Rousted night owl roost

HOORAY for Hollywood! The Hungry Cat, tucked deep within the Sunset & Vine complex, is now open for lunch. It’s the third week in, and, if you’re not hungry now, you will be very soon, I promise you.

At lunch, chef and co-owner David Lentz offers an abbreviated version of the seafood boite‘s nighttime menu and some new dishes too, including a frittata of the day and a couple of come-hither salads.

Let me see -- lunch could begin with a dozen littleneck clams on the half shell.

Order these, and you’ll definitely be high-fiving yourself; they’re that good, served at the perfect, chilled temperature with lemon wedges (a drop of lemon is the preferred way of eating them) and a cocktail sauce that strikes a comely balance between tomato and horseradish.

Next up: a pretty roasted beet salad with citrus chunks and shaved ricotta salata, and a lobster and wild arugula frittata. In a perfect world, I would have had the frittata all to myself. It’s really more of an open-faced omelet on the French model than a real frittata, but the flavors of Maine lobster, peppery arugula and a lavish dollop of mascarpone with the yellow, farm-fresh eggs are wonderful. Lentz likes to make it on the very runny side, though, so if that’s not to your liking, say so up front.

You can also get the Pug burger, which comes adorned with avocado, smoky bacon and blue cheese, or a lobster roll with long, skinny fries. Not to mention the open-face crab cake on toast.

The dessert menu doesn’t offer a lot of choice. It doesn’t have to when the single sweet on offer is vanilla beignets. They’re like giant doughnut holes, freshly fried and still warm, piled in a brown paper bag with sugar and cinnamon. Shake the bag and eat. Blackberry compote is optional.

And if it’s going to be one of those extended lunches, don’t hesitate to order one of the excellent -- and I mean excellent -- cocktails.

Here’s to lunch, Hollywood style.

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The Hungry Cat

Where: Sunset & Vine, 1535 N. Vine St., Hollywood

When: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. Full bar. Lot parking with validation.

Cost: Lunch appetizers, $9 to $14; oysters or littleneck clams, $2 each; peel and eat shrimp, $16 for half a pound; other lunch items from the kitchen, $9 to $22; desserts, $8.

Info: (323) 462-2155, www.thehungrycat.com