This Just In: Umami Urban to open in Hollywood's Space 15 Twenty on Friday

Umami Burger owner Adam Fleischman confirms that the third outpost of his savory Japanese burger joint, this one called Umami Urban, will open Friday at  Space 15 Twenty (which is also home to an Urban Outfitters store) in Hollywood. There will be an attached full bar called Chu-Hi, which will specialize in Japanese cocktails. 

Considering that it's half a block north of Sunset Boulevard and right across from Amoeba Music and the ArcLight, it's a safe bet the restaurant will make for many a happy hipster.

Umami Urban is large, featuring 70 seats both indoors and out. The menu will feature classic Umami burgers, sandwiches and daily specials. The venue is also equipped with a space for private parties, movie screenings, art exhibits and concerts with Umami food and drink on offer. (If you're familiar with the space, there is a courtyard where bands occasionally play.) For availability, contact info@umamiburger.com.

Eat your heart out, Hollywood.

Umami Urban, 1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 469-3100. 

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: An Umami burger and hand-cut fries. Credit: Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times
 

Sampler Platter: promo Whopper has 7 patties, sparkling wine vs. champagne, urban chickening

Urban chickens and urban food critics lead this end-of-the-week roundup of food news.

--Burger King's Windows 7 Whopper has 7 patties, 2,120 calories. Japanator
--The Atlantic explores six Australian foods worth trying and the role of food critics in the Internet age.
--Carpinteria hot dog vendor relishes his sales-tax victory. Los Angeles Times
--Sparkling wine is just as good as champagne (when it's well made). Consumerist
--The perils of urban chickening. New York Times
--David Lazarus asks: Is Smart Choices misleading? Los Angeles Times

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Bill Connell, 55, stands in front of his Surf Dog stand in Carpinteria. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Sampler Platter: Baja Fresh to franchise Calbi BBQ truck, 1,500-calorie Craz-E Burger, world's largest cupcake

Angry dairy farmers dousing police officers in milk, a franchised nouveau food truck and fake restaurant receipts top today's food news roundup.

-- Baja Fresh has acquired the Calbi BBQ truck and will franchise the concept. Nation's Restaurant News
-- Fresh & Easy is expected to end the year with a loss. Fast Food Maven
-- 1,316-pound Guinness World Record cupcake is unveiled at a breast cancer benefit. Breitbart
-- Farmers spray police officers with milk -- from live cows! -- at a protest against falling milk prices in Brussels. New York Times
-- Need to generate a fake restaurant receipt for your expense report? Expense-a-Steak will do it for you. Wall Street Journal
-- Meet the 1,500-calorie Craz-E Burger: beef patty, bacon and cheese on a Krispy Kreme doughnut. New York Daily News
-- Although banning fast-food eateries probably won't reduce obesity rates, some people love the soda tax idea. Los Angeles Times
-- Can an anthropomorphized pickle with skinny legs, high-top sneakers and a baseball cap make frozen pickle-juice popsicles seem cool? Bob's Pickle Pops
-- Can a 20-minute Web-only "rock opera" featuring the exploits of fake rocker White Gold get people to drink milk? Los Angeles Times
-- Six tips to get you the most out of dineLA 's Restaurant Week. LAist
-- The Obamas spend their 17th wedding anniversary at Blue Duck Tavern. Positively Barack

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: A farmer sprays riot police with milk from a cow's udder during a demonstration in front of European Union headquarters in Brussels. Dairy farmers drove hundreds of tractors into the center of Belgium's capital on Monday in the hope of pushing farm ministers into backing more funds to help them survive the milk price crisis. Credit: Yves Logghe / Associated Press

Small Bites: Umami Burger (II) and Salaryman in Los Feliz; Raphael in Studio City; Philippe on Melrose

 

More Umami Burger: Umami Burger opened its second location Friday in Los Feliz, an Adam Fleischman-Steven Arroyo collaboration in the former Cobras & Matadors space on Hollywood Boulevard. The kokeshi-doll-accented restaurant serves the same roster of burgers as at its original La Brea Avenue location, including its signature Umami Burger (parmesan tuile, shiitake, special sauce, etc.), SoCal Burger and Manly Burger, among others. The adjacent Japanese beer bar is called Salaryman. 4655 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, www.umamiburger.com.

Coming to the Valley: Raphael is expected to open in Studio City this month. Owner Alon Raphael calls the 60-seater "fine dining casual, leaning more toward fine dining." Chef Stephen Burkalis, who had worked at the Water Grill in downtown Los Angeles, says the small menu (six or seven appetizers, nine entrees, six or seven desserts) is Japanese- , French- , Italian- and California-influenced. 11616 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 505-3337.

Melrose Avenue Chinese: High-end Chinese restaurant Philippe made its Melrose Avenue debut over the weekend in the former Dolce space, in all its red-white-and-black Deco-disco glory. Philippe already has restaurants in New York, Mexico City and Miami, with another on the way in Las Vegas. Signature dishes include satay, "Mr. Cheng's noodles" (hand-pulled noodles) and "nine seasons spicy prawns." The restaurant has attracted the wrath of Michael Chow (a.k.a. Mr. Chow), the former employer of Philippe co-owner Philippe Chow. Mr. Chow filed a lawsuit against Philippe in Los Angeles last month. 8284 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, www.philippechow.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Andy Lai / Philippe

Sampler Platter: Vendy Awards, giant burrito eat-off, America's best burgers, Costco comes to New York City (sort of)

A burrito bigger than a baby, the truth about Thousand Island dressing, Korean barbecue in Koreatown and more in today's food news roundup.

-- Street food gets the red-carpet treatment at New York's Vendy Awards. Gourmet
-- Govind Armstrong, executive chef of 8 Oz. Burger Bar, shows you how to make his grilled cheese and short ribs sandwich. Epicurious
-- Essex parts with chef Chris Ennis, trims menu, will expand. Food Fair by Diego opens in Mid-City West. Eater LA
- -Binary Tastebuds and Choisauce compete to see who can eat more of the massive Special Burrito at Manuel's El Tepeyac. L.A. & OC Foodventures
-- America's best burgers. (No L.A. joints on the list.) Travel & Leisure
-- Man starts business delivering low-cost Costco items to New York City residents. New York Times
-- Quarrygirl lists L.A.'s top five omnivorous restaurants for vegans.
-- Where Thousand Island salad dressing and six other condiments get their names. Mental Floss
-- Eating LA checks out the $16.99 all-you-can-eat meal at Hae Jang Chon.
-- Hungry Kat noshes on pork belly, spareribs and stew at Ham Ji Park.
-- Just four days after announcing that its new Vegemite spread would be called iSnack2.0, Kraft says it will axe the name because so many people hate it. News.com.au
--The Boston Globe has a beef with reality cooking shows.
-- Bangladesh rewards farmer who killed more than 83,000 rats in an effort to protect crops. AP
-- First Lady Michelle Obama approaches diet and exercise with moderation and sanity. NY Daily News (On Nov. 10, she'll kick off "Sesame Street's" 40th anniversary season with an appearance that focuses on health and nutrition.)

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Pushcart vendor Lourdes Sanchez of Santa Ana. Credit: Karen Tapia-Anderson / Los Angeles Times

Burger King to give NASCAR's Tony Stewart a polygraph test about his Whopper love

In today's paper the very prolific Dan Neil writes about a new Burger King ad campaign that Neil points out goes a long way toward shattering one of advertising's most effective illusions. That would be that when a celebrity endorses a product, he or she is probably lying about loving it.

In the ad, which will be broadcast live during an Oct. 20 webcast, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart will be hooked up to a polygraph machine and asked, "Does Tony really love Burger King's Whopper sandwich?" Neil goes on to point out that folks in front of the TV don't actually believe that Sarah Jessica Parker uses Garnier, or that Paris Hilton loves Carl's Jr. The list goes on and on. If Stewart passes his Whopper-love test, that might have to change.

And it probably won't be hard for him to pass a polygraph test. Stewart looks like a guy who really does eat a Whopper every now and again. That said, I'll probably still be suspicious if he passes. Who knows if the machine being used in the webcast really is a polygraph machine? And maybe Stewart is actually on a macrobiotic diet. You really can't believe anything you see on TV.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Burger King

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25 delicious deals

There are deals, and then there are delicious deals. But at a time when restaurants' offers of "buy one get one free" and "half-price on Wednesdays" are as commonplace as tuna tartare or beet salad, sometimes it’s tricky to distinguish the two.

This is definitely an eater’s market — but just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s a bargain. If a $5 cocktail isn’t well-crafted, or an appetizer that costs less than a cup of coffee fails to excite your palate, then it’s not a delicious deal.

So, wading through the low-price hype, L.A. Times Food section writers found 25 of the best values around, including $1 specials at a favorite San Gabriel Valley noodle house, a 10-course Indian thali feast, a $14.95 lobster dinner with a million-dollar view, the happiest happy hour and our top spots for all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue. Check it out:

Photo: At the Beachcomber in Malibu, the $14.95 lobster dinner special is too good to pass up, especially since they throw in the million-dollar view for free. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

 

Sampler Platter: Warm ice cream, canned bacon, secret fast-food menus and West Coast vs. East Coast barbecue wars

Cali-style burgers in Philly, secret fast-food menus, a new barbecue joint in Mid-City West and more in today's food news roundup.

--Unilever is working on producing "ice cream" that can be sold at room temperature. Popsop
--The Smokin’ Joint barbecue restaurant opens at 3rd Street and La Cienega Boulevard. Sweetzer + Blackburn
--Food Marathon visits -- and likes -- New York BBQ on La Brea Boulevard.
--Need a bacon fix but too lazy to cook it? Enjoy some Tac Bac - Tactical Canned Bacon. Think Geek
--How to order off the secret menus from In-N-Out Burger, Fatburger, Jamba Juice, Kogi BBQ and Starbucks. Squid Ink
--Gizmodo says Chipotle's new iPhone app, which allows you to build your meal, add special instructions, send your order to any Chipotle outlet and pay for it, "sets the standard for deliciously unhealthy fast food convenience."
--The New York Times hops on the Mexican hot dog bandwagon.
--Food She Thought reviews Ortolan's Bourdeaux dinner, held Aug. 26.
--Pat Saperstein of Eating LA reviews Allston Yacht Club. Los Feliz Ledger
--P.Y.T., the hot new burger joint in Philadelphia, has people raving about their "California-style burgers" -- even Roots drummer Questlove. Burgatory
--The winner of Ben & Jerry's "Do the World a Flavor Contest" is Toni Gunnison of Mount Horeb, Wis., who invented a caramel ice cream with almonds and a caramel swirl.

--Elina Shatkin

Photo: Pecan-crusted spareribs with Kentucky bourbon barbecue sauce. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

All things Steven Arroyo: The original Cobras & Matadors gets a new menu and a facelift, Potato Chips stays open late, Umami burger nears completion

Now that Steven Arroyo's Cobras & Matadors on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Feliz has closed in order to transform into another outpost of Umami Burger (with a bar!), the flagship location on Beverly Boulevard is the only C&M left. However, Arroyo, one of L.A.'s most prolific and restless restaurateurs, wants to shake that up too. So he's teamed up with former Violet chef/owner Jared Simons ("They are like long-lost brothers," says a rep for Arroyo) to remake the menu and redesign the interior.

The new menu strays from the classic tapas offerings the restaurant built its reputation on, not because it was a failing formula but because Arroyo is looking to "evolve it, make it fresher, lighter, more value-oriented." To that end you'll find an array of small plates (some with Spanish influences), including a summer salad with cucumbers, tomato and feta; pan-roasted whitefish with white beans and watercress; and golden beets and watermelon with blue cheese.

Arroyo is redoing the interior and expects to be done with it in a couple of weeks. Changes include "a new subway-tiled bar that seats six around the wood-burning oven, which is being resurfaced with mosaic tile" as well as "new tables and banquettes in the dining room and white walls darkened with vintage textured wallpaper," says a rep for Arroyo.

In other Arroyo-related news, Potato Chips (located next door to Cobras & Matadors) is no longer closing at 6 p.m. It's staying open until 11 p.m. with a menu of tacos and burritos created by Simons.

Finally, the Umami Burger mentioned above (in which Arroyo has a 50-50 partnership with Umami owner Adam Fleischman) is tentatively scheduled for a Sept. 6 opening.

--Jessica Gelt

Photo: Steven Arroyo inside the now-closed Cobras & Matadors on Hollywood Blvd. Credit: Ringo H.W. Chiu / Los Angeles Times

Baby's Badass Burgers: Will a rolling sex-and-meat show sell? Probably

In Wednesday's issue of Brand X, Elina Shatkin mentioned a new food truck called Baby's Badass Burgers, which is poised to start traveling the streets on Monday. The conceit for the truck is unimaginative and will no doubt play well along the Cahuenga Corridor: fine-looking ladies in tiny shorts and tight tank tops serving up burgers with unfortunate names like the Cougar (aged beef and black truffles) and the Hot Chick (buffalo chicken with blue cheese).

In a recent blog post on Brand X, Krista Simmons writes that although "it's not news that sex sells, restaurants, both mobile and stationary, are capitalizing on their employees' bodies and promoting objectification that is not only offensive but downright disgusting."

I'm not sure why, but somehow the concept itself doesn't offend me from a feminist standpoint. It just makes me laugh. It's other food trucks that should be offended by this rolling sex-and-meat show. I mean, hundreds of budding entrepreneurs across L.A., who are no doubt suffering from post-Kogi delusions of becoming the next big thing on wheels, are spending all sorts of time thinking of unique concepts that might catch fire (dosas, pressed-rice buns, meat-topped fries, Philly cheesesteaks). Then along come the folks of Baby's Badass Burger, who probably woke up one day and said, "Hey, here's a killer idea: Lets get hot ladies to sell burgers in little shorts."

I can only imagine that a Hooters' truck is coming next.

Speaking of Hooters, I have friends who go there "for the wings." And once I went and noticed that the women with the generous breasts and the small shirts seemed to enjoy their jobs. I doubt that the women working in the Badass Burger truck really mind wearing their outfits either, after all they took the job.

I know all about "sexy" work outfits, too, having spent years in a short, tight-fitting dirndl as a bartender at the Red Lion. It wasn't so bad. Probably the grossest thing that ever happened to me was when a man hugged me and told me I felt like a cheerleader. Otherwise, it felt kind of nice to look cute.

Anyways, it will be interesting to find out if the burgers are any good.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo credit: Baby's Badass Burgers