Uni, dos, tres
Sushi by Scratch Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey listings, World Series parade, Dunsmoor, Foursquare, Sunset Marquis, Thanksgiving provisioning, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Starting from scratch
The Skinny: Launched in L.A. last decade, Sushi By Scratch’s contemporary twist on omakase has long since spread its wings. In addition to its Encino flagship, the restaurant now has locations in eight other cities, including Miami, Seattle, and (as of last month) New York City. But in early October, chef Phillip Frankland Lee returned to Beverly Hills (where he and his wife Margarita Kallas-Lee opened their first restaurant Scratch|Bar in 2013) with a three-month Sushi by Scratch pop-up at the SLS Beverly Hills.
The Vibe: Rambunctious and playful, the staff guides guests at the 10-seat bar through a meal showcasing a mix of tradition, ingenuity, and skilled sourcing. Dinner kicks off in the hotel’s lobby with a welcome cocktail and amuse bouche, after which guests enter a dimly lit private sushi den with white tiled walls and personalized name plates.
The Food: A 17-course nigiri menu ($185 per) includes a scallion-topped crispy nori cannoli stuffed with bluefin tuna, and the much-talked-about hamachi with sweet corn pudding and sourdough breadcrumbs — a perfect example of the chef’s precise, creative, and slightly mischievous style. Kinmedai (golden-eyed snapper) with yuzu miso gel and lemon zest also stands out. Drink options include Japanese whisky cocktails, beer, wine, and sake pairings.
The Verdict: A modern sushi experience at a gorgeous hotel in the heart of Beverly Hills. Though slated to run through the end of the year, word is that it may become a permanent fixture — stay tuned. –Caitlin White
→ Sushi by Scratch (Beverly Hills) • 257 N Canon Dr • Seatings Wed-Sun @ 5p, 715p, 930p • Reserve.
LA RESTAURANT LINKS: Long-awaited Helms Bakery reopening tomorrow in Culver City • Japanese mochi shop Warabimochi Kamakura opening first US outpost today at The Shops at Santa Anita • Hanging with the new stewards of the Silverlake Lounge • What even is ‘American IPA’?
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three new listings priced around $3M that have come to market in the past fortnight in Marina Del Rey.
→ 1 Northstar Street #PH3 (Marina Del Rey, above) • 2BR/3BA, 1839 SF • Ask: $3.2M • three-bedroom penthouse with Pacific views • Days on market: 7 • Agents: Joshua Altman and Matthew Altman, Douglas Elliman.
→ 3511 Grand Canal (Marina Del Rey) • 4BR/4BA, 3807 SF • Ask: $3.195M • three-story townhouse on Grand Canal with two-car garage • Days on market: 10 • Agent: Jennifer Portnoy, Compass.
→ 3111 Via Dolce #802 (Marina Del Rey) • 3BR/3BA, 2300 SF • Ask: $2.9M • eighth-floor condo with floor to ceiling windows and Pacific views • Days on market: 9 • Agent: Terrel Miller, California Real Estate Consultants Group.
LA WORK AND PLAY LINKS: Parade tomorrow to celebrate Dodgers’ eighth World Series title • Beverly Hills Sirtaj Hotel sells for $14M in tricky bankruptcy sale • Townhome community Marine Place coming to Gardenia • Renovated Loro Piana flagship store reopens in Beverly Hills • In spite of RTO push, ‘There is no evidence of offices suddenly filling’ • Should you be able to take a test to become an accredited investor?
WORK • Thursday Routine
Dine another day
EDDIE NAVARRETTE • executive director • Independent Hospitality Coalition / FE Design + Consulting
Neighborhood you live in: Little Tokyo
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’m at the FE Design + Consulting office off of East 2nd Street overlooking the entrance of the Little Tokyo Japanese Village. The office gradually fills up with team members after their respective plan-check appointments across the city. I leave to meet an eager restaurateur in Westwood to advise if an existing restaurant meets current-code compliance.
What’s on the agenda for today?
After a few meetings to share recommendations on shaping the City of LA Al Fresco Program, I’ll meet with California state leaders on State Bill AB 2550, which I authored on behalf of the Independent Hospitality Coalition (IHC). My other high priority is to reenter a heated email exchange with an LA County District Inspections Chief after threats that they’d suspend the health permit of a struggling business. Then, a quick lunch at my desk before a coffee with leaders of the Little Tokyo community.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
It's a little after 5p, and I'm walking to my Little Tokyo apartment. It was another day at the office, filled with inspiration and met values. Most importantly though, it's date night! My girlfriend Lien Ta and I have been texting about burgers all day. After careful debate, we've decided that we’ll try the burger at Dunsmoor — available only at their adjacent wine bar — and support the recently awarded Star Chefs' Rising Star Sommelier Rachael Davis.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Music and magic! The origin of my Fast Eddie moniker comes from me playing drums onstage during my early-’90s punk rock speed metal days. These days, I'm always good for a jazz night or a night of Latin dancing (over a decade ago, I became a competitive salsa dance performer). Or I'm always excited for a night at The Magic Castle. I appreciate the requirement to suit up.
What was your last great vacation?
My last great vacation was taking my mom to some of my favorite cities in Europe. We started in Paris. Then, we grabbed a train to Bordeaux for a few days. We continued further south to the Basque region of Spain to eat through San Sebastian and Bilbao — I always love a five-hour lunch at Asador Etxebarri. We got lost in the town of Haro after a few wine tastings and barely managed to catch the last train back to Bilbao. The trip concluded where it began — in Paris — where we indulged in pastries, more wine, and architecture. The trip changed my mom's life forever!
What store or service do you always recommend?
The omakase experience at Sushi Gen — specifically with Kazu-San.
WORK • Social
Foursquare and seven years ago
Saturday night, after we were seated at Le Veau d’Or on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, I checked in on Swarm and a tip popped up on my phone from Lockhart, my friend on the social app since back when it was called Foursquare.
After it launched with a bang in 2009, Foursquare was for a time the most exciting thing on the New York tech scene. It was both an A+ connector and a robust discovery tool, with reported nine-figure acquisition offers and buzz of a bust on social’s Mt. Rushmore.
In those very early days, Curbed sublet a table in our 3000-SF office at 36 Cooper Square to Foursquare when it was just two guys and a plan. In that open room with butcher block desks and wide columns, we watched them raise a ton of money and staff up in a blink. Soon, they’d take a whole floor in the building and sublet a corner back to us, flipping the script.
It was fun to be in the middle of it. Curbed raised an exponentially smaller amount and was finding its way to profitability piece by piece, by necessity. Foursquare was playing a different game. But the companies shared a lot of DNA — NYC projects run by real people, with an interest in enhancing how users engaged with their respective cities and spaces.
The Curbed team all got hooked on Foursquare immediately, checking in with each other at The Scratcher, The Mud Truck, and wherever else we went in the neighborhood and beyond. In 2014, when they split the app — into a city guide still called Foursquare and Swarm for check-ins — we dutifully downloaded Swarm. Today, it contains an unbelievably rich history of the places I’ve been over the last 15 years. Sometimes I still get tips from Lockhart (he was right, Le Veau d’Or is reason enough to live in NYC!).
Last week, Foursquare sent an email to users announcing they were sunsetting the City Guide app on December 15. Fortunately, Swarm will live on, but the company has long since pivoted from its beginnings as a consumer social app to its current B2B data model. It never did get that place on app Rushmore, but it did find a way to generate enough revenue to make it through to the other side of the VC grinder.
In the meantime, social discovery remains an uncracked code. In fact, the state of restaurant discovery has progressed so little that Eater just launched a “new” app with "essentially the same functionality" as the first Eater app we launched back in 2013.
Maybe this is the decade someone will figure it out. Maybe it’ll be Eater co-founder Ben Leventhal with Blackbird, his ambitious new restaurant loyalty and payment platform. Or maybe it’ll be Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley, another serial builder of cool things, who’s working on a new audio city guide called BeeBot. Or maybe FOUND will take its trove of city-specific recommendations and intel, and build some tech ourselves.
Last week, Crowley lamented Foursquare’s sunsetting on Threads. Others chimed in with reminiscences and valedictories. It was a great run, but nothing’s forever. And there’s still a lot of 36 Cooper Square out there in the world, pushing forward on the next big thing. –Josh Albertson
CULTURE & LEISURE • Et Fin
Maggie Rogers • Kia Forum (Inglewood) • Sat @ 7:30p • section 126, $152 per
Rams v Dolphins • Sofi Stadium (Inglewood) • Mon @ 5:15p • section C108, $451 per
Modest Mouse • The Bellwether (DTLA) • Wed @ 8p • general admission, $58 per
GETAWAYS • Staycation
Secret of Sunset
Lead singer Rob Halford of legendary English heavy metal band Judas Priest recently stepped outside the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood and found himself besieged by autograph seekers with vinyl covers to be signed.
That’s not an unusual occurrence at the iconic bolthole, where rockers old and new from around the globe come to record in the Marquis’ in-house legendary Nightbird Studios.
Tucked off Alta Loma Road, the hotel is 100 feet down from Sunset Boulevard, near Whiskey a Go Go — it’s hidden, discreet, and protected by a staff that understands its customers. With perfectly manicured acreage, a koi pond, and two swimming pools, the hotel's modest entry leads to a secluded garden setting situated on three levels. Rooms are hidden away all over the property.
For 51 years, it’s been the home away from home for actors, comedians, writers, artists, filmmakers, fashion designers, supermodels, restaurateurs, and rock stars. The hotel became ground zero for the metal scene in the ’80s (bands such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, Kiss, Guns ‘N Roses, Aerosmith, and the Chili Peppers were guests) but also remained home to megastars like Phil Collins, Sting, and Julio Iglesias.
In the ’90s, musicians like Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, Green Day, Usher, and Kings of Leon found their way to Alta Loma.
Guests gather at the airy outdoor Cavatina bar and restaurant, a low-key scene where California-healthy food service begins at 7a. The kitchen stays open until 11p (an anomaly in LA). After 10p, the action moves to a poorly lit, gritty speakeasy, Bar 1200, with its outdoor smoking parlor and live music.
Villas start at $600. I recommend #62, which is hidden and spacious with a TOTO toilet. –Brad Inman
→ Sunset Marquis (West Hollywood) • 1200 Alta Loma Rd • king room rates from $309 (November weekend).
GETAWAYS LINKS: Sonoma County’s Sea Ranch Lodge unveils major renovation • Inn at Rancho Santa Fe debuts new villas and residences • American Airlines launches boarding group enforcement tool.
ASK FOUND
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Where should we host our office holiday dinner this year?
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GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Thanksgiving provisioning
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of LA’s best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundla.com.
Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery (Pasadena, above), everything but turkey with sides like pimento party potatoes; upgrade with caviar and Champagne, pre-order