Michele StuevenFormer executive chef at STK, Fig & Olive, and Cleo, David Gussin will open his newest venture, Prose, in Woodland Hills on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The 80-seat restaurant on Ventura Blvd. marks Gussin’s first brick-and-mortar. In addition to the dining room, there’s also an expansive outdoor patio with heat lamps and cooling misters for the summer months. The opening menu includes black garlic charred octopus, slow braised lamb shank, a signature Olivia Burger with pan-fried onions, bone marrow aioli, and house-made pickles, as well as house-made pastas and prime cuts like a 34-oz Tomahawk Ribeye.
“Tokyo Style” Beef Carpaccio (Courtesy Prose)
A Coffee Ceremony using the Japanese traditional style of a tea ceremony with original coffee products designed and developed by 10 artisans in Japan is coming to POJ Studio. Designer Shinji Otsuki will be showcasing products at the Los Angeles pop-up from Wednesday, Feb. 12 through Sunday, Feb 16, serving complimentary coffee provided by MARU and soba-boru (a lightly sweet cookie made from buckwheat flour) from Owariya, a Kyoto-based confectionary specializing in soba-based sweets. A special section of POJ Studio’s LA pop-up, featuring tatami mats made by Mitsuru Yokoyama, will be dedicated to the Coffee Ceremony. Items include a bamboo drip stand, washi dripper with urushi coating, Kyo kettle and base, stone grinder, Bizen server and container.
Vertical urban farming pioneer Lettuce Grow is bringing its latest innovation, the Counterstand to Costco. The Counterstand is a sleek, design-forward countertop vase with an optional grow lamp. The decorative modular product provides year-round access to fresh, living greens and herbs and reduces waste by harvesting fresh produce only as needed in zero-plastic packaging.
The Counterstand (Courtesy Lettuce Grow)
The initial range of in-store seedlings will include butter lettuce, romaine, parsley, basil, green onion, garlic chives, spinach, kale and others. In addition to ready-to-buy seedlings and the new Counterstand, Costco members will also be able to purchase the Farmstand Nook in-store.
Cafe Gratitude is introducing the Wellness Reset in collaboration with Medical Medium with a new daily menu featuring fresh juices, smoothies, soups, and optional stew or salad add-ons designed to nourish and ease stress and decision fatigue. The recent initiative also includes a limited-edition menu co-created with Functional Medicine Practitioner, Dr. Will Cole. available from Tuesday, Feb. 11 through Thursday, May 1. The Longevity Menu is inspired by Cole’s book Gut Feelings, and offers, plant-rich, and protein-packed ingredients like BBQ lion’s mane mushrooms and purple potato hash, microbiome Mexican chili with butternut squash and coconut jasmine rice and a Mediterranean protein bowl filled with za’atar roasted cauliflower, chickpeas, delicata squash, kalamata olives, blackened tempeh, lemon jeweled jasmine rice, pomegranate, pickled red onion, and sumac
Founded on February 2, 1989, Karl Strauss Brewing Company will celebrate its 36th anniversary on Sunday, Feb. 2 at the downtown LA brewpub, which will be offering all its beers on tap for $3.60 a pint for one day only. Karl Strauss’ core beers include Tower X West Coast IPA, Boat Shoes Hazy IPA, Aurora Hoppyalis IPA, and Follow the Sun Lager. Also currently on draft is the seasonal Golden Stout, which won a Silver Medal at the 2024 World Beer Cup, the largest international beer competition often referred to as The Olympics of Beer Competitions.
What’s Popping Up is a column in the L.A. Weekly that explores everything new in food and drink.
The Coffee Ceremony (Courtesy POJ Studio)