THE INFORMER

News and notes on L.A. night life:

Promoter Brent Bolthouse’s recent split from Sam Nazarian’s powerhouse hospitality firm SBE is totally yesterday’s night-life drama. Our inner gossipmonger has moved on to the subject of the Tar Pit, Mark Peel and Jay Perrin’s new bar slated to open in November.

Rumor has it that the bar will have a supper club vibe with vintage cocktails to match. And considering chef Peel and general manager Perrin are Campanile superstars, it’s impossible to imagine a bar that’s anything less than perfection.

What has our antenna up, however, is Peel’s addition of a pizza oven. What could be more scandalous than specializing in pizza when your ex-wife’s pizzeria is just 0.4 miles away -- especially when your ex-wife is Nancy Silverton of Mozza?

Official details about the Tar Pit, at 609 N. La Brea Ave., become available at the end of this month.

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Two-sided Essex

When it comes to burgers and booze, the Essex is busting at the seams. Not only is the designer gastropub, at 6683 Hollywood Blvd., adding more meat to its menu to appease its salad-phobic customers, but it’s also adding a second bar so that the crowd is more evenly distributed across the space. (It’s currently lopsided, with fewer people gravitating to the dining room.) Similar to the Belmont, Essex will soon have two entrances, two bars and, most likely, one seriously long line for the restroom.

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A cozy wine bar

There are intimate ultra-lounges, and then there’s Mignon, the forthcoming downtown wine bar from Bacaro LA owners Santos Uy and Daniel Kronfli. Mignon -- it means “cute” in French -- will have an island bar and seating for 20. Yes, just 20.

It will serve esoteric wines from around the globe, with a focus on French wines, and will also specialize in cheese, with Beth Creasey (AOC/Green Truck) on as the chef. “She’s putting together one of the best cheese programs, in my opinion, in L.A.,” Uy says. As for the look, Ana Henton of Mass Architecture is designing the 677-square-foot space.

An opening date hasn’t been set, but it’s expected to swing open its doors, at 128 E. 6th St., by year’s end.

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Katsuya’s $1 drinks

As Nazarian puts the finishing touches on his second Hyde Lounge -- an intimate, celebrity-focused bar opening within Staples Center on Oct. 27 -- he’s also doing his part to please the everyday customer with a new happy hour special across the way at Katsuya, at 800 W. Olympic Blvd. Order one cocktail from 7 to 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and get your second drink for just $1.

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Alexandra Le Tellier --

A weekly Tea

Welcome to Tea Room, a tiny, unmarked space in the alley across from H.wood at 1738 N. Orange Drive. Unfortunately, this item may be as close as you will ever get to the chandelier-strewn venue.

The folks behind H.wood quietly opened Tea Room on Sept. 16 with Alliance promoter Jean Paul Rodriguez holding court on Wednesday nights -- the only evening the bar is open. Inside, the privileged few, which apparently include stylist Rachel Zoe’s assistant, will find a DJ spinning danceable, non-Top 40 tunes atop a baby grand, a no-wait bar (the capacity hovers around 80) and plenty of cushy seating.

But does anyone drink tea there? In truth, it’s more a Ketel One Vodka place.

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Kathryn Romeyn