Santa Monica Place

Now Open: M.A.K.E. Out in Santa Monica

M.A.K.E. Out, a new juice and snack bar, is opening today as an extension of Matthew Kenney's raw foods restaurant M.A.K.E. at Santa Monica Place's The Market. With items ranging between $2 and $12, the menu is composed of a seasonal selection of fresh juices and smoothies made from ingredients foun ... More >>

Bamboo, an iPad-Equipped Izakaya, Coming to Santa Monica

Here's some news for fans of Santa Monica's Ozumo: Early next year, the sushi bar will be relocating from its space in Santa Monica Place to a beachside sort just east of the Pier, where it will "evolve" in a new Izakaya restaurant called Bamboo, run by much of the same management team and staff beh ... More >>

5 Places In Los Angeles To Observe Meatless Monday

You may have heard that a few weeks back, the LA City Council voted unanimously to adopt "Meatless Monday," a nation-wide campaign to urge people to give up meat one day a week. What does this mean, exactly? Well, thankfully, as foxnews.com put it, "Neither city officials nor law enforcement will be ... More >>

M.A.K.E. Likes It Raw

And you might too, when you try Matthew Kenney's Santa Monica Place restaurant

The 5 Things You Need To Know About M.A.K.E. in Santa Monica

This week's restaurant review considers M.A.K.E., the raw, vegan restaurant in Santa Monica Place owned by raw food guru Matthew Kenney. We hope you'll take the time to read the full review, but offer this for the time-addled among you.

10 Best Places for Mall Food in Los Angeles

Hidden within Los Angeles' seemingly infinite number of mini-malls and mega-malls is a staggering amount of good eats. The food court in the basement of Koreatown Plaza is a neon wonderland of potent kimchi and oversized bibimbap bowls; the food court at Mercado La Paloma, just south of USC, inspire ... More >>

U Sushi: Build Your Own Sushi In Beverly Hills A Sushi Video

The trend of personalized food has reached the realm of sushi. U Sushi, which opened on South Beverly Dr. last December, brings the make-your-own concept to one of L.A.'s favorite foods. U Sushi owner Jeremy Umland, who also owns Ozumo in Santa Monica Place, traces the idea for his restaurant to th ... More >>

Ask Squid Ink: Couples Cooking Classes, or Love Me Tandoor

Dear Squid Ink: In your experience with the wonderful restaurants and chefs of our city, have you stumbled across any unique places that offer cooking lessons? My lovely and talented wife is quite accomplished in cooking various cuisines at home and I'm looking to surprise her with some unique cook ... More >>

Cookbook of the Week: Andrew Weil's True Food His Phoenix Via L.A. Umami Sauce Recipe

Full disclosure: we didn't expect to do much more than a quick flip through of Andrew Weil's just-released True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure cookbook. Something about those eponymous vitamin packs and the "Spontaneous Happiness" (for a fee) plugs on his website had taken their sales pi ... More >>

A September Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closings

Celebrating the "change" in season (it's L.A., come on), restaurants around town are revamping their menus, adding new happy hours (City Sip, The Parish, Dominick's, etc), prix fixe specials and pumpkin everywhere they can. Known for creating menus from scratch, Test Kitchen returns to Sotto with a ... More >>

Matthew Kenney's New Culinary School in Santa Monica Stirs The Local Gourmandise Pot

There's a new cooking school coming to town: chef Matthew Kenney's eponymous vegan culinary school is opening in Santa Monica this month (soft opening is Saturday), along with his vegan restaurant, M.A.K.E. The chef's growing empire includes restaurants in Chicago and Oklahoma City (where he also ha ... More >>

Fairmont Miramar Hotel Expansion, Including Seaside Towers, Opposed by Santa Monica Neighbors' Group

In this economy, you would think that folks would just roll over and let the rich guys have their way when they want to expand and develop properties. Despite L.A.'s wealth, it has a long history of challenging sprawl and growth. Some folks in Santa Monica today say the expansion plans of the beach ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Westfield Culver City Food Court

Five Most Beautiful Parking Garages (Yes, Parking Garages) in Los Angeles

MOCA Facebook page​ Los Angeles is a city in thrall to automobiles (though there is evidence that's beginning to change) so it's not surprising some of our best design comes in the form of parking garages. What's especially intriguing about some of these structures is their public art that app ... More >>

Top 5 Weekend Food Events: Korean BBQ Cook-Off, Ubriaca, India Sweets & Spices, Blue Palms Brewhouse, Taste of Santa Monica

Guzzle & NoshKorean barbecue.​Korean BBQ Cook-Off Sample the best Korean barbecue from dozens of local Koreatown restaurants and vendors. The third annual cook-off features an Orion Choco Pie eating contest, a craft beer and Korean wine garden and a contest (judged by our own Jonathan Gold) in ... More >>

Bangers & Smashed: A Local Hip Hop Harpist Does Mashed (Moshed?) Potatoes

citizensofculture.comJill Flomenhoft Makes Mashed Potatoes, Too​Guitarists, pianists, we've even met a conga drummer or two while standing in line for a cup of coffee. But it's not all that often we run into a harpist -- particularly one who plays hip hop tunes ("I don't do weddings") and also ... More >>

May Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closures Free Food Alert

Farewell to Bastide​During a restaurant's fragile opening days it's safe to expect a bit of chaos. That's why it's either free or discounted for a narrow window of time. While some restaurants can only afford one soft-opening, others can sacrifice more to train their staff. In honor of an upco ... More >>

[Photo Gallery] The Market at Santa Monica Place Opens

Today at 10 a.m. The Market opens on the top level of the renovated Santa Monica Place. What is it? A more corporate, less cool version of the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco. But it's still nice.

Rustic Mondays Return to Fraîche with Chef Jason Fulilove

​The second iteration of Rustic Monday hits Fraîche on May 30th and features chef Jason Fulilove (Da Vinci, Desert Rose), who's preparing to open the Curious Palate at The Market in Santa Monica Place. He joins Fraîche chef Ben Bailly this bit of friendly rivalry. It's a three-course, prix ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Nha Trang

Artisanal LA Hits Santa Monica for Spring 2011 Show

Guzzle & NoshScenes from Artisanal LA, fall 2010.​Attention, locavores! Artisanal LA, a lovingly curated

True Food Kitchen to Open in Santa Monica Place

​True Food Kitchen, a mini-chain of eateries backed by author, integrative medicine proponent and beard advocate Dr. Andrew Weil, will open its first Los Angeles location on May 9th at Santa Monica Place. Like the other locations (Phoenix and Scottsdale, Ariz. and Newport Beach, Calif.), the S ... More >>

Last Night: Second Glass Wine Riot at Santa Monica Place

​ They came with their propaganda and their party fever. They welcomed everyone, invited the masses into the cavernous space where they assembled at Santa Monica Place mall, jamming to the driving beats of DJ Andie Cassette. And they poured wine. Lots of wine. Wine from all over the world. Sec ... More >>

DJs, Sips and Apps: Second Glass Brings Wine Riot to L.A.

​ Who said wine tasting had to be full of stuffed shirts? Add a few DJs, a photo booth, and snacks from L.A.'s cool food trucks, and you've got Second Glass's Wine Riot, wine tasting for the iPhone generation. And, yes, there's an app for it, too. "The average wine event was in a stale borin ... More >>

Food Truck Friday: Singaporean Street Food at the Street Hawker Truck

The Street Hawker Truck (@streethawkert) isn't much to look at. It doesn't roll out very often. And whoever runs the Twitter feed occasionally seems more interested in using it as a dating service than in telling customers the truck's location. Street Hawker does, however, serve a decent, albeit g ... More >>

Thanksgiving Dining: 6 Holiday Dishes With A Global Spin

Cham Korean Bistro​ You eat kimchi pizza, Filipino adobo burritos and Japanese rice patty burgers. So when it comes to Thanksgiving, the most traditional of American food holidays, boring old stuffing won't do. Here are six Thanksgiving options that will make your globetrotting palate sing wi ... More >>

More Santa Monica Place Market Vendors: N'Ice Cream, Venokado, Etc.

N'Ice Cream co-owner Christian Toxboe​ The Market at the new Santa Monica Place, the totally renovated Frank Gehry-designed Santa Monica mall that reopened (huge crowds, mall food, some slightly better mall food, etc.) in early August, is slowly adding more and more shops to the list of those ... More >>

From Rated G to Around R: 2010 Food Halloween Happenings

Photo: Andy ReaserSome good, morbid Día de los Muertos creative fun.​ We've all been getting into the groove of fall foods and pumpkins and such. And in case you haven't stepped foot in a drug or grocery store since September, it's also that time of year when high fructose corn syrup gets shi ... More >>

Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories to Put Down Roots in Santa Monica

kimberlykv/FlickrLearn to make perfect pie crust and much more at Gourmandise.​Since its inception in 2006, Gourmandise Desserts has been a nomadic classroom, bouncing between kitchens at Surfas Restaurant Supply in Culver City and St. Joseph Center's Culinary department in Venice, teaching am ... More >>

Plate Spinning: Listings From the Past Week

Some food for thought from local, national and international news sources from this past week: -- Clifton's Cafeteria Being Taken Over by The Edison's Andrew Meieran. [blogdowntown] -- Fall Is for Food (Event) Lovers. [Chow Balla] -- Glenn Beck mocks Michelle Obama's healthy food drive at Right ... More >>

August Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closures

As heavily blogged about spots boasting big name chefs (Test Kitchen) emerge on the scene, along with new restaurants atop luxury shopping centers (Santa Monica Place, we're also tracking the lesser-known eateries occupying and departing strip malls around town. While some spaces remain vacant, suc ... More >>

Tats and Prawns

Xino by the bay

First Bite: Tats and Prawns, Xino by the Bay

Christie BishopJonagold apple, minus first bite​The top-level Dining Deck of the new Santa Monica Place mall seems almost custom-designed to make native Angelenos grumpy. The redesign scooped out all that was pleasant about the old mall, one of Frank Gehry's breakthrough projects, with all the ... More >>

When Wine, Food Courts And Frank Gehry Don't Mix: Hall Winery Construction Halted

HallFrank Gehry Hall Winery Prototype​Last week's opening of the redesigned Santa Monica Place, a 1980 design by Frank Gehry that was completely revamped by a Dallas-based architecture firm to feature a rooftop food court, prompted Squid Ink to check in on the completion date of the new Gehry- ... More >>

From Disney Store to Tiffany's, The New Santa Monica Place Aims For Happiest Mall On Earth

For beachside locals, Santa Monica Place provided the quintessential mall experience throughout the '80's and '90's. (Fun fact: it was featured for mall scenes in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Pretty in Pink and Beverly Hills, 90210). At some point, though, it started to seem comparatively shabby n ... More >>

What Recession? Re-Opening Of Santa Monica Place Sees Big Crowds

Macerich​"Huge crowds" flocked to the renovated Santa Monica Place mall Friday, the mall's owner stated. The Frank Gehry designed structure, which was at one point slated for destruction, was closed down for two years and turned into a three-level, open-air, 524,000 square-foot mall with Bloom ... More >>

Musical Bakery Chairs: Changes at Röckenwagner

A. Scattergoodpretzels and pastries in the case at Röckenwagner Santa Monica​ Hans Röckenwagner (3 Square, Röckenwagner Santa Monica Bakery/Café, Röckenwagner Mar Vista Bakery) not only makes many of his own tables and chairs -- he's an expert carpenter -- but these days he's moving them ... More >>

Coming Soon: Santa Monica Place Market, L.A.'s Rooftop Version of the Ferry Building

With so many year-round farmers markets, it's hard to complain about access to stellar ingredients in L.A. Actually, we complain all the time. Sure, we have The Original Farmer's Market, but where is our version of San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace, with its dozens of local food vendors? A ... More >>

View From the Top: Santa Monica Place & Rooftop Market to Open This Fall

Since the closing of the original Santa Monica Place in 2008, passers-by near the south end of Third Street Promenade have been wondering at the dark and mysterious tarp-covered space. The first week of August, the tarp will be lifted to reveal a newly constructed Santa Monica Place featuring a roof ... More >>

Los Angeles Corporate Welfare: Ritz-Carlton and AEG

Rich entities siphon taxpayer money while real communities struggle

Film Reviews

Including this week's pick, Sketches of Frank Gehry

The 17th Level

Opening weekend at 'The Grove'

Waiters

Wiener Take All

My Favorite Things

Part 1: Bread, and things that go better with bread. Some things, anyway.

Success in Excess?

Santa Monica ponders the future of its Promenade

1981 Timeline