Westside Dining Scene November 11, 2021

By Dolores Quintana

As reported by Eater Los Angeles, Playa Provisions’ Grain whiskey bar has reopened in Playa del Rey. Led by bar manager Liam Odien, the bar is “modeled after the original Los Angeles Motordrome, and the very Oak barrels whiskey comes from, Grain boasts an extensive whiskey collection and an eclectic cocktail menu,” as described on its website. 

Pico-Robertson Thai Restaurant Moving to Sawtelle

Tuk Tuk Thai Restaurant will be moving from Pico Robertson to a new location in Sawtelle Japantown at 1640 Sawtelle, the former home of Cafe Dahab, right at the corner of Santa Monica and Sawtelle, near Cinefile Video and Lougi’s Italian Kitchen according to What Now Los Angeles. The owners, Katy Noochla-or and Billy Heinzman, predict that they will reopen in December of this year. The restaurant is best known for its Pad Thai dish but also offers dumplings, stir frys, curries, thai style charcoal grilled items, and seafood dishes. According to Toddrickallen.com, this will be the first Thai restaurant in the area.

Breadblock Expanding

Breadblok, the French gluten-free bakery from Santa Monica will be expanding to a number of new locations. The first is in the Silverlake area, near Pine and Crane, on Griffith Park Boulevard as reported by Eater Los Angeles. Chloé and Celine Charlier, the sisters who own and operate the bakery, will also be expanding on the Westside when they open two new locations in Venice and Beverly Hills in 2022. Their Instagram page, credits their grandparents for the whole concept of Breadblok, by stressing the importance of living an organic and holistic lifestyle. 

New Head Chef for Umami Burger

Chef Alvin Cailan will be the new head chef and face of Umami Burger, the gourmet burger restaurant chain. This collaboration was put together by C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), a global food and beverage tech platform that was founded by Sam Nazarian. Cailan is innovative Filipino-American and well regarded chef who founded the celebrated Eggslut, as a food truck that became a Grand Central Market mainstay, the Unit 120 pop-up, which was a test kitchen and incubator for new talent and new potential restaurant concepts that gave a start to perennially popular Howlin Ray’s restaurant among others. He also founded Amboy Quality Meats and Burgers, a burger spot that “always has a line out the door” in Chinatown and is the star host of First We Feast and Complex Network’s  Burger Show for three years. Cailin will be developing a new menu with the culinary talent at C3 for Umami Burger using all of the knowledge he’s acquired about burgers from all over the United States during his travels hosting the show.

Chef Cailan said, “As a son of the Los Angeles cultural mosaic, I’m excited to take a fan favorite, Umami Burger, and accentuate the fifth flavor by incorporating flavors from Filipino influences to classic American styles, offering a fresh new take the whole world can appreciate.”