A noteworthy yakiniku chain called Chubby Cattle, which has expanded across the West Coast with upscale wagyu-oriented offerings at a reasonable price, opened a location in Little Tokyo on August 23 at 356 East Second Street Chubby Cattle serves all-you-can-eat grilled wagyu beef at three pricing tiers ranging from $55 to $85.

The meat extravaganza lists a dozen cuts of wagyu, like zabuton, short rib, and rib-eye, as well as prime-grade Angus top blade and finger meat. At the top-most tier, there are A5 Mizazaki short ribs and more in limited quantities. The array of dishes extends to dozens of other meats, seafood, and even sushi and dumplings.

Prices are slightly discounted for those two who pay the $20 annual membership fee that applies to all 20 Chubby Cattle outlets — just like Costco — that offer things like birthday rewards and an extra two ounces of A5 strip loin for each visit. Chubby Cattle is open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. for now but will extend to lunch hours within a few weeks.

Awkwafina’s guide to Sunday in LA

Actor Awkwafina shares her favorite spots around town with the Los Angeles Times as part of promoting her Prime Video comedy, Jackpot!, directed by martini aficionado Paul Feig and co-starring John Cena. She recommends Edendale in Silver Lake even though she’s never actually eaten there, the smoothies and maybe a breakfast burrito at Jayde’s Market, dinner at Hibi or Olivia in Koreatown, and finally karaoke at exclusive Koreatown club Duckbill located next to Intercrew.

Truly Pizza’s Laguna Beach expansion

Dana Point’s Truly Pizza has announced plans to expand to Laguna Beach, bringing the pizzeria a little bit closer to Angelenos, reports the Los Angeles Times. Last year, Truly was listed as one of the best 50 pizzerias in the U.S. and won a competition at the World Pizza Championship in Italy. Operated in part by John Arena, Chris Decker, and Michael Vakneen, who all hail from Las Vegas, the wood-fired round- and square-pizza specialist will be located at 320 North Coast Highway.

Matthew Kang

Low Country cooking comes to Glassell Park

On September 12, Dunsmoor chef Brian Dunsmoor is hosting Glenn Roberts, founder of Anson Mills, for a five-course dinner that celebrates food from the Low Country, an area of over 200,000 square miles in South Carolina where Roberts has promoted the sowing and growing of heirloom grains like corn, buckwheat, and rice. The dinner, which has seatings at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., costs $145 per person, plus tax and gratuity, with an optional $75 beverage pairing.

A longtime Arts District Italian restaurant closes

Arts District restaurant Officine Brera recently announced its August 17 closure in a heartfelt Instagram story. In a statement shared on social media, the restaurant stated that the “post-pandemic economy and new social fabric that reshaped the Downtown area brought unprecedented challenges that made it very challenging to sustain operations in such a large space.” Officine Brera, part of the Factory Kitchen group, opened in 2015 and specialized in grilled meats and Italian comfort fare.

Jesus Banuelos

The A.S.M.R. tunes at Vespertine

Writer Oren Peleg pens a feature in the New Yorker on the otherworldly music created by Jónsi Birgisson, who leads Icelandic avant-garde rock band Sigur Rós, Paul Corley, and C.J. Baran for Culver City fine dining restaurant Vespertine. The earlier versions of the restaurant featured tunes by This Will Destroy You, though the new score goes for something more visceral, like birds chirping, reeds clicking, and a plane flying overhead. Vespertine received its two Michelin stars back and even got a new green star to celebrate its commitment to sustainability earlier this month.