It's hard to keep up with all the restaurant and bar openings, closings, chef swaps and revamps that happen every day in this city. What's worth spending your money on and what's all just hype? We're here to help you out with that. At the end of each month, I'll give a recap of the most exciting additions to enter LA's dining and drinking scene, whether it's a new ice cream shop or a creative cocktail bar. Here are a few April openings that are worth a visit:
ICDC: Ice cream and donuts and coffee—seriously, what else do you need? At ICDC—an acronym for everything this shop on Beverly sells—your sweet tooth is sent reeling with creamy ice cream and the most airy, inventive donuts in recent memory. I've fallen hard for the salt and pepper donut, a caramel-based treat that is both simple and decadent. Pastry chef Mariah Swan says that she likes to add salt to pretty much all of her desserts for a bit of complexity (and to cut the sweetness), and in this particular donut, it works like a dream.
Belcampo Meat Co.: We're already huge fans of the Belcampo Meat Co. stall at Grand Central Market (That Belcampo burger! Swoon.), so the fact that there is now a Belcampo butcher shop and restaurant in Santa Monica is music to our ears. There is, of course, a focus on meat here—a tartare menu includes beef, lamb and goat—but a curated cocktail and wine list also makes this a fun spot to stop by for a drink...and, you know, a freshly cut rack of lamb.
Jon & Vinny's: It's here, it's finally here! As one of the most anticipated restaurant openings of 2015, Jon & Vinny's opened on Fairfax a couple weeks ago and it's already difficult to score a dinner reservation there. The homey Italian-American joint from Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal, Son of a Gun) is all about recognizable pastas and pizzas made with quality ingredients, though they also serve breakfast: pastries and breakfast pizza and olive oil fried eggs.
B.S. Taqueria: Get past the fact that chef Ray Garcias' tacos at B.S. Taqueria are $7-8 each, and you can enjoy a pretty unique meal here. The former Mo-Chica space Downtown has transformed into a casual taco joint, with a clam and lardo taco that seems to be everyone's favorite at the moment. Other highlights: the "rice and beans," made with toasted rice, garbanzos, butter beans, cotija and fresno chiles; and the churros (obviously).
Did you miss our favorite openings from March? Check out the list here.