Bow & Truss to open in NoHo with cocktails by Tello/Demarest

A very busy Aidan Demarest dishes that his cocktail consulting business with Marcos Tello, Tello Demarest Liquid Assets, is currently working on the cocktail program for a new Latin-themed restaurant in North Hollywood called Bow & Truss.

"I think the NoHo Arts District might finally take off," says Demarest, who is also working on launching the cocktail program at Tom Bergin's in Mid-City. "Everybody has been saying that for years, but I think this could be the tipping point."

The feeling is shared by owner and Knitting Factory CEO Morgan Margolis, who also owns the nearby Federal Bar, which opened a little more than a year ago.

Bow & Truss, which is expected to soft-open by Memorial Day, claims Stefhanie Meyers as its chef (Rivera, Playa). Meyers is working on a menu with strong Spanish influences, including plenty of tapas and a nice variety of family-style plates. Scallops with saffron polenta and a seafood pot with sea bass, mussels, shrimp, clams and lobster are among the offerings.

The cocktail list will be "Spanish-Latin influenced, with plenty of sherries and brandies," Demarest says. To create the drinks, he and Tello did plenty of research about the early Spanish influence on California.

Bow & Truss, 11122 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood.

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--Jessica Gelt

Photo: The scallops at Bow & Truss. Credit: Bow & Truss

The Federal Bar brings tasty bites to North Hollywood

North Hollywood will get a shiny new gastropub when the Federal Bar celebrates its grand opening on Thursday. Located in a bank building that originally opened in 1926, the space was formerly a club called the Bank Heist, which was destroyed by fire in early 2008.

Its new incarnation comes courtesy of Knitting Factory Entertainment CEO Morgan Margolis, who says that he's wanted to open a place like it for more than 20 years. His dreams come true this week as the two-story bar and restaurant swings its doors open on a retro interior tailor-made for L.A.'s current obsession with Prohibition-era speakeasy style.

Exposed brick, a brass-framed entry, white tiles, antique lights, leather booths, pressed tin panels and loads of dark wood make for a grand space with a very vintage feel. The upstairs area is currently for special events and parties, but the Knitting Factory knows music and will likely begin booking some solid live music shows.

The New American-style menu was created by Louis Fuentes and Shad Davis (the Belmont, the Counter) and includes wild turkey meatballs; IPA spare ribs with melted leeks; red wine-poached halibut over roasted root vegetables and fries with sea salt and herbs.

To drink? A full bar as well as more than 20 craft beers including Allagash Black, Telegraph White Ale and Stone IPA.

The Federal Bar, 5303 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. (818) 980-2555; www.thefederalbar.com

--Jessica Gelt  

Photo courtesy of Knitting Factory Entertainment

Small Bites: Peach tart at Platine, absinthe at Tonga Hut, new menu at Copa d'Oro

Every Monday night from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. the vintage tiki bar the Tonga Hut offers Absinthe-Minded Mondays, featuring absinthe cocktails concocted by Lisa Marie. 12808 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood. (818) 769-0708, www.tongahut.com.

Copa d’Oro recently introduced several new cocktails to its menu, including the Custer Cocktail (Sazerac Rye, Galliano, Cynar, celery bitter and rhubarb bitter; $13), the Black Rosemary Diamond (gin, Crème de Cassis, blackberry, fresh lime juice and rosemary; $12); the Jersey Pie (applejack, vanilla and fresh lemon juice; $11); and several others. Copa d'Oro, 217 Broadway, Santa Monica. (310) 576-3030, www.copadoro.com.

A peach tart won Platine's recent Julia Child recipe contest. You can try the bakery's version of it from now through Saturday. 10850 Washington Blvd., Culver City. (310) 559-9933, www.platinecookies.com.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: The Tonga Hut in North Hollywood. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Pitfire Pizza reaches for fine dining

If you're a fan of Pitfire Pizza's BBQ chicken salad or their mac 'n cheese, you should hurry and place an order before April 2. The local mini-chain with outposts in North Hollywood, downtown L.A. and Westwood (which recently acquired a beer and wine license), is changing its menu this Thursday and will eliminate both of those popular dishes. Pitfire is also getting rid of the Baked Ziti, Fiery Chicken Soup, Dixie Chicken Penne, Papardelle Pasta, Pumpkin Pizza, Folded Sausage Pizza and Folded Chicken Pizza. (The folded pizza is their approximation of a calzone.)

They'll be replaced by approximately 15 new dishes created by chef/owners David Sanfield and Paul Hibler along with executive chef Mark Gold of Café Pinot and the Water Grill. (Gold earned three stars from Times Restaurant Critic S. Irene Virbila when he cooked at Leatherby's Café Rouge in Costa Mesa.) The new dishes include the signature chicken salad ($9.75) featuring sous vide chicken on a bed of baby arugula topped by toasted pine nuts, pickled currants, shaved scallions and hand-torn bread crumbs tossed in a champagne vinaigrette; clam and bacon linguine featuring littleneck clams and Zoe nitrate-free bacon in a tomato broth. And a new mushroom pizza ($9.95)-- with more whole mushrooms--will replace the old version, which had shaved mushrooms.