FEBRUARY 9TH, 2024

CURATEDLA: GOOD L.A. VIBES

👋 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH 2024

HAPPY NATIONAL PIZZA DAY 🍕 

• 🍕 HAPPY NATIONAL PIZZA DAY: Today, February 9th, is National Pizza Day. This time last year CuratedLA did not even report on this delicious day. I overlooked it. We had a different design, and not anywhere close to the readers + Curators that we have today. But today things are changing: in this edition are the best places to grab a slice of pizza here in Los Angeles, as sourced from some of our favorite outlets. These delicious eats can be found within the eats section of today’s newsletter.

⚡️THE HOV LANE

EATS

😋 HEADLINES

• 🍕 NATIONAL PIZZA DAY: We in Los Angeles are home to amazing cuisine + dishes, and that includes pizza. In celebration of today being National Pizza Day, here are some of the best spots to grab a slice, or two, or a couple of boxes, of delicious LA pizza:

  • 1️⃣ Eater: Los Angeles: Nineteen saucy pizza spots to love around Los Angeles

  • 2️⃣ TastingTable: The twenty absolute best pizza places in LA ranked

  • 3️⃣ Los Angeles Times: LA’s golden era of pizza: try twenty-one of the best pizza slices at these pizzerias

  • 4️⃣ The Infatuation: The top pizza places in Los Angeles

  • 5️⃣ TimeOut: Los Angeles: Twenty-eight best pizza spots in Los Angeles to try in 2024

• 📆 PIZZA CITY FEST: Speaking of pizza, Pizza City Fest will return to Downtown Los Angeles in April of this year from Saturday, April 27th to Sunday, April 28th. This is a two-day festival that will highlight more than forty pizza spots, serving up slices in a variety of different styles.

• 🍤 FIRECRACKER SHRIMP: Panda Express is inviting guests to join them at their Westwood Boulevard location on February 13th and 14th from 6pm - 8pm for a five-course, prix-fixe menu that will include Mongolian beef sandwiches, Firecracker shrimp served with quinoa brown fried rice, an eggplant tofu side, and ‘Tea’ramisu cake. Those interested can make reservations online, the cost is $38 per person.

• 🇩🇴 FLAVORS OF THE D.R. IN L.A: Four new restaurants are bringing the flavors of the Dominican Republic to Los Angeles, making the city's food scene more diverse and vibrant. These establishments are Dominicans, El Coro Café, Karibbean Cuisine food truck, and El Bacano.

• 🍔 DOOR DASH: Door Dash is giving away every product advertised on the Super Bowl. To enter the sweepstakes, we need to pay attention to the DoorDash commercial during the game, crack a code, and submit it on the DoorDash website. The promotion is designed to showcase DoorDash's ability to deliver a wide range of products and services, including items from various commercials. The winner will receive the items advertised in the commercials. However, it's important to note that not all products seen in commercials will be eligible for winnings. Probably like items advertised from Uber Eats.

🚀 OPENINGS

• 🍳 VENICE: Culver City’s Breakaway Cafe is set to open a second location in Venice on Westminster. Yo! Venice spoke to owner Zach Bayse who confirmed that the new location will be a window space, where both breakfast and lunch items will be sold.

• 🥖 WEST HOLLYWOOD: Within the same article from above, Yo! Venice also confirmed that a new location for Coucou is also set on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. This bistro serves up a Parisian-style menu with a French ambiance and cocktail program. The new space in West Hollywood will entail of a larger location from that of its first location, and will also have an enclosed outdoor patio where new dishes will be introduced to the menu.

• 🌿 WEST HOLLYWOOD: OG Cannabis Café on N. La Brea Avenue has reopened after being closed for four years. This cafe is recognized as America’s first cannabis restaurant and offers a unique dining experience where guests can enjoy food, wine, beer, and cannabis together. OG Cannabis Café plans to host comedy events, an upcoming Super Bowl party, and holidays on 4/20. | View Online Menus | 📸 @ogcannabiscafe

  • 💁 LA Times: Know before you go

• 🎬️ HOLLYWOOD: The newest bakery in Hollywood is 'Nice & Sweet,’ which is set to open next Thursday, February 15th. It is located on the corner of Sunset and La Brea and offers a variety of sweet and savory items, including cakes, bars, pies, pastries, loaves of bread, and sandwiches. The beverage menu includes espresso drinks, cold brew, tea, and occasional specials. The bakery's interior features a cake topper lighting fixture by George Sowden | 💻️ View Website | 📸 @niceandsweetla

• 🥨 HOLLYWOOD BLVD: Wetzel's Pretzels has made its 400th location debut on Hollywood Blvd, across from the Jimmy Kimmel studios and next door to the TCL Chinese Theatre. The grand opening of this milestone location is set for next Tuesday, February 13th.

🧭 GUIDES

• ❤️ THE LA GIRL: LA restaurants doing Valentine’s Day prix-fixe menus

• 🍷 LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE: Where to dine in L.A. on Valentine’s Day

• 💜 SANTA MONICA: Santa Monica eateries celebrate Valentine’s Day

EVENTS

🔮 TRENDING FUTURES

🚨 As mentioned on Wednesday, events will be back on Monday. And so will Event Masters, in full force!🚨 🫶 

• 📆 WE LIKE LA: Things to do this weekend in Los Angeles

🧭 GUIDES

• ❤️ BURBANK: Twenty-four Valentine’s Day date ideas

• 🎈INDOORS: 27 Free Things To Do Indoors on Cold and Rainy Days

• 🎉 BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Celebrate Black History Month with these events

➡️ Event Masters (back Monday) ⬅️ 
 🔖 Bookmark Event Masters for Daily Events
Our newsletter runs 6:00am MWF, events daily

ACTIVITIES

• 👛 BARBIE THE MOVIE: IN CONCERT: A new addition was announced yesterday to the Hollywood Bowl 2024 Season by LA Philharmonic, Barbie The Movie: In Concert. The record-shattering, full-length feature film will be accompanied live by an all-women, majority women-of-color orchestra renowned for their musical skill and style. The Barbie Land Sinfonietta is conducted by Tony Award-winner Macy Schmidt. Barbie® fans of all ages are invited to celebrate the music of the film in a one-of-a-kind immersive experience. The concert takes place on Saturday, July 27th 2024 at 8:00pm. Tickets are currently available for the following: new subscriptions and group sales. ‘Create Your Own’ Packages will be available Tuesday, March 19th at 10am. The Hollywood Bowl Box Office opens for single ticket sales on Tuesday, May 7th at 10am.

• 🎤 I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE TOUR: The Netflix Series created by Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin, ‘I Think You Should Leave,’ is coming to a live stage. Tim Robinson announced a live tour with a limited 2024 run of tour dates, starting off in New York City at Beacon Theatre, with a final show at our Greek Theatre on May 11th.

COMMUNITY

• 👮 NEW POLICE CHIEF: The new interim chief of the LAPD is Assistant Chief Dominic Choi. He was named the interim chief by the Police Commission and is expected to serve in this role until a more permanent replacement is found, which is anticipated to be within the next six months. Choi, who joined the department in 1995, has held various roles within the LAPD and was recently elevated to the position of assistant chief over the Office of Operations.

• 🎫 UNCLAIMED LOTTERY TICKET: A $20 million SuperLotto Plus ticket sold at a store in Los Angeles is still unclaimed. The ticket matched all six numbers from a recent drawing, but the winner has not come forward yet. The California Lottery office has announced that the ticket was sold at the Y & Y Market store on West 39th Street in LA's Historic South. The winning numbers are 2, 12, 18, 20, 44, and 4. The California Lottery stated that the winner has 180 days to claim the prize.

DEVELOPMENT

• 🏢 BEVERLY HILLS: The presentation of a mixed-use development is Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills will take place tomorrow. The eight-story building would feature 56 one, two, three, and four-bedroom units that will range from 846 to 2,185 square feet. The ground floor of the project, 7,926 square feet, will feature commercial space and parking for 119 vehicles. This project is part of Beverly Hill’s efforts to increase housing options, including mixed-use buildings in commercially zoned properties on major streets such as Wilshire.

  • 📘View Project Blueprint (PDF) 

• 🏩 ONE BEVERLY HILLS: Construction has begun on One Beverly Hills. The five-billon dollar project includes a combination of luxury residences, hotel rooms, and landscaped gardens across a 17.5-acre site. The complex, set to open by early 2028, is expected to house some of the priciest condos and hotel suites, with plans for tall greenery-laden towers standing over a sprawling garden. The development will also create thousands of construction jobs and is estimated to generate about $40 billion in total local spending. The project is being developed as a joint venture between Alagem Capital Group and Cain International, with plans for the construction of mid-rise and high-rise buildings, as well as commercial space and parking for approximately 1,900 vehicles. The site preparation activities have been underway since last year, and the construction is expected to impact Wilshire Boulevard with modified traffic patterns and intermittent lane closures. The project's construction team will be working to relocate utility lines along Wilshire Boulevard, with the work scheduled to continue through March.

• 🖼️ CHINATOWN: Star Wars Filmmaker George Lucas has purchased a cold storage and industrial facility in Los Angeles' Chinatown. The property spans approximately 155,000 square feet and was bought for $45.5 million. It is currently unclear whether Skywalker Holdings will file new development plans or maintain the property as a cold storage and industrial facility, but we do know of plans for the one billion dollar Lucas Museum of Narrative Art next year in L.A.’s Exposition Park to open early next year.

BUSINESS

• 🛍️ SAKS FIFTH AVENUE: Saks Fifth Avenue unveiled its reimagined West Coast flagship store in Beverly Hills yesterday. The 130,000-square-foot, six-level shopping destination offers a luxury assortment of women's designer shoes, handbags, jewelry, beauty, and accessories from both iconic luxury brands and emerging designer labels. The reimagined location features unique luxury services and highly personalized shopping experiences, including an expanded Fifth Avenue Club personal shopping and styling experience.

• 💻️ ZILLOW: Zillow aims to assist renters in cities where it is expensive to rent rooms like ours. The app just released a new feature that allows potential tenants to view single rooms within single-family rentals, condominiums, or townhomes based on budget, lifestyle and preferred location.

• 🎮️ DISNEY + EPIC GAMES: Disney has announced a $1.5 billion investment to acquire an equity stake in Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite and Gears of War. This investment is aimed at creating an expansive and open games and entertainment universe connected to Fortnite, allowing consumers to interact with stories and characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars within the Fortnite platform. The collaboration will also involve the development of a new persistent universe that offers various opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop, and engage with content. |💲NYSE:DIS

ENTERTAINMENT

🎬️ HEADLINES

• 🏄‍♀️ MOANA 2: Make way, make way! Moana is coming back to theaters this Thanksgiving. We will all join Moana, Maui and a brand-new crew of unlikely seafarers on an adventure to find Moana’s ancestors, journeying into the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything Moana has ever faced.

• 🇺🇸 PRESIDENT JAMES MARSDEN: James Marsden, Julianne Nicholson, and Sarah Shahi have been cast in a new Hulu series created by Dan Fogelman (This Is Us), joining the previously announced lead Sterling K. Brown. While specific details about the plot and characters are not fully disclosed, the series is described as a thriller. Marsden is set to play the president, Shahi will portray a therapist with her own secrets, and Nicholson will take on the role of a political power broker. The project was first announced in April 2023.

• 🎤 KATT WILLIAMS: Comedian Katt Williams' next stand-up special will stream live from Inglewood at YouTube Theater during the Netflix Is a Joke Festival on May 5th.

🪩 JUST FUN

• 📺️ TRAILER RELEASED FOR THE REGIME: HBO Max just released their trailer for The Regime, which stars Kate Winslet as a power-hungry politician. The six-episode dark comedy also stars Matthias Schoenaerts and Andrea Riseborough. The limited series premieres March 3rd on both HBO and Max.

• 🦔 KNUCKLES: Paramount also released a trailer yesterday for Knuckles. This new live-action series is a Sonic The Hedgehog spinoff and follows Knuckles (Idris Elba) on a comedic journey of action-packed self-discovery.

🏈 SUPER BOWL

• 🤑 COST OF A SUPER BOWL AD: The average cost of a thirty second Super Bowl commercial has steadily increased over the past decade. In 2021, the cost decreased to $5.5 million, but it has been on the rise since then. In 2023, the average cost was seven million. This represents a significant increase from previous years, with the cost of a commercial during the Super Bowl breaking the one million mark in 1995 and steadily rising thereafter. The rise in costs is attributed to the high viewership and exclusive attention of potentially over one-hundred million viewers, making it a highly anticipated and effective advertising opportunity.

SPORTS

• 🏀 LAKERS: Lakers unveil the first of three Kobe Bryant statues:

• 📰 MORE ON KOBE CEREMONY: Why these NBA players wear the iconic 8 and 24 via ESPN

ENGAGEMENT

HAVE A GREAT WKND, LA!