Celia Soudry

After closing for a brief period (one week), La Dolce Vita reopens tomorrow with new menu items, cocktails and updated decor. Restaurant additions include a white crown-molded ceiling, wine-cellar walls and lavish, spacious, one-stall bathrooms. Regulars -- there are plenty of silver-topped diners who have undergone a few renovations themselves......

The Jewish holidays -- well, any holiday really -- require heavy-duty planning, cooking, coordinating and grocery shopping. To ease some Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (the holiday where Jews starve all day and binge all night) stress, we turn to Tori Avey, also known as the Shiksa in the Kitchen,......

With summer wrapping up, there's a new set of restaurants, food festivals and roasts to visit. But let's not forget the recently departed: Asuka in Westwood shuttered, Spumoni Italian Cafe & Pizzeria in Brentwood is done, BLT Steak in Weho closed, Jack n' Jill's in Beverly Hills is no more......

After losing her design job in 2008, Denise Assad launched Bountiful, a private baking company founded on her grandmother's recipes and unemployment checks to purchase ingredients. Her business went from selling pastries to parents at her son's preschool to selling goods at farmers markets (Pacific Palisades, Brentwood and La Canada)......

Loren Dunsworth, owner of Lola's in West Hollywood, is closing her restaurant-bar after 17 years in business, on Sept. 8. "I'm retiring with all my chips (and more) and at the top of my game," Dunsworth says. "What better time to take a bow and leave the stage but after......

It's 90°. The whir of air-conditioning units echoes through the streets. The sweet allure of ice cream beckons. Here to help is Quenelle, opening soon in Burbank with gelato, ice cream sandwiches, bonbons and more. Also opening is Little Beast in Eagle Rock, from husband-and-wife duo Deborah Schwartz and Sean......

Girasol, a new 120-seat restaurant in Studio City from Top Chef alum C.J. Jacobson, opens today. Jacobson, who recently returned from an apprenticeship at Noma in Copenhagen, got involved with Girasol because he felt it was a unique addition to the neighborhood. "I get to showcase my take on California......

The first location of Del Frisco's Grille in California (this makes seven nation-wide), opens in mid-July. The "new American" bistro, at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, overlooks the Santa Monica Pier. "We knocked down all the walls so the space is wide open and bright with sweeping......

Since May 20th, Bruins have had to search elsewhere for deep-fried chicken and waffles. Family-owned Southern diner Waffle Chix, which opened in 2011 in Westwood Village, adjacent to Five Guys and Le Pain Quotidien, posted signage telling fans, "We are expanding our footprint around Los Angeles. Get ready for new......

Big-name chefs are doing big things this summer. Opening June 4 is L.A.'s newest clam "shack" Connie & Ted's. Chef-owner Michael Cimarusti's (Providence) friends and family previewed the goods last week; the rest of us are soon to follow. Possibly the most notable recent opening is Petty Cash Taqueria, a......