The new d'odici cafe soft opened yesterday in Pasadena
Serving up souffle cheesecake desserts and lattes among other delectable goodies, d’odici Cafe (lowercase “d”) soft opened yesterday after 5 months of build out (since March 2011) in the former Carvel Ice Cream space that went out of business.
LA mayoral candidate Austin Beutner met me at LA Live for our interview
It still seems like a ways off until the next Los Angeles mayoral election, which takes place on March 5, 2013. But it is important to start the discussion earlier as much has changed in Los Angeles during the time the current LA mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, took office in 2005. We have a lot to digest and a lot to talk about.
Posted in community involvement, downtown los angeles, economic development, education, interview, people, politics, public spaces, real estate
Tagged austin beutner, austin beutner los angeles mayor candidate, austin beutner mayor interview, business czar of los angeles, first deputy mayor austin beutner, los angeles mayoral candidate austin beutner
Eco-Asian installed their new sign this weekend in Downtown LA
Eco-Asian, the “eco-friendly Asian fusion restaurant from South Africa” that opened earlier this year on 7th Street (across from Bottega Louie and Soi 7 and pretty much next door to Mas Malo) installed their new sign this weekend. The restaurant serves up “fast and healthy” Asian dishes such as “Chicken Chao Mian” and “Thai Chicken Curry.” According to the restaurant owner, Philip, Eco-Asian tries to support local businesses by purchasing their ingredients fresh from Downtown LA’s own venerable Grand Central Market. Healthy and community conscious, I dig that!
A closer shot of the sign below.
Posted in downtown los angeles, food, restaurants
Tagged eco-asian downtown la, eco-asian dtla, eco-asian los angeles
FroZEN froyo shop coming to 7th Street in Downtown LA
What was supposed to be a Cefiore frozen yogurt shop opening on 7th Street will now be a completely different name called “FroZEN.” I tried a Google search and found no other location, so this will probably be a unique “mom and pop” brand. [Update 9/1/11: I saw a FroZEN in Santa Monica yesterday and the store associate inside told me that there are currently two locations, one in Santa Monica and the other in Manhattan Beach, and Downtown LA will actually be the third location opening up in either Sept or Oct.] The new froyo shop will be open 7 days a week from 11AM to 9PM and sell not only frozen yogurt, but ice cream, chocolates, and caramel apples.
A second Lucky Boy burger restaurant will replace Amy's Fast Food in Pasadena (Inset photo: Pasadena Now)
A lot of “burger news” lately coming from this part of Pasadena. Amy’s Fast Food, across from Fuller Seminary, has been shuttered since August of 2007. The dilapidated freestanding structure has sat here at the corner of Walnut and Oakland waiting…patiently…for years for someone to come and save it and bring it back to life (after apparently a fire put the once-popular fast food restaurant out of business).
Rick's Burgers now reopened as Bobby's Place in Pasadena
At first when Rick’s Burgers closed earlier this month, many in the community felt a kick to the stomach. Could another long-time, established business be shutting its doors? A burger joint that’s been around for decades (since 1964 to be exact) becomes something more to the community, a reminder of the past perhaps. So you can imagine the relief when we all found out that it wasn’t closing but just changing ownership. The restaurant reopened last week.
Jheri Cavitt in L.A. Financial District
Jheri Cavitt, 26, is wearing a dress from Toska she bought on Melrose, heels from Aldo, and a clutch from the LA Fashion District. Jheri is a model/actress and owns her own graphic web design business. She lives in Downtown LA and tells us that she loves “being able to park my car and walk everywhere.” Jheri adds, “It’s like the Renaissance Era here, new and exciting places are popping up everywhere and I love it!”
A brand new Sephora opened today in Old Pasadena
Today was the grand opening of Sephora in Old Pasadena. I stopped by in the afternoon and saw many happy shoppers inside the new cosmetics store, which used to be Victoria’s Secret. One of the nice store associates told me that there were “at least 300 people” lined up in the morning trying to get the free Sephora gift cards the store was passing out to the first 200 people (values ranged anywhere from $10 to $100 randomly).
