Boyle Heights native and community leader Mario Christerna has officially opened Brooklyn Ave. Pizza Co., offering Mole Pizza, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Wings, and Chicano Gravy Fries alongside classics including Buffalo Wings and Pepperoni Pizza a.k.a. The O.G. and the spicy Cherry Bomb pizza. The diverse menu is currently available for delivery and takeout via Toast, DoorDash/Caviar, and Uber Eats.

Situated on the ground floor of the historic Paramount, Brooklyn Ave. Pizza Co. is located on Cesar E Chavez Avenue, historically known as Brooklyn Avenue in the early 1900s.

Chef Weston Ludeke has teamed up with Severance Wine Bar to take over The Brite Spot in Echo Park and is doing a Holiday Pie Pop-Up, Drunk On Pie for three weeks leading up to Christmas with batched cocktails plus sweet and savory pies – mini and full-sized. Pickup either on Melrose at Severance Wine Bar or in Echo Park at BriteSpot Thu-Sun 12 – 6 p.m. Link for orders and info: www.exploretock.com/drunkonpie

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Drunk on Pie (Courtesy Severance Wine Bar)

The 12th Annual SANTA Monica Pub Crawl returns to spread some much-needed holiday cheer with a new “virtual and social distanced” experience that evokes the same spirit of the crawl while supporting local bars and restaurants and raising funds for the Westside Food Bank. The SANTA Monica Pub Crawl normally brings together thousands of crawlers, with four different routes and more than 40 participating locations. This year’s event is focused on offering takeout specials on food and drink the entire month of December and invites crawlers to participate in a “Virtual” BAR BINGO game night on ZOOM on Saturday, December 19 from 6 – 8 p.m. Join host Brian Thomas Smith from the Big Bang Theory and DJ Kooleo of FREE SPACE Virtual Events for cocktails, games, trivia and a ton of prizes including hotel stays and gift certificates to local restaurants.

Attendees are encouraged to order takeout and keep their receipts, because the more businesses they purchase from, the more chances they have of winning. As always, a large portion of all proceeds will go to the Westside Food Bank. Tickets are $20 (non-alcoholic) and $55 which includes a 4-pack of canned cocktails, chips and pico de gallo from Lanea Cocktail Bar – voted “Best Bar in L.A.” – and a commemorative holiday mask. The ticket price includes free delivery for those in Santa Monica or Venice, tax and gratuity.

Chef Brandon Kida will officially launch Go Go Bird, an L.A.-style fried chicken concept on Thursday, December 3. Go Go Bird fried chicken is a crispy bite inspired by Kida’s childhood in L.A. An “ode to Pioneer Chicken,” wings, thighs and drums are marinated in koji, white soy, paprika and a kombu, shiitake and benito powder blend, then fried and finished with a Szechuan-style chili oil.

The menu also features classic sides like biscuits and mac ‘n’ cheese, and more of Kida’s familiar childhood flavors including mashed potatoes with Japanese curravy.Chicken Boxes range in size from kid ($8.50) to family meals ($24), all with the choice of side. Sides are also available a la carte and available for delivery and pickup in Hollywood.

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Flouring LA’s Holiday Box (Courtesy Hotel Figueroa)

DTLA’s historic Hotel Figueroa is partnering up with Flouring LA, a local WOC-owned bakeshop helmed by Chinese-Mexican Chef Heather Wong to offer up a Holiday Pop-Up all month. Starting on Saturday, December 5, Flouring LA will be hosting weekly Saturday pop-ups at the hotel. Flouring LA’s holiday box ($44 for these 8-piece boxes) for the month of December  include Gingerbread Cake Bars, Peppermint Meringue Topped Brownies,
Cinna-sugar Donuts and Belgian Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
and will be available for pre-order and pickup every Saturday from 1 – 3 p.m. along with the rest of Flouring LA’s new menu items at the hotel.

Christy Vega, owner of the 64-year-old L.A. dining institution, Casa Vega, is teaming up with longtime friend Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters to create an all-new limited-edition taco. With L.A. County’s current restrictions on dine-in, the Foo Fighters taco will be available for take-out only via Casa Vega’s drive-thru for the time being.

The Foo Fighters taco is inspired by Grohl’s passion for smoking meat (they’re bringing a smoker to Casa Vega specifically for this taco) and features smoked brisket in a Mexican spice rub and drizzled with backbeat BBQ sauce, topped with Mexican coleslaw, pickled onions and cilantro, served on a homemade flour tortilla. There will also be a special Foo Fighters cocktail called Los Luchadores Foo with La Gritona Reposado tequila and fresh lime juice, topped with Modelo Especial.

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Dave Grohl at Casa Vega (Dave Schwep)

Bring the holiday spirit home and support your local bars with Death & Co.’s new cocktail and dessert kits, designed for intimate gatherings and celebrating safely. Choose from Vintage Eggnog (Old Grand Dad 114 Bourbon, Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum, Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac, Madeira, Egg, Cream) paired with Grandpa’s Drunken Cookies (Couverture chocolate, banana and rum) or a Hibernal Toddy (Suntory Toki Whisky, Calvados, Cinnamon, Honey, Angostura Bitters) paired with Lemon Tart pie. Both cocktail offerings are batched for servings of six to eight. Orders must be placed at least 24 hours in advance for next-day or scheduled pickup, or head over to Death & Co. on Tock to place their orders starting today. Kits are priced at $90.

Looking for a rare gift for your favorite chef? Ellin Palmer’s 500-plus cookbook collection stretching back over 50 years will go on sale Sunday, December 6th and 13th at the Mar Vista Farmers Market to help defray costs of the 82-year-old’s mounting medical bills. Books will be sold mostly in the $5 – $10 range and cover all phases and styles of food prep, from appetizers to desserts, baking to vegetarian. The cookbooks span every kind of cuisine and every well-known chef for the last 50-plus years, including classic French chef Raymond Oliver, Julia Child, Alice Waters, Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud, to name a few.

What’s Popping Up is a weekly column in the LA Weekly that explores all that’s new in food and drink.

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