Century City-Westwood Dining Scene November 11, 2021

By Dolores Quintana

Pico-Robertson Thai Restaurant Moving to Sawtelle

Tuk Tuk Thai Restaurant will be moving from Pico Robertson to a new location in Sawtelle Japantown at 1640 Sawtelle, the former home of Cafe Dahab, right at the corner of Santa Monica and Sawtelle, near Cinefile Video and Lougi’s Italian Kitchen according to What Now Los Angeles. The owners, Katy Noochla-or and Billy Heinzman, predict that they will reopen in December of this year. The restaurant is best known for its Pad Thai dish but also offers dumplings, stir frys, curries, thai style charcoal grilled items, and seafood dishes. According to Toddrickallen.com, this will be the first Thai restaurant in the area. 

Baltaire Restaurant Named Best LA’s Best Steakhouse

Baltaire Restaurant in Brentwood was awarded the title of Best Steakhouse 2021 by the Best of Los Angeles award community according to Aurora DeRose, award coordinator for the group, who said, “The mission of the community is to celebrate the best of Los Angeles and allow its community members to connect with other members who share the highest standards of quality and integrity,” expresses DeRose. “We’re honored to include Baltaire Restaurant into our BoLAA family.” Baltaire Restaurant is located at 11647 San Vicente Blvd and on their website describe the restaurant as “A contemporary restaurant with classic genes, Baltaire is where to enjoy lunch in the sun and dinner under the stars. It’s the perfect place for cocktails and conversation or an intimate dinner any night of the week. With Executive Chef Travis Strickland leading our kitchen, and our certified sommelier conceptualizing cocktails and curating the wine list, Baltaire brings the highest grade steaks, exceptional seafood, resplendent drinks, and plenty of healthy, light fare options to Brentwood.” 

New Head Chef for Umami Burger 

Chef Alvin Cailan will be the new head chef and face of Umami Burger, the gourmet burger restaurant chain. This collaboration was put together by C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), a global food and beverage tech platform that was founded by Sam Nazarian. Cailan is innovative Filipino-American and well regarded chef who founded the celebrated Eggslut, as a food truck that became a Grand Central Market mainstay, the Unit 120 pop-up, which was a test kitchen and incubator for new talent and new potential restaurant concepts that gave a start to perennially popular Howlin Ray’s restaurant among others. He also founded Amboy Quality Meats and Burgers, a burger spot that “always has a line out the door” in Chinatown and is the star host of First We Feast and Complex Network’s  Burger Show for three years. Cailin will be developing a new menu with the culinary talent at C3 for Umami Burger using all of the knowledge he’s acquired about burgers from all over the United States during his travels hosting the show.

Chef Cailan said, “As a son of the Los Angeles cultural mosaic, I’m excited to take a fan favorite, Umami Burger, and accentuate the fifth flavor by incorporating flavors from Filipino influences to classic American styles, offering a fresh new take the whole world can appreciate.”