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Cocktail bar and smashburger spot Uncool hits West Hollywood next week

An assortment of foods on white rectangular plates with blue rims and hands holding a stuffed sandwich.
West Hollywood bar Uncool specializes in playful takes on classic cocktails and tiki drinks to pair with burgers, wings and more.
(Katrina Frederick / Uncool)
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Uncool

West Hollywood’s newest bar plans to serve colorful spins on classic cocktails and a menu of gourmet bar food. Uncool, from the hospitality group behind Bardonna and Tu Madre, will open Feb. 21 with boozy snow cones, a coconut-tinged espresso martini, a tiki-leaning rum and banana concoction, and an Old-Fashioned with smoked cherry bitters — among other cocktails — plus wine and local and international beer. It’s the reimagining of Joshua Pourgol’s Larchmont restaurant, Uncool Burgers, which closed in late 2020; the West Hollywood spot will serve smashburgers in an assortment of styles and with add-ons such as truffle cheese and pastrami bacon. Executive chef Jonathan Katz (formerly of Eataly) also will cook up fried chicken sandwiches, chicken wings with more than a dozen sauce options, salad, sides and vegan bites. The new bar and restaurant will open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.

7881 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, uncool.fun

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The small interior bar of Uncool features cement walls, modern light fixtures and white and black tile.
Uncool opens next week at the corner of a West Hollywood strip mall.
(Katrina Frederick / Uncool)

Angelini Ristorante & Bar

One of L.A.’s top Italian restaurants just expanded to the Palisades with a mix of old and new. Angelini Ristorante & Bar is a collaborative venture from Gino Angelini (Angelini Osteria, Alimentari) and Tancredi Deluca (Amici Brentwood, Emilia), serving a number of signature Angelini pasta dishes — including the lasagna verde “Nonna Elvira” — as well as new additions and vegan options. Matt Weinberg, of Angelini Osteria, will oversee the kitchen as executive chef. The new restaurant is located next to Hank’s Bar and Grill in the Palisades Village shopping complex and features indoor and outdoor seating. The bar program spotlights amaro and grappa, plus classic cocktails, old-world wines and large-format bottles. Angelini Ristorante & Bar is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

1038 N. Swarthmore Ave., Pacific Palisades, (424) 238-5870, angelinipalisades.com

A square slice of Gino Angelini's lasagna verde.
New Italian restaurant Angelini Ristorante & Bar is a collaboration between Angelini Osteria chef Gino Angelini and restaurateur Tancredi Deluca, serving new dishes and Angelini classics such as the lasagna verde.
(Dylan+Jeni / Angelini Ristorante & Bar)

L.A. Tofu House

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A late-night tofu destination is now open in Koreatown, serving galbi, sundubu-jjigae, octopus bibimbap and other sizzling and bubbling Korean dishes within a mall complex. L.A. Tofu House offers a range of soon-tofu options, with spice levels ranging from plain to mild to medium to spicy to “danger,” plus breakfast specials where the ox bone soup and other select items are nearly half price. L.A. Tofu House is open from 7 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily.

401 S. Vermont Ave., Unit 3, Los Angeles, (213) 315-5750, latofuhouse.com

Inn Ann reopens

Inn Ann, the Japanese restaurant perched atop the Hollywood & Highland complex, has been closed since late 2019 — but in late February, it’s reopening. The restaurant is a component of Japan House, a cultural center tied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and has always emphasized culinary education; to mark its return it is relaunching with a dinner series dedicated to Japanese Wagyu. The two-hour, five-course dinners will run Wednesday nights from Feb. 23 to April 6 and spotlight A5-Wagyu farming, flavor notes and comparison to American Wagyu beef. Tickets cost $125 per person. 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 677-5557, japanhousela.com/dine/restaurant

A photo of a hand holding chopsticks that grip a piece of heavily marbled Wagyu beef.
Hollywood restaurant Inn Ann is reopening with an educational dinner series dedicated to Wagyu. The series will run through April.
(Japan House)

Aperitivo Party

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Hollywood’s new restaurant and rooftop bar from the team behind E.P. & L.P. is launching a months-long series of collaborations and pop-ups from notable chefs. Starting Feb. 20, Grandmaster Recorders — the former music recording studio, now modern-Italian restaurant — will host Aperitivo Party, a weekly happy-hour-inspired event where chefs, bartenders and other food-and-drink-focused personalities bring special items to the restaurant’s Studio 71 bar on Sundays from 4 to 6 p.m. Daybird chef and “Top Chef” winner Mei Lin kicks off the series with a dim sum-themed afternoon; on Feb. 27, sommelier Richard Hargreave will preview his new Austin wine bar, Underdog ATX; and chef Zen Ong of Inda and Awan is bringing Indonesian bites on March 6. Future appearances include chef Rob Cockerill from Australia’s Bennelong; Justin Pichetrungsi from L.A.’s Anajak Thai; and Joe Beddia of Philadelphia’s Pizzeria Beddia, alongside comedian and vintner Eric Wareheim, for a pizza pop-up.

1518 N. Cahuenga Blvd., (818) 502-1120, Los Angeles, grandmasterrecorders.com

Updates

5:58 p.m. March 4, 2022: Beverage consultant Joshua Suchan of Ice and Alchemy is no longer associated with the cocktail program at Uncool, and has not been since the planning phase. This story has been updated to reflect this.

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