Small Bites: 50% off at the Smoke House; Pinkberry introduces chocolate yogurt; Stone Fire Pizza reborn as Oak Fire

Half off at the Smoke House: If you're not utterly sick of food by the day after Thanksgiving, old-school steakhouse Smoke House will be offering 50% off its entire menu Friday from 3 to 11 p.m. Slip into a red leather booth, order a basket of its famous cheese bread and sip a martini while soaking up the ambiance of this classic restaurant, which celebrated its 63rd birthday in October. Reservations recommended. 4420 W. Lakeside Drive, Burbank. (818) 845-3731, www.smokehouse1946.com.

Pinkberry goes brown: The fro-yo purveyor will make its newest flavor, chocolate, available in California on Friday.

The name game: It didn't happen in summer as Greg Morris had planned, but Stone Fire Pizza has finally and officially rechristened itself as Oak Fire Pizzeria & Pub. Morris, the man behind the Spanish Kitchen, the Belmont, the upcoming Olive and most recently the Oaks gourmet market, made the change to eliminate any brand confusion with a similarly named L.A. chain (cough, cough, Pitfire Pizza). In addition to thin-crust and deep-dish Chicago-style pies, it boasts a full bar with artisanal liquors and a rotating selection of microbrews. 829 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood. (310) 659-8848, www.oakfirepizza.com.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo credit: Jill Connelly / For The Times

Small Bites: Steak with Spike Lee, celebs cook up comfort for Thanksgiving

Meat/meet with Spike Lee: Have a hankering to discuss the recondite narrative mechanisms of "Girl 6" or the New York Knicks' defense? Filmmaker Spike Lee will join Andrew Siciliano and Mychal Thompson of 710 AM ESPN for a luncheon that combines steaks and sports. Morton's The Steakhouse. 735 S. Figueroa St., L.A. 11 a.m. Tuesday. $50 (includes tax and gratuity); cash bar.

Celebs donate recipes for suicide prevention: Actors Glenn Close, Marcia Gay Harden and Joe Pantoliano, comedian Joan Rivers, singer-songwriter James Taylor, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Melissa d'Arabian, winner of last season's "The Next Food Network Star," are sharing their favorite holiday recipes as part of an awareness campaign for National Survivors of Suicide Day. Held every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, this year's campaign includes a recipe contest featuring Pelosi's chocolate mousse, Close's baking powder biscuits, Rivers' pumpkin bread pudding and more.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Spike Lee takes in a meal from a court-side seat before a Lakers-Knicks game in 2008. Credit: Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times

Eating along the Gold Line Eastside Extension: What didn't we include?

 

After eating our way from Little Tokyo to Atlantic Boulevard (and beyond) in East L.A., we had the difficult task of deciding which restaurants to include in an article about the many, many places to dine along the Gold Line Eastside Extension. (Trains are scheduled to start running on Sunday.)

The Little Tokyo stop presented some particularly difficult choices, because the area is packed with so many restaurants, without even including the Arts District. In this case, an editorial decision was made: The story focuses on those restaurants that are closest, within about a block or so of the stop at 1st and Alameda streets. So it doesn't include anything south of 2nd Street or much further west of Central Avenue. Unfortunately, that omits a lot of great restaurants.

And we heard about it from readers. Please let us know what else you would have wanted included. 

Here, a few additions from readers: 

Small Bites: Chocolate dim sum at the Peninsula; choucroute garnie at Bistro LQ; bartenders from New Orleans' Cure at the Edison's Radio Room

Dim sum for dessert:The Peninsula Beverly Hills puts a spin on a tribute to its Hong Kong roots with chocolate dim sum -- yes, chocolate. The dessert dumplings, created by executive chef James Overbaugh and executive pastry chef Miguel Torres, are being offered in the hotel's Club Bar and the Living Room (where resident pianist Antonio Castillo de la Gala performs, 7:30 p.m. to midnight Tuesdays to Thursdays and from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays). The warm, crisp, sweet dumplings are filled with either dark or white chocolate and citrus cream cheese. They're dusted with powdered sugar and served with three dipping sauces -- passion fruit, orange-raspberry and ginger-caramel -- and green tea ice cream. 9882 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 975-2736, www.peninsula.com.

Sausages-n-sauerkraut: Nothing says "Alsace!" like a platter of choucroute garnie. Bistro LQ chef-owner Laurent Quenioux will be serving the traditional French-German dish on Nov. 24 and 25. His includes sauerkraut poached in Riesling, jambonneau (cured pork knuckle), Morteau sausage, apple wood smoked bacon, pork shoulder, ham hocks, boudin blanc, Strasbourg sausage (wieners), blood sausage and steamed potatoes. The three-course menu also includes herring with quail egg as a first course and dessert and mignardises. $40 per person. 8009 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 951-1088, www.bistrolq.com.

The last Radio Room of 2009: Tonight's Radio Room at the Edison downtown features guest bartenders from New Orleans' Cure, which owner Neal Bodenheimer opened this year, hiring a crack team of bartenders, including Richard Gomez, Kirk Estopinal and Danny Valdez. Gomez, Estopinal and Valdez will be "behind the stick" tonight at the Radio Room, the last one for this year, along with Plymouth gin brand ambassador Simon Ford (expect plenty of gin cocktails). Tickets for the 8 p.m. event are $10; proceeds will benefit the Los Angeles chapter of the U.S. Bartenders Guild, the Sporting Life and the Museum of the American Cocktail. 108 W. 2nd St., Los Angeles, (213) 613-0000, www.edisondowntown.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: chocolate dim sum. Credit: Peninsula Beverly Hills.

Small Bites: 'Seafood for the Future' at Providence; Sona's 7th anniversary menu; Palmina wine dinner at Craft

For the love of seafood: Providence is partnering with the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach to host a "Seafood for the Future Dinner" on Nov. 18. The aquarium's Seafood for the Future program encourages people to make environmentally responsible choices when buying and preparing seafood. Dinner will feature six courses from Providence chef-owner Michael Cimarusti. On the menu: kona kampachi tartare, Alaskan king crab, a niçoise salad with grilled sardines, wild king salmon, wild local swordfish, and dessert. The cost is $115 per person, $160 with wine pairings. Seafood for the Future program manager Andrew Gruel and marine biologist Dave Anderson will be discussing the program with guests, and each guest will receive one complimentary pass to the aquarium. 5955 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, (323) 460-4170.

Happy seventh birthday: Chef David Myers is celebrating Sona's seventh anniversary with a seven-course tasting menu that features guests'  favorite dishes throughout the years. On Tuesday through Thursday evenings through November, the following menu will be available for $77: hamachi with edamame puree, spicy grapefruit, preserved turmeric; Tahitian squash soup with chai foam, anago, pearl tapioca; Maine lobster risotto with kaffir lime leaf; roasted duck with celery root-shiso salad; red wine-braised short rib; baba with quince, pear, grains of paradise sabayon; and chocolate beignets. 401 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 659-7708.

Wine with everything: Craft chef de cuisine Anthony Zappola and pastry chef Shannon Swindle are planning a California-meets-Italy five-course dinner to pair with wines from Palmina winery on Nov. 11. Winemaker Chrystal Clifton will attend to talk with guests and answer any questions. It's $125 per person including wine pairings. Here's the menu: hors d'oeuvres; fluke crudo with citrus and wild fennel; braised Maine lobster with smoked bacon and porcini; roasted California squab with leg ravioli; venison saddle; and almond praline panna cotta with roasted Warren pear. A few wine examples: 2008 Honea Vineyard Tocai Friulano Santa Ynez Valley, 2007 Barbera Santa Barbara County and the 2006 Undici. 10100 Constellation Blvd., Century City, call Tobie Cancino at (424) 204-7485 for reservations or e-mail tcancino@craftlosangeles.com. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Aquarium of the Pacific

Jones Hollywood, 'a cross between the Rainbow and Dan Tana's,' celebrates 15 years

Jones Hollywood, the bar at Santa Monica Boulevard and Formosa Street where you've probably spent at least a few (or maybe hundreds of) blurry nights, celebrates its 15th anniversary today. 

From noon to 2 a.m., Jack Daniels, Herradura and Finlandia cocktails are $5; select beers and wines by the glass are $2 and $4, respectively; and 15 menu items such as pepperoni pizza and spaghetti and meatballs are $5. 

Jones opened when owner Sean MacPherson was still operating the erstwhile Olive and "was kind of meant to be a cross between the Rainbow and Dan Tana's," he says. "Kind of a rock 'n' roll pizza joint, sort of an homage to 'real Hollywood,' not the movie star Hollywood but people living in Hollywood and living that rock 'n' roll life."

There are the black-and-white photos from the '70s and '80s collected by MacPherson (such as Janis Joplin drinking JD), the not-a-bad-seat-in-the-house booths, the big sound system, the quasi-Italian food (the current menu was created by John DeLucie of the Waverly Inn). 

The key to its long-lived success? "It's a comfortable place, a fun place, a lively place," says MacPherson, who also is behind Small's, Swingers, Good Luck Bar, Bar Marmont, El Carmen, Bar Lubitsch and the Roger Room. (An aside: MacPherson now has plans to take over Orso restaurant on 3rd Street. "The running name is Ortho, in homage to nearby Cedars-Sinai, but it probably won't be that," he says. "I hope it will have exceedingly good food and be somewhere I'd like to eat most nights when I'm in L.A. I don't have that right now.")    

Jones "very much caters to the community, is really a part of Hollywood [in a larger sense because it's actually in the city of West Hollywood] ... It was designed to last. Fundamentally, it's the same place it was when it opened." 

Jones Hollywood, 7205 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 850-1726.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Jones Hollywood

Sampler Platter: bacon candle, food stamps, cheesecake and sugary cereals

Food stamps and fancy restaurants, bacon candles and racist cookies -- it's a tale of two worlds in today's food news roundup.

--Gwyneth Paltrow's L.A. restaurant picks: Church and State, Gjelina, Shima, Madeo, Cecconi’s, Tavern, Animal, Osteria La Buca, Yong Su San, the Best Fish Taco in Enseneda, La Estrella Taco Truck, Kogi, Varnish. Goop
--Several sites are giving away pairs of tickets to Great Chefs of L.A., a benefit that happens on Nov. 8 for the National Kidney Foundation of Southern California.
--Costco to accept food stamps nationally. L.A. Times
--Living close to food is good for your waistline. Salt Lake Tribune
--Troy Smith, founder of Sonic drive-in chain, dies. Baltimore Sun
--UN delivers food aid by text message to Iraqi refugees in Syria. The Telegraph
--Sugariest cereals for kids get advertised the most. Consumerist
--Offensive Creole Creme cookies removed from Australian stores. 9News
--Chef Rick Gresh of David Burke’s Primehouse in Chicago brings his edible bacon fat candle to NYC. Gothamist
--Cheesecake? C'mon, what are New Yorkers really eating? New York Times
--Moderate amounts of protein, rather than a lot, might be best for muscle. Booster Shots
--Former combat marine turned chef serves up meals for seniors as a way of giving back to community. New York Daily News

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Residents gather outside the Sonic Drive-In after a tornado destroyed parts of Newton, Miss. in 2002. Credit: Rogelio Solis / AP

L.A.'s best New York-style delis

If reading today's Food section story about David Sax and his hunt for the perfect pastrami sandwich made you hungry, here's a wildly subjective list of the best New York or Jewish-style delicatessens in Los Angeles -- with a certain deli missing from the list. Feel free to comment.

Calling all fressers! You can meet Sax next week, when he hosts a discussion, "Save the Deli" book-signing and nosh at Langer's. It happens Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 2:30 p.m., but registration for the event end Saturday.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: A pastrami on rye is served up at Langer's Deli in Los Angeles, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

Small Bites: Royal/T celebrates Sanrio's anniversary with Hello Kitty menu; Osteria Drago to open in Newport Beach

Hello, Hello Kitty: Royal/T in Culver City will help fete the 35th anniversary of Sanrio Inc. The celebration runs from Oct. 23 to Nov. 15. Along with the "Three Apples" art exhibit, the cafe will offer a Hello Kitty menu: Hello Kitty's "kawaii high tea"; toasted white bread sandwiches such as "say hello chicken and artichoke tramezzini" and "school is fun ham and cheese; and hand-decorated "sweety happy cookies." (All served by Royal/T cafe's maid-outfitted servers.) Sunday, Nov.1, is Hello Kitty's birthday party, featuring an assortment of Hello Kitty pancakes and waffles, a DJ, party games and prizes; birthday cake served 4 to 5 p.m. 8910 Washington Blvd., Culver City, (310) 559-6300, www.royal-t.org.

A Drago for Orange County: Chef-restaurateur Celestino Drago is expanding the Drago empire, with plans to open another new Italian restaurant -- Osteria Drago. The restaurant will be Drago's first outside of L.A., to be located at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. The menu will include Naples-style pizza from a wood-burning oven as well as regional family-style dishes: fresh pasta, polenta, fish and game. The more-than-3,700-square-foot space also will include a wine bar and patio seating. Felderman Keatinge & Associates designed Drago Centro in downtown Los Angeles and will design Osteria Drago. The opening is slated for early next year. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Hello Kitty menu/Royal/T

It's an oyster-shucking throwdown at the annual Galway International Oyster Festival

The Guinness World Oyster Opening Competition in Galway, Ireland, recently brought together the creme de la creme of competitors in the oyster-shucking universe. The contest is the annual highlight of the three-day Galway International Oyster Festival.  

The Europeans call it oyster opening. Americans call it shucking. Either way, for one of the participants that assemble from 14 countries, winning in Galway is like snagging gold at the Olympics. 

Click here to read more about America's William "Chopper" Young and the 13 other competitors that come from all over the globe to determine who is the world's best shucker.

Photo credit: Necee Regis