New restaurant celebrating all things uni opens in Torrance

Feb. 14, 2017 9 AM PT

From a new uni restaurant in Torrance to a new Westside cocktail lounge, here’s what’s happening in the L.A. food and drink world:

Uni party: The South Bay area has a new destination for uni lovers. Miyabi Uni, a sea-urchin-centric restaurant in Torrance, is now open. It should fill the gap left when Maruhide Uni Club in Redondo Beach, the restaurant that sourced its sea urchin from the Long Beach Maruhide Marine Products company, closed last May. And Miyabi Uni’s executive chefs, Isao Minami and Hisao Kasama, worked as executive chefs for the Maruhide Uni Club when it opened in 2013. Uni is the star of more than 20 dishes on the Miyabi Uni menu, inclduing uni tempura, uni chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg custard), uni pasta, uni soup and uni donburi bowls.1231 Cabrillo Ave, Suite 101, Torrance, (424) 376-5135, www.miyabiuni.com.

Celebrity dinner: The Ponte, Scott Conant and Stephane Bombet’s new Beverly Boulevard restaurant, is hosting a charity dinner to benefit No Kid Hungry and the Human Rights Society Thursday. The dinner will take place before the restaurant opens later this month. Participating chefs include Ludo Lefebvre (Trois Mec), Evan Funke and Vartan Abgaryan (71 Above) with hosts Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lance Bass and Lea Delaria. The price per ticket is $125 per person and includes four courses served family-style. An additional wine pairing is available for $35. Seatings are available between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Reservations can be made online. 8265 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, www.thepontela.com.

French sugar: La Tropézienne Bakery, a location of the French boulangerie and patisserie that’s been making pastries in Saint-Tropez since 1992, is now open on South La Brea Avenue. The bakery serves its namesake pastry, the cream-filled brioche tarte tropézienne, along with quiche, sandwiches and plenty of bread. There are also plans to open an additional location on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. 211 S. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, latropeziennebakery.com.

Spanish farewell: Bar Pintxo, the Spanish tapas restaurant chef Joe Miller opened in Santa Monica a decade ago, will close this month. Miller, who was also chef-owner of the late Joe’s Restaurant in Venice Beach, made the announcement on Bar Pintxo’s website. The neighborhood restaurant was a favorite known for its small plates, paellas and Spanish wines. 109 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 458-2012, www.barpintxo.com.

Cheers: Neat, a new cocktail bar, is now open on West Pico Boulevard in the former Liquid Kitty space. The bar boasts an impressive selection of mezcal, bourbon and scotch. General manager Jameson Algatt created the bar’s original cocktails, which he serves alongside a list of classics, including the Sazerac and Penicillin. 11780 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 570-2869.

Bread, bread, bread: Manresa Bread, the bakery that started in chef David Kinch’s three-Michelin star Los Gatos restaurant Manresa, is coming to SoCal for two bread pop-ups. Head baker and partner Avery Ruzicka will be at Esters Wine Shop & Bar on Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with bread, pastries, sandwiches and toast she will make with chef Jeremy Fox, who is also the chef at Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen in Santa Monica. Then Ruzicka will collaborate with Akira Akuto and Kick Montgomery of the late Osso in downtown to create more bread, pastries, sandwiches and pasta at Baroo, chef Kwang Uh’s restaurant in Hollywood. The second pop-up will be from on Feb. 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information visit www.manresabread.com.

Still hungry? Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, makers of the cruffin (croissant and muffin hybrid), will open a location in Union Market at the District in Tustin on Saturday. High Roller Tiki Lounge, a new hidden bar located behind Sort This Out Cellars wine tasting room in Solvang, is now open. Chef Suzanne Goin, Caroline Styne and chef de cuisine Javier Espinoza will hold their annual Cassoulet Night at Lucques on March 5. Sweet Rose Creamery’s Shiho Yoshikawa and chocolatier Valerie Gordon of Valerie Confections are making what they are calling ice-cream-inspired chocolate bars together. And a new chocolate shop called KC Chocolatier is open in Santa Monica.