a tiny village in the Abruzzo region of Italy, watching her mom prepare homemade Italian dishes from family recipes.

The cuisine in Pacentro is fresh, made from high-quality ingredients and simple, which is hard to do, according to Francisco, “because there aren’t enough ingredients to hide any flaws. We don’t layer. Our food is very authentic. It’s a lifestyle, and that’s how we grew up.” . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

When Lynne Davidson, owner of Tito’s Tacos in Culver City, was going to step down from the Board of Directors for the LA County Chapter of the California Restaurant Association, she knew exactly who to appoint to replace her. Wilman Medina had been working for her for the past 12 years — it was his first job after graduating from Animo Inglewood Charter High School in 2013.

“As director of restaurant operations at Tito’s Tacos, Wilman brings a tremendous amount of hands-on experience to the California Restaurant Association due to his overseeing what has become a pretty popular Mexican food restaurant which my grandfather founded back in 1959,” said Davidson, the granddaughter of founder Benjamin Davidson. “We are all extremely proud of Wilman, who conscientiously worked his way to the top during some of the most difficult years for restaurants to survive in America.”

“It’s really an honor being asked to serve because it feels like a recognition of all those years of hard work and dedication,” said Medina. “It’s an opportunity to give back to the industry that has given me so much. I also want to learn from other leaders across California and help make sure that other restaurants continue to thrive.” . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

There’s a story that goes along with the Mardi Gras bead-covered grand piano at Evangeline Swamp Room, located next door to the beloved eatery, The Little Jewel of New Orleans. It is the work of John K. Lawson, a New Orleans-based artist, and it was once a fixture at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. In 2023, Brennan’s was looking to rebrand and, in doing so, remove the piano. Since Doug Legacy was the resident pianist for the past five years, it was offered to him.

“Doug would come in over the years,” said Eunah Beniger Kang, one-half of the husband-wife owners of The Little Jewel of New Orleans and Evangeline Swamp Room. “He’s from Louisiana. When he found out that we had the idea for a bar — because we had been talking about this for a long time — he said, ‘I have this grand piano that I think would be a great fit for your space.’ We’re like, ‘How about rolling it on over to our bar and you can play it on the weekends?’ So, that’s what we’re doing now.”

Legacy plays on Saturdays from 2 to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 5 to 8 p.m. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Sometimes being called a hidden gem is a compliment. Other times, being hidden is not the goal.

Take Marina del Rey, for instance.

“Marina del Rey is oftentimes thought of as a hidden gem,” said Janet Zaldua, CEO of Marina del Rey Tourism, “and we don’t want to be so hidden anymore.”

This sentiment rings especially true now that FIFA World Cup 2026 has landed at its doorstep. Marina del Rey is 20 minutes from SoFi Stadium, where eight matches will be held through July 10.

“I’ve been involved with the visitor experiences committee of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board,” explained Zaldua. “We heard from LA Sports & Entertainment Commission about what folks can do to participate. There was a lot of talk about how this is going to bring a lot of energy to Los Angeles. We didn’t want to be on the sidelines.”  . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Hotel June is perfectly located in LA. It’s just minutes from LAX and also near to Venice, Marina del Rey, Playa Vista and Santa Monica on one side and SoFi Stadium, Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum on the other.

Since June 2020, when it took over the 1960s modernist white tower then occupied by the Custom Hotel and originally designed by architect Welton Becket — whose firm is also responsible for the Capitol Records Building and the Beverly Hilton — Hotel June’s restaurant (and bar and pool) has slowly become a neighborhood spot on the Westside. 

Its latest launch, Caravan Cantina is a full re-concept of its previous restaurant, Caravan Swim Club, into a Baja-inspired taqueria and bar, and it may be just what the locals ordered. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

When Lenny Rosenberg and Adaeze Nwanonyiri first met in 2013 at a private event in Malibu, it did not take long for them to imagine a future together. Nwanonyiri discussed her love of design, and Rosenberg relayed his affinity for food and baking.  

“We wanted to learn more about each other’s passions,” said Nwanonyiri, who now handles the aesthetics, interior and exterior, of the couple’s two shops: New York Bagel Deli & Bakery in Santa Monica and New York Bagel Deli (NYBD) Mar Vista, which just changed ownership on May 13. 

When NYBD co-founder Brian Gruntz decided to retire, the married restaurateurs purchased the business. They took over the Santa Monica location in February 2025 and agreed to buy the Mar Vista store the following year. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery is unique. According to chef Thomas Kalb, one-half of the husband-and-wife team that owns it, Agnes is not the only cheese shop in town, and it’s definitely not the only restaurant in town, but it is the only one of its size that has a strong relationship between the restaurant and the cheese shop.

Its one-of-a-kindness is especially significant today because, according to Vanessa Tilaka Kalb, the wife and cheesemonger of the duo, a lot of cheesemakers are closing their doors this year.

“It’s really sad when people go to Trader Joe’s or Costco to buy cheese when these small producers are the ones who need our help the most,” she shared. . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

“Sushi Row” — aka Ventura Boulevard — in Sherman Oaks has one of the highest concentrations of sushi restaurants in the United States. Coming this summer, Yama Sushi Marketplace is opening its fourth and largest location, 7,200 square feet with a brand-new drink concept. 

“We have the largest curated sake selection in Los Angeles,” CEO Scott Kohno said. “I thought we could take it to the next level and have a drink station so that our customers could enjoy our craft sake. This location will have a hard liquor license and serve craft whiskey and vodka and gin from Japan. Customers can order very exclusive Japanese beverages.”

The founder of what was once known as Yama Seafood, Kenzo “Yama-san” Yamada was a former fish broker who opened the original location in San Gabriel in 1984. He sourced the freshest fish and supplied to the top LA restaurants and markets. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.