Summer Culinary Buzz: LA Pop-Ups, New Menus & Special Dinners

NYC's Dual Poultry Please pops up in West Hollywood. Chef Justin Minutes reboots Jilli's menu. Cinque Terre West opens in Austin. Enrique Olvera headlines Palm Springs dinner. Wildcrust launches seafood series.

Dual Poultry Please, an acclaimed New York mixed drink bar that holds a place on the Globe’s 50 Ideal Bars, heads to the West Shore this summer with a two-day pop-up at Avidity in West Hollywood. Bench will take control of the food selection from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, August 13, and Friday, August 14, to serve a menu of 6 special cocktails. The beverages will be offered at the bar on a first-come, first-served basis, or at tables with supper.

Dual Poultry Please, an acclaimed New York mixed drink bar that holds a location on the Globe’s 50 Finest Bars, heads to the West Shore this summertime with a two-day pop-up at Passion in West Hollywood. The bar will certainly take over the menu from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, August 13, and Friday, August 14, to offer a food selection of 6 unique mixed drinks. The drinks will be readily available at the bar on a first-come, first-served basis, or at tables with dinner.

Chef Updates & Restaurant Openings

Chef Justin Minutes, previously of Hanchic, has taken control of the cooking area at Koreatown’s Jilli as executive chef. Minutes’s brand-new food selection, which he developed in cooperation with co-founder Kevin Boy, goes reside on Tuesday, July 28, with meals such as cosy milk bread, honey butter-glazed chips, a Caprese-esque tofu and tomatoes, cod en papillote on a bed of zucchini, and gim-crowned pasta. Hanchic’s bulgogi risotto likewise makes an appearance, currently updated with chopped steak on the top. And not to be afraid: previous Jilli faves like Chimmelier’s fried poultry and the kimchi rigatoni will continue to be offered to order.

The cherished Italian dining establishment from chef Gianbattista “Gianba” and Marlo Vinzoni is currently open in Austin, Texas, as Cinque Terre West. Popular Los Angeles Thai dining establishment Sticky Rice will certainly open up in the Venice space at 523 Rose Avenue in August 2026.

Exclusive Dining Events

If there was ever a good reason to decamp to Palm Springs throughout the hazy peak of summer season, a supper featuring chef Enrique Olvera (behind Damián, San Damián, and Ditroit in Los Angeles, to name a few) and 2 other cooking heavyweights would be it. Olvera, cook Abisai Sánchez of Manta at the Cape, a Thompson Resort, and chef Quentin Garcia of Lola Rose Grand Mezze of the Thompson Hand Springs join forces on Saturday, August 1, to serve a 5-course sampling food selection highlighting the bounty and foodways of Mexico’s sprawling Baja region and California. Thompson Palm Springs’ Desert to Desert dinner can be scheduled currently on SevenRooms for $150 per person before taxes and gratuity.

On Thursday, July 30, Wildcrust’s chef Miles Okabayashi will certainly welcome Paco Moran of Loreto for the following version of the restaurant’s summertime seafood collection. Look forward to à la carte fish and shellfish meals such as aguachile alongside Wildcrust’s pizzas. Reservations are readily available through Resy.