IDG teaming up with Gino Angelini to open Italian restaurant

Innovative Dining Group says it has collaborated with chef and restaurateur Gino Angelini, of Angelini Osteria, to open a fine-dining Italian restaurant in West Hollywood that will debut in the fall.

The 8,000-square-foot restaurant will take over part of the space formerly occupied by Hamburger Hamlet at 9201 W. Sunset Blvd. IDG will divide the old Hamlet space into two ventures, one the new Italian restaurant and the other a Chinese cuisine concept.

The restaurant's name and menu specifics will be announced in the coming months but for now, Italian food aficionados can expect Angelini's menu to include pastas, pizzas and entrées incorporating classic Italian cooking techniques very much like those developed at his beloved Angelini Osteria.

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-- Caitlin Keller

Photo: Gino Angelini at his restaurant, Angelini Osteria. Credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

Cliff's Edge brings in chef Benjamin Bailly for a fresh direction

Cliff's Edge, the popular Silver Lake restaurant with one of the most attractive outdoor dining patios on the eastside, is switching gears. It has quietly brought in James Beard-nominated chef Benjamin Bailly to revamp the menu and give new direction to the kitchen.

Bailly, who was nominated as Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2010 after working as chef de partie for Joel Robuchon in Paris and assisting him in opening six restaurants worldwide, has most recently served as executive chef at both Fraiche and Petrossian in West Hollywood. He was pursuing a career as a private chef when Cliff's Edge plucked him up.

Since Jan. 3, Bailly, 29, has worked diligently toward creating a menu that Cliff's Edge owners Dana Hollister, Keith Greco and Pierre Casanova hope will make the restaurant a culinary destination for diners across the city.

In its more than seven years in operation, Cliff's Edge has cultivated a devoted neighborhood following, but its food has never been singled out as particularly noteworthy. A destination restaurant in Silver Lake would be a welcome -- and long overdue -- addition to the neighborhood.

Bailly has divided the new menu, which is still Mediterranean in flavor, into four parts: to share, to start, to follow and desserts. The first is a series of small plates meant to be shared with cocktails from the recently revamped bar. These include chickpea fritters with rosemary and lemon aioli; eggplant caviar with cumin, pine nuts and cilantro; salt cod brandade with lemon, parsley and garlic crostini; pickled cauliflower with Castelvetrano olives and Marcona almonds.

Burger of the week at the Standard; Cafe Entourage opens; K2 begins dinner service

Micah Fields -- the new chef at the Restaurant at the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles -- recently introduced a "Burger of the Week" to the menu. So what distinguishes Fields' burgers from the downtown burger pack? Exotic meats including wild boar, lamb and (gasp!) bear.

Here’s what you can expect for the rest of the month: March 7 to 11, Colorado lamb burger; March 14 to 18, Smokey the Bear;  March 21 to 25 , shrimp burger.

The Restaurant at the Standard, 550 S. Flower St., L.A. (213) 439-3030; www.standardhotels.com.

Cafe Entourage, the new 7,000-square-foot restaurant at Hollywood and Vine that we wrote about last month, officially opens on Friday. Now the neighborhood will have a 24-hour dining destination from Thursday through Saturday. The comfort-food menu includes lobster spaghetti, baked chicken, steak-and-eggs, pepperoni pizza and tuna salad. There is also a full bar.

Cafe Entourage, 1600 Vine St., Hollywood; (323) 467-4200.

K2, the Cajun-leaning restaurant that opened late last year in the old Eat Well space on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, has brought in a new chef and will begin dinner service on Tuesday, with late-night service to start soon after that. The new chef, Chris Barnett (208 Rodeo, Hotel Bel-Air, Stateside, Provecho), brings with him a sustainable sensibility and is introducing a host of new Southern-tinged menu items including barbecued mussels with chili-garlic french bread; fried green tomato salad with goat cheese and arugula; spicy buttermilk-marinated Jidori fried chicken with edamame succotash and herbed cream gravy; and cake doughnut bread pudding with rum caramel sauce.

K2, 3916 W. Sunset Blvd., L.A. (323) 662-7698; www.kokomo.com.

--Jessica Gelt

Photo: The wild boar burger with sweet cherry tomato jam, a bacon-speckled bun and jalapeno aioli is served at the Restaurant at the Standard. Credit: The Standard.

Chef David LeFevre is leaving Water Grill

Chef David LeFevre is leaving downtown's Water Grill to open his own restaurant. LeFevre, a Charlie Trotter protege who also has worked brief stints at El Bulli in Spain and Tetsuya in Australia, has been executive chef of Water Grill for six  years.  

"I'll be owner-partner in a new restaurant, but I can't say much more than that," LeFevre said, adding that the restaurant will be in Los Angeles and should be open by spring. He said that he plans to leave in the next six or seven weeks for "a very smooth transition." 

LeFevre was handed the Water Grill reins from chef Michael Cimarusti, who went on to open Providence in Hollywood. "Water Grill's kitchen has been led by a select group of chefs who contributed to the Los Angeles dining landscape in significant ways," a Water Grill press release announcing LeFevre's departure said. The restaurant, owned by King's Seafood Co., is searching for its next executive chef. 

"The Kings and I have had a really wonderful relationship for six years, full of mutual respect,  and that is going to continue," LeFevre said in a phone interview. "I've been treated like family and am a huge supporter of what they do and how they do it. This is a bittersweet end." 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: David LeFevre. Credit: Allen Schaben/Los Angeles Times

Michael Voltaggio's final dinner service

Maybe the only way to describe Michael Voltaggio's last dinner service at the Dining Room at the Langham is as the culinary iteration of YosemiteBear's Double Rainbow.

Voltaggio pulled out an entire spectrum of flavors for Saturday night's meal. There were 21 dishes on the menu, and highlights included: the amuse bouche of gougère with caviar cream paired with a tomato pate lolly (pictured); strawberry yuzu foie gras terrine with arugula sponge cake and minus-8-degree balsamic spheres; Kurobuta pork belly with bok choi kim chi, sweet potato preserves and peanut butter powder; Thai-style halibut cheeks with coconut rice, baby leeks and red curry; and potted deconstructed carrot cake sorbet. (KevinEats has an illustrative gallery of the entire menu here.)

General manager/sommelier Josh Goldman rocked out unconventional beer, wine and cocktail pairings throughout the evening, while the inundated chefs finally pushed out the last plate around 1:30 a.m. 

Goldman and Voltaggio will team up on the "Top Chef" champion's upcoming venture, which he hopes to open by the end of this year. A few weeks back we got some details from Voltaggio about his plans, but can't wait to hear more about what's next. Best guess is it won't include lace drapery or a black tie dress code.

-- Krista Simmons

Follow me on Twitter @kristasimmons

Photo: Beginning of the end (amuse bouche of gougère with caviar cream and tomato pate lolly with basil and sea salt). Credit: KevinEats.

Michael Voltaggio dishes on leaving the Langham and on his upcoming venture

July 17 marks the end of an era for Michael Voltaggio. After a year in the Dining Room at the Langham Huntington Hotel, the "Top Chef" champion will have his last day of service. He'll soon be heading out of Pasadena, looking for new digs to settle into. Though he's currently doing the celebrity chef thing at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colo., he took a few minutes to chat with us about his future restaurant venture.

Krista Simmons: Because of your personality and your style of cooking, everyone was surprised that you stayed at the Langham for so long. Why leave now that they're renovating?

Michael Voltaggio: I had to come to terms with the fact that I either stay in Pasadena and be at this restaurant being branded around me, or I can do something on my own outside of the Langham. I decided I want to make my own place. ... At the end of the day I know that no matter what, that restaurant wasn’t mine.

Palihouse announces new chef Gary Menes

When Marche in Sherman Oaks closed this month, those of us who track such things wondered where chef Gary Menes would be cooking next. Palihouse Holloway, the West Hollywood boutique hotel, has announced that Menes will be executive chef at its restaurant, the Hall at Palihouse.

Menes, who has worked at Patina in Los Angeles, the French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., and Palate in Glendale, received two-and-a-half stars at Marche from Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila. He succeeds chef Brendan Collins, who last week opened Waterloo & City in Culver City.

8465 Holloway Drive, West Hollywood, (323) 656-4020, www.thehallbrasserie.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Gary Menes. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Chef shuffle: Steve Samson to exit Pizzeria Ortica

Steve Samson, the highly praised chef at David Myers' Orange County restaurant, Pizzeria Ortica, is leaving  to pursue his own project, the David Myers Group has announced. Samson, a former Valentino chef, has been at Ortica since it opened in spring 2009. In a review, Times critic S. Irene Virbila gave the restaurant 2 1/2 stars: "Samson is cooking Italian food that is more gutsy and accessible than you might remember when he was at the more formal Valentino." 

Samson's planned exit follows several departures within the David Myers Group in the last several months, including former Comme Ca executive chef Michael David at the end of last year.

A representative for the David Myers Group says the company is "actively looking for a replacement, and plans to open a Pizzeria Ortica in Los Angeles continue to move forward."

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Steve Samson at Pizzeria Ortica. Credit: Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times

More on Ubuntu: Owner announces 'amicable separation'; chef Jeremy Fox drops by L.A.

Ubuntu, the acclaimed vegetarian restaurant in Napa, Calif., released an official announcement Monday that chef-partner Jeremy Fox had turned in his resignation "to pursue other interests" in an "amicable separation." Meanwhile, Fox headed to Los Angeles. So, do his "other interests" lie here? 

Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Jeremy and other staff members had left the restaurant. Said owner Sandy Lawrence in a release Monday: "We have been delighted to work with Jeremy on the creation of this great restaurant. Jeremy was instrumental in opening and creating the foundation for Ubuntu, which helped establish the restaurant as a leading Northern California destination."

Meanwhile, Fox is here in L.A. for a few days. When reached by phone, he said he had no further comment about his resignation. In the release, he says, "Helping establish Ubuntu as a pioneer in America's fine dining scene has been a labor of love for me and an accomplishment I'm very proud of. I look forward to pursuing new opportunities."

Nor would he reveal whether a restaurant in Los Angeles might be a "new opportunity" (but one can hope, right?). "I'm here on vacation, visiting friends," he said. 

Ubuntu named chef Aaron London, Fox's former executive sous chef, as chef de cuisine.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Robert Durell / For The Times

The scoop: Former Jean Georges chef now at Whist

Tony DiSalvo, who formerly helmed the kitchen at New York's Michelin three-starred Jean Georges, has found a new home at Whist at the Viceroy.

This is the latest big notch in DiSalvo's belt: He was a chef  at the James Beard Award winning Gramercy Tavern during the era of Tom Colicchio's co-ownership, and he worked above a young Wylie Dufresne while at Jean Georges, which is located in the Trump International Hotel and Tower.

After four  years there, DiSalvo moved to San Diego to open the now shuttered Jack's La Jolla. Now, he's headed north to fill the boots of Warren Schwartz at Whist, who's left to open Westside Tavern.

Whist is one of the restaurants participating in dineLA's fall Restaurant Week, so DiSalvo's appointment as executive chef comes just in time for foodies to take a test drive with him. DineLA's a sweet deal at Whist, with lunch at $22 and dinner at $34. Hopefully, DiSalvo can wrack up some points, as Schwartz did during his tenure at the restaurant.

-- Krista Simmons

Photo courtesy of Tony DiSalvo