Pop-ups galore: East Borough, Depressed Cake Shop, Bull & Dragon, more

Chefs Chloe Tran and Jason Neroni are offering a preview of their planned Culver City restaurant East Borough, set to open in January. On Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Bar & Garden, lunch items from East Borough will be available for $5 each, such as grilled pork banh mi and grapefruit lemongrass salad, along with a selection of French wines. A one-night pop-up dinner at Superba Snack Bar on Wednesday, Dec. 11, will feature a five-course tasting menu for $65 or a la carte items from East Borough’s dinner menu, including fried cauliflower and long beans with fish sauce, lime, sugar cane and mint; head-on blue shrimp with pomelo and crab butter with ginger rice; and phocatini with oxtail, hoisin, sambal, onion and cilantro. An optional wine pairing is an additional $28. Call for reservations. Bar & Garden, 6412 Washington Blvd., Culver City, (310) 876-0759 (walk-ins welcome); Superba Snack Bar, 533 Rose Ave., Venice, (310) 399-6400 (reservations recommended); www.eastborough.com.

The Depressed Bake Shop, which aims to bring awareness to mental health issues, pops up Friday, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14, at the St. Joseph Center in Venice. Local bakers and artists will donate baked goods -- all grey on the outside and colorful on the inside -- and holiday gifts to raise money for the St. Joseph Center and NAMI Westside, the Los Angeles chapter. The baked goods’ “pops of color remind us that mental illness is a cloud that can lift with the proper treatment, increased conversation and understanding,” a release says. The Depressed Cake Shop phenomenon started in England and traveled to other cities, including Los Angles for the first time in August. The Depressed Cake Shop “holiday edition” will sell cupcakes, cake pops, cookies, whole cakes, macaroons and other baked goods. 6 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 13, and 10 a.m. until the last cake is sold. St. Joseph Center, 204 Hampton Drive (corner of Hampton and Ashland, one block east of Main Street), Venice, www.depressedcakeshop.com.

Chef Aaron Ziegler’s pop-up restaurant Bull & Dragon will be at Flake in Venice starting on Thursday and continues every Thursday, Friday and Saturday until Dec. 21. The nine-course menu includes dishes such as: duck confit potstickers with Sichuan duck ponzu; spiny lobster bisque; stuffed cuttlefish with scallop mousse and braised tomatoes; seafood salad of smoked oysters, mackerel and gochujang octopus; candied and pickled beets with pea tendrils and favas; duck salad with poached egg and arugula; black cod with Pecorino foam; rabbit mole; and venison chops with wild mushrooms and chestnuts. Flake, 513 Rose Ave., Venice, www.bullandragon.com.

As the Beverly Garland in North Hollywood undergoes a renovation, executive chef Warren Schwartz has launched an interim dining experience, Warren’s Blackboard, until the hotel’s restaurant, The Front Yard, opens in summer 2014. Warren’s Blackboard will feature daily changing menus of dishes such as ceviche mixto with octopus, shrimp and bass; Korean braised short rib with spiced pumpkin and spinach; pappardelle with lamb tomato ragu; prime angus burger with Fiscalini cheddar, charred onions, secret sauce and Kennebec fries; and warm churros with dulce de leche ice cream. Schwartz calls it “the sum of the Los Angeles dining experience.” 4222 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood, (818) 255-7290, www.warrensblackboard.com.

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