Suzanne Goin, Caroline Styne debut two new restaurants this week
Caldo Verde and Cara Cara
Lucques and A.O.C. founders Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne are set to open two restaurants this week within the Proper Hotel in downtown L.A. Cara Cara, which launches Oct. 16, is a global-coastal-cuisine restaurant and bar located on the hotel’s 5,000-square-foot rooftop with dishes such as piri piri fried chicken, tacos, and focaccia from a wood-burning oven. Also on Oct. 16 lobby-level restaurant Caldo Verde is scheduled to open with Portuguese- and Spanish-influenced items and produce-driven dishes such as fish with chickpeas, green olives and saffron aioli, eggs with sofrito, stuffed rabbit with blood sausage and cavolo nero, and pastries like horchata egg tarts. Later this fall Styne and Goin plan to unveil Dalia, a cocktail bar on the ground floor. Caldo Verde will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekdays, and for brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. Cara Cara will offer lunch and dinner daily.
1100 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, (213) 806-1010, properhotel.com/downtown-la/restaurants-bars
Cocktails to go
Takeout cocktails are now semi-permanently legal in California. On Oct. 8, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 389, which allows the sale of takeout cocktails, beer and wine — provided a meal is also ordered — for pickup, but not for delivery, through Dec. 31, 2026. Orders will be limited to two cocktails per meal. Newsom has also signed Assembly Bill 314, which allows street vendors and restaurant parklets to extend the geographic radius of their alcohol sales, and Assembly Bill 61, which extends temporary permits for food and beverage sales — through July 1, 2024 — for vendors and parklets.
Hot Tacos
After sisters Reyna and Maritza Vazquez launched their Veracruz All Natural business in Austin in 2008, it eventually expanded to six locations, serving fresh juices, Veracruzana tacos, smoothies and salsas. On Sept. 30, they added a Los Angeles food truck to their roster. Hot Tacos is now open in the parking lot of Koreatown’s Line LA hotel, serving grilled meats, al pastor cauliflower, fish, and cochinita pibil tacos on flour or pink corn tortillas, plus quesadillas, aguas frescas, and all-day migas breakfast tacos from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. On Oct. 16 an opening party will feature free merch, free aguas frescas, live music, DJ sets, and a photo booth from 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Other food truck locations might follow; check Instagram for location updates.
3515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, instagram.com/hottacosusa and hottacosusa.com
LA Barra
LA Cha Cha Chá, a rooftop Mexican restaurant and bar in the Arts District, has a new bar within a bar. LA Barra, housed indoors and with a separate street entrance — under a glowing neon lemon — has a different but related food and drink menu; the bar and the restaurant share a beverage director (Zachary Rager) and chef (Ale Guzmán). Cocktails include an old-fashioned made with blue corn masa and a highball featuring vodka infused with smoked nopales, and dishes like tacos dorados and molletes. LA Barra is open from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., Tuesday to Saturday, with food served between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
803 Traction Ave., Los Angeles, instagram.com/barrachachacha
Cabra Los Angeles
“Top Chef’s” Stephanie Izard expanded her lauded Girl & the Goat restaurant to the Arts District this summer and plans to add another dining destination to the city. She will open a location of Cabra — her Peruvian-leaning cevicheria and bar in Chicago — on the rooftop of the Hoxton hotel downtown sometime in December. The new Cabra will incorporate some of the Chicago restaurant’s shareable Peruvian cuisine, with L.A.-inspired dishes in the mix.
1060 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, instagram.com/cabralosangeles
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