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Plus, new Baekjeong renderings in Koreatown, Bill Addison on Alice B., and more
Taylor Swift is one of us. Or at least, one of the Gen-Z imbibers who congregate at Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood, as TMZ reports that the pop star was seen hanging out with friends and celebrating a birthday last Thursday (sans beau Travis Kelce). Barney’s Beanery couldn’t be happier with the pop star’s low-key appearance at the storied sports bar, though plenty of folks have observed the venue’s rising popularity in the past year. Back in October 2023, the Los Angeles Times wrote a photo-heavy feature about the West Hollywood bar’s long lines of Gen-Z customers.
An observer told People that Swift’s table ordered pizza and other sides. Glamour noted that Swift’s security detail paid the party’s tab and slipped out wearing a baseball cap. The publication also said that Swift will likely spend the rest of spring in Los Angeles while taking a break from the Eras Tour, which will get back into gear in May. Swift was last seen dining at Spago in Beverly Hills back in January ahead of the Golden Globes.
After a little switcheroo with sister restaurant Ahgassi Gopchang, the forthcoming Baekjeong on Eighth Street in Koreatown released some sharp-looking renderings. Recall that Ahgassi Gopchang had originally planned to move from its Sixth Street perch to Eighth before Koreatown’s original Baekjeong closed at Chapman Plaza. That location has since turned into Origin BBQ, which has been packed almost every night since opening. Baekjeong later announced it would return to Koreatown but on Eighth Street, where Ahgassi was supposed to go.
Now Ahgassi is staying put, and Baekjeong’s splashy new space is ready to behold. The design’s vertical signage recalls tightly packed streets in South Korea, sporting side-by-side booths and suction-style hoods dropping down from the ceiling. Baekjeong’s new location is scheduled to open in late spring.
Ray Garcia is offering a four-course dinner at his Downtown restaurant Asterid, located on the ground floor of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The special menu commenced on March 26 and will go until April 27. The cost is $98 per person and will feature some of the restaurant’s signature dishes, plus the popular tres leches cake served at B.S. Taqueria and Broken Spanish.
Karen Palmer of SF Gate writes a manifesto on the greatness of pizza in Los Angeles, calling the city the most exciting place for pizza in the country (a bold statement from the New Jersey native). “Certified pizzaiolos are slinging everything from chewy Neopolitan and crisp thin-crust pies to delicious Detroit- and Sicilian-style squares — and winning national recognition for their efforts,” Palmer writes. LA’s pizza scene has been on the rise due to high-quality produce, an anything-goes mentality, and a talented pop-up movement.
On the subject of pizza, how cool is this? New Haven-style pizzeria Ozzy’s Pizza, which serves its charred-crust pies at Glendale’s Glen Arden club, is opening an outpost in New Haven, Connecticut, come July. The location will debut inside the East Rock Market attached to East Rock Brewing Company. That’s like Tacos 1986 opening a branch in Tijuana or…Apple Pan expanding to Cleveland…right?
Los Angeles Times critic Bill Addison shares a heartfelt critic’s letter to Alice B. in Palm Springs, the new restaurant from longtime collaborators Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken. While Addison enjoys much of the retro midcentury Continental food with California leanings, the critic weaves in the restaurant’s place at a luxury apartment community for 55-and-over LGBTQ residents. “In a communal haven, letting the critic mind drop away, I can be present with ageless grief I barely ever give myself time to feel — to lives lost during the AIDS epidemic, to all the men who aren’t here, who should have still been among us,” he writes.
Perhaps the Dodgers can pick up a few newer recommendations from the newly printed Eater Guide to Los Angeles, but until then, the team shares its players’ favorite restaurants from around the city. Gavin Lux recommends Howlin’s Ray’s, Mookie Betts likes Panzanella in Sherman Oaks and Catch in West Hollywood, while manager Dave Roberts endorses Girl & the Goat in Arts District. Shohei Ohtani prefers Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills (no surprise, as he was seen there recently with fellow Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto). Check out the full array of favorite restaurants here:
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