It sounds like a riddle from a time-traveling science fiction series: How can something celebrate both its first-year anniversary and its official grand opening?
The folding of space is a likely answer -- that's pretty easy to do, right? -- but there's another possiblity, at least when it comes to the Beachwood Cafe: The Tinseltown restaurant has taken its first year to try dishes out and get into its warm-and-tasty groove.
(That's actually good advice for all of our ventures: Wait a little while, figure stuff out, and then throw the big "I'm doing this, world!" party when you've gained some confidence. Free advice.)
The charming eatery, which has been in the commercial nook of Beachwood Canyon forever*, will throw its first-year, grand-opening shindig on Friday, March 1. Appetizers will be passed and there's a $30 tasting menu, too. This includes a free glass of wine or mocktail, so holler.
Now about that asterisk. The restaurant that is now Beachwood Cafe has not actually been in Beachwood Canyon forever -- that was merely a flight of fancy on our part -- but given that the canyon is one of the oldest parts of the city, just below the Hollywood Sign, with starlet ghosts and memories aplenty, we'll let it wear the longevity crown.
And what is Beachwood Cafe, exactly? You'll remember that the Village Coffee Shop occupied that spot for decades, complete with flowerly wallpaper and woodsy touches. The woodsy touches remain, but the new owners who took over over a year ago added lots of yellow, some geometric shapes, and modern flair, while keeping the history and woody woodness and such.
The menu was updated, too. There are fancy foams on draft and dishes like sake-braised pork and a Twix-inspired dessert.
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That sounds pretty scifi to us, geometric yellows and Twix desserts. But when you make offbeat food in one of Southern California's most storied, supernatural pockets, you really can do things like celebrate a one-year anniversary and have a grand opening, too, all at the same time.
