Craving parm? Italian deli Ggiata takes over the original Irv’s Burgers space

Ggiata West Hollywood

Popular Italian sandwich shop Ggiata Delicatessen is expanding this month with a second location double the size of the Melrose Hill original, offering beer, wine and more sandwiches.

“This feels like almost the 2.0 — the ‘flagship’ version, where we actually had a little bit of a budget to build something out,” said co-owner Noah Holton-Raphael. “We actually had some operating expertise, so we can just expand the entire program a little bit more than we did.”

Ggiata West Hollywood, taking over the original Irv’s Burgers space, will continue to sell chicken cutlet and cold-cut sandwiches, meatball parms, chopped salads, rainbow cookies, limoncello cakes and other items currently available in Hollywood, but add new options exclusive to the site such as turkey clubs, tuna sandwiches and build-your-own sandwiches made with Italian cheeses and cured meats.

A beer and wine program is expected to launch by the end of the year; this will allow for onsite drinking as well as bottle retail, and focus on California and Italian wines and “funky” and regional beers. The new location will also offer pantry items as well as jarred sauces and spreads made in-house.

“We want this one to feel like you can come in and get a sandwich but also you can grab some provisions for a weekend if you want to have a picnic, or you want to go to the beach or do whatever,” said Holton-Raphael. “This is really meant to be the neighborhood shop.”

Ggiata West Hollywood is expected to open Nov. 14, with daily hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; extended hours could follow.

7998 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, ggiata.com

Dante Beverly Hills

A landmark long-running New York City restaurant and bar is slated to open next year atop the Maybourne in Beverly Hills. Dante, which opened in 1915 and offers Italian and broader Mediterranean cuisine, is expected to launch on the hotel’s rooftop in spring with a menu of cocktails, aperitivo-style bites and wood-fired fare that includes the “greatest hits” of the New York originator. Options could include roasted Santa Barbara black cod with salmoriglio and zucchini, and cedar-smoked rainbow trout with grapefruit, blood orange, avocado and arugula salad, plus negronis and spritzes.

225 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, dante-nyc.com

Wine bar Tabula Rasa now has a sibling wine shop selling hundreds of wines, plus home goods and picnic provisions.

(Cortney Morentin and Erik Ursin / Tabula Rasa)

Tabula Rasa Wine Shop

Natural-wine bar Tabula Rasa has opened its first bottle shop, an evolution from the Los Feliz/Hollywood site’s pivot during pandemic closures to selling its natural and biodynamic bottles. The new 2,000-square-foot shop in North Hollywood’s Arts District stocks more than 300 labels highlighting low intervention, female-made wines and lesser-known production regions; roughly one quarter of the inventory costs less than $25. The shop also stocks charcuterie, cheese, tinned seafood, chocolate, marmalades and other goods to build a platter or picnic; beer and sake; and vintage barware and housewares. Look for weekly tastings on Saturday afternoons, with more programming to follow (watch @tabularasashop on Instagram for schedules and updates). A grand opening event is set for the weekend of Nov. 12. Tabula Rasa Wine Shop is open noon to 8 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays.

5124 Lankershim Blvd., Los Angeles, tabularasabar.com

Romanian restaurant Parsnip has been revived as the dinner menu within Lemon Poppy Kitchen, though the items now include Mexican flavor — such as chipotle sauerkraut — thanks to a collaborative process with Lemon Poppy’s lead chef.

(Stephanie Brejio / Los Angeles Times)

Parsnip returns

Anca Caliman shuttered her Romanian-focused restaurant in Highland Park in 2019 and reprised a few signature dishes at Lemon Poppy Kitchen, her other restaurant, housed within Glassell Park’s Verdugo Plaza. In late October, she reopened the indoor dining room and reprised Parsnip as a dinner concept, now rebranded as a blend of Romanian and Mexican cuisines in collaboration with Lemon Poppy Kitchen chef Marcos Aguilar. Sauerkrauts are now tinged with chipotle, taquitos are filled with fire-roasted eggplant and a traditional bean dip of fasole bătută now comes served with tortilla chips and vaguely resembling refried beans topped with caramelized onions and jalapeños. Beer and wine are also available. The Parsnip dinner menu is available from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday.

3324 Verdugo Road, Los Angeles, (323) 739-0012, lemonpoppykitchen.com

The Lounge at Ugo

Culver City Italian spot Ugo now has an adjacent space for cocktails. The Lounge at Ugo offers bar and lounge seating, plus a patio, for Neapolitan-style pizzas, small plates and a cocktail menu separated into classics and specialty drinks. Options include the Good Humor, with tequila, Aperol, grapefruit, orgeat and lemon, and a strawberry-and-lychee martini in addition to spritzes, espresso martinis and other beverage stalwarts, while the food menu offers calamari, meatballs, portobello fries and other bites in addition to pizza. The Lounge at Ugo is open 4 to 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

3865 Cardiff Ave., Culver City, (310) 204-1222, cafeugo.com

Culver City’s Ugo has expanded with a lounge next door, which features exclusive items and cocktails. Later this year, Ugo Trattoria is slated to open in Santa Monica.

(Wonho Frank Lee / The Lounge at Ugo)