Owner Baret Lepejian has retained the legal services of Mark Geragos, whose own restaurant Engine Co. No. 28 has also filed suit against LA County public health officials over lockdowns
Big changes have come to the long-awaited Soulmate restaurant in West Hollywood. Reps for the project have confirmed that the patio-focused space at 631 N. Robertson will no longer be helmed by former Manuela star Wes Whitsell, meaning the menu will
also no longer feature Whitsell’s personal brand of Texas heritage cooking done over live fire.
While no cause was given for Whitsell’s departure, it now seems that Rudy Lopez, the former chef de cuisine at the NoMad in Downtown LA (and previously an executive chef for the H.Wood Group) is on to run the project. With that update comes a new menu direction, as Lopez leans into a more Spanish Mediterranean direction. As for timing, Soulmate was originally plotting a December 2020 opening, but is now on track for a late spring arrival. Whitsell, meanwhile, tells Eater that he’s moving on to pursue other personal restaurant projects, but will remain in Los Angeles.
LA Promises to Crack Down on Anti-Maskers With New Fines
The City Council says folks who don’t follow the rules could start being fined $250 for first infractions, and $500 for second notices
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As LA’s coronavirus infections and deaths continue to soar, face covering enforcement (or, rather,
unenforcement) has become a hot-button issue, particularly on social media. The situation has gotten so tense, and the COVID-19 outlook so dire, that this week the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to crack down on those who refuse to wear masks, in part by more vigorously enforcing existing city and statewide orders that require anyone venturing outside to don a face covering.
The City of Burbank on Tuesday notified Tin Horn Flats Bar & Grill, a western-themed bar at 2623 W. Magnolia Blvd., that the conditional use permit allowing it to operate could be revoked if it does not comply with pandemic-time restaurant restrictions.
The city issued a Notice of Violation and Notice of a Hearing to the bar, asking that it stop offering on-site dining on its patio and indoor dining room, reduce operations to a takeout and delivery-only model and require staff to wear masks at all times – all requirements of public health orders. The city also requested the bar stop selling and serving alcohol to under-aged patrons.