Biz News: Cucina Enoteca opens at Fashion Island
A new Fashion Island restaurant that caught on fire during construction opened Wednesday.
Cucina Enoteca joins other recently opened, upscale restaurants at the shopping center, including Fig and Olive and Red O.
The restaurant offers communal seating and private tables and features a wine shop. Much in the venue is for sale, be it furniture, decor or lighting, according to a news release.
The food offers a “a fresh, California spin on rustic Italian fare,” the release said.
Dinner menu items include stuffed squash blossoms, short rib pappardelle and sausage crusted veal. Also available are pizzas, pastas, fish and meats.
“Newport Beach’s culinary scene is reemerging with some of the country’s most notable chefs and restaurant groups, and we’re inspired to bring our original concept to the area,” owner and designer Tracy Borkum said in a news release.
The restaurant also has a location at the Irvine Spectrum, though some menu items will be exclusive to Newport Beach. It is part of the Urban Kitchen Group. Borkum is a principal with the group.
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New auto-repair business
A national auto-repair chain recently opened a shop in Costa Mesa.
Honest-1 Auto Care, at 845 Baker St., opened June 26. It is the chain’s first location in Orange County and one of two in Southern California.
The chain promotes itself as eco- and family-friendly, with “clean and upscale waiting areas, Internet cafes, children’s play areas, comfortable leather chairs and couches, HDTVs and complimentary beverage stations,” according to a news release.
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Law firm helps restore historic woman’s club
The Costa Mesa-based law firm Weiland, Golden, Smiley, Wang Ekvall & Strok have helped revive the historic Woman’s Club of Hollywood, founded in 1905.
The firm helped form a bankruptcy reorganization plan and a new board of directors. The club, a few blocks from the TCL Chinese Theatre, was once known for its association with movie stars and Hollywood landmarks, including the Hollywood Bowl and Hollywood Studio Club.
In recent years, the club has been plagued by financial troubles and allegations of takeover attempts to turn its valuable North La Brea Avenue property into condominiums.
“For nonprofits, effectively circumnavigating financial hardship while recognizing and preserving its intangible values is extremely difficult,” attorney Wang Ekvall said in a news release. “And in the case of the Woman’s Club of Hollywood, the conditions were particularly complicated by former management displaced by the bankruptcy court.
“The confirmation of our reorganization plan represents a significant turning point for the Woman’s Club of Hollywood, helping this historic organization regain control of its future and set the club on a path to fiscal and administrative health.”
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