Openings

Opening Update: Scarpetta Serves on Monday, FarmShop Delayed, and More

Photo: Tatiana Arbogast

We promised an exciting fall opening season, but to quote a famous ketchup commercial, “the best things come to those who wait.” Yes, there have been a few delays in the openings we’re most looking forward to, but at least Scarpetta is landing right on schedule. The West Coast version of Scott Conant’s acclaimed Southern Italian is taking over The Montage Beverly Hills, opening this Monday evening for dinner service. While Conant will include a few signatures from New York, which we pray means his roast kid dish, his reps tell us the menu will be mostly original and set to fit SoCal sensibilities and seasonal ingredients. So what other openings should you be looking out for in the next few weeks?

We’ve been dying to see what fine-dining veteran Jeff Cerciello has up his sleeve at FarmShop, his first solo-driven restaurant. Our expectations are through the roof and an opening in July was announced, later put on the back burner until late-October/early November. But the dedicated perfectionist that he is, Cerciello is still working out the details and is pushing FarmShop back to the end of November. Bummer, but no one said changing the menu every single day would be a breeze. Hopefully, the late November opening stays firm as we’re all about Amy Pressman/Nancy Silverton burgers come December.

As for that other gifted Keller vet, Jordan Kahn says construction on the Red Medicine space is in its final stages, but that the restaurant is hoping to establish a firm opening date shortly after its wrapped-up. Drive-bys are recommended if you’re fiending for his take on Vietnamese, as the restaurant Tweets that it is, “just going to get the doors opening as quickly as possible,” media-alerts be darned! That other heavily-anticipated South Asian eatery, Sang Yoon’s Lukshon, is still at least a few weeks away, as well.

In the meantime, while you await these biggies, Eater reports that Main Street Santa Monica’s Madame Chou Chou will spring up tomorrow in a “gothic” brasserie bearing the kind of face plates that spook us out at The Bazaar. The Arsenal comes back to life tonight with a new menu (carrying 1950’s prices for a spell) and as Squid Ink showcases, a gorgeously renewed supper club-vibe that looks nothing like the dark, dank pit that caused some of our worst hangovers. Lastly, get ready for A-Frame on November 4th, the next project from Alibi Room/Beechwood/The Brig founder David Reiss, most likely with the assistance of Kogi chef Roy Choi.

Opening Update: Scarpetta Serves on Monday, FarmShop Delayed, and More