(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

Bar di Bello debuted earlier this year, but it remains one of Silver Lake’s most buzzy and busy restaurants. The sleek, loosely Milanese-inspired restaurant and bar from a team of industry vets — Alex Wilmot (Gigi’s), Kristin Olszewski (Nomadica Wine), Michael Kassar (Wexler’s Deli) and producer Mike Moonves — is popular for its delicate pastas, Italian cocktails, and a show-stopping chicken cutlet that’s sauced tableside.

Bar di Bello’s menu is Milanese-inspired but pulls from broader Italian influence as well as Californian. The ambiance also pulls from Milan, with imported retro-design light fixtures and seating.

“We all came together to create the space that we wish existed in Los Angeles,” said co-owner Kristin Olszewski. As a former Mozza sommelier, Olszewski heads the beverage program with a focus on Italian vintners and amari. Cocktails lean on classics and modern interpretations of them, including the comically large Negroni di Basso (a nod to Milan’s Bar Basso) and a tomato water and olive oil martini.

(Crustacean)

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

A set of Chinatown-restaurant vets have teamed up to launch Frank ‘n’ Frank’s, a gourmet sandwich stand in the neighborhood’s historic Central Plaza.

Chefs Mario Aguilar and Brian Ayala met six years ago while working at Howlin’ Ray’s and Amboy, respectively, which sit across from each other in a neighboring plaza. After leaving their jobs at two of the area’s most popular restaurants, they joined forces for their new project, located in the former Burgerlords and Goldburger space, where they layer ultra-thin deli meats, cheese, house sauces and vegetables on soft three-sesame focaccia by artisan baker Céor.

“It’s a very simple dish that you can elevate with very simple techniques of flavoring,” said Aguilar. “We both love sandwiches. It just made sense. … One of the things we’re very unique on is we slice things pretty thin, and it adds to the flavor profile.”

Look for options such as the Italian, which combines spicy salami with arugula, an ’nduja stracciatella cream and shaved parmesan, or the pastrami-packed Chrissy, which involves house jus, caramelized onions and brown mustard. Given the name — an ode to Ayala’s father and late brother, who always dreamed of opening a family sandwich shop — the chefs also

, with more to come.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

A lauded Napa Valley restaurant famed for its burgers and seasonal produce expanded to Southern California earlier this year, landing in the L.A.’s historic Original Farmers Market, with a location that features a bar, patio seating and a walk-up window for soft serve and sundaes.

Brothers Joel and Duncan Gott founded their California empire in 1999 when they took over the St. Helena restaurant and renamed it Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, then later, Gott’s Roadside. In 2006 the operation won a James Beard America’s Classics award, and the local chain expanded to San Francisco, Palo Alto and throughout the Bay Area.

This fall, another location is slated to join the roster. The forthcoming Gott’s Roadside is set to open this fall in the former Osteria del Fornaio space with an indoor-outdoor setting that sprawls across 8,800 square feet at 401 Wilshire Blvd.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

After operating one of West Hollywood’s most popular restaurants and bars and then expanding to Culver City, owners Dean McKillen and Phil Howard set their sights on the luxury market — by opening a luxury market.

Laurel Supply, from the team behind Laurel Hardware and Laurel Grill, recently debuted in West Hollywood with produce, health foods, specialty beauty products and a house line to rival other upscale grocers in the space such as Erewhon.

For prepared foods, head to the back of the store to find a wood-fired pizza oven and display cases filled with sandwiches, roast vegetables, fluffy focaccia and, during brunch, a made-to-order omelet station. Nearby sit a pasta counter, a smoothie and coffee bar, and a sushi counter — with a la carte nigiri for purchase — as well as a butcher counter and sections for wood-fired whole rotisserie chickens, organic baked goods, and gelato. Laurel Supply is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

(Shelby Moore / For The Times)

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

Longtime friends and colleagues behind some of L.A.’s best ramen are now serving food with a deeply personal bent at Padi, an Indonesian cafe in Hollywood. After the success of Iki Ramen and nearby hand roll bar Iki Nori, some of its team members partnered to open Padi: a modern ode to the flavors of their childhood. A cafe by day and an Indonesian tapas-style restaurant by night, Padi serves an array of house-made sambal; small plates such as charred eggplant under a soybean glaze; rendang-spiced satay; rice porridge crowned with turmeric shredded chicken; and sweet-savory desserts such as toasted bread under chocolate and shredded cheese.

Chef Brody Permadi draws on the team’s collective family influences and recipes from Jakarta and Bali, as well as Los Angeles, to offer dishes such as a ceviche-inspired hamachi with dabu-dabu. Co-owner Jeffry Undiarto said his years of owning Iki Nori and Iki Ramen also helped inform dishes such as the almost dashi-like oxtail stew, lending even more international flair to the menu, while Renatta Josephine, another owner, helps lead the team.

Their coffee program incorporates Indonesian flavors and traditions as well, such as the Indonesian-grown, unfiltered kopi tubruk.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

Since 2018, fashion brand Kith has served its candy- and cereal-topped soft serve on the Sunset Strip at a Kith Treats outpost adjacent to its subterranean clothing store. Now it’s adding sandwiches. New York-inspired bistro Ronnie’s — named for Kith founder Ronnie Fieg — first launched in London, and earlier this year expanded to L.A. with Ronnie’s Pronto, a quick-and-casual walk-up stand and patio specializing in sandwiches, matchas and coffees.

Look for aesthetically minded options such as a grilled cheese with “Kith” branded into its Japanese milk bread; sauerkraut-laden Wagyu pastrami on a kaiser roll; a range of breakfast sandwiches; and drink signatures such as the Pronto Freeze, a granita made from matcha or coffee. Kith Treats is now located at street level, rolled into Ronnie’s Pronto, with milkshakes and soft-serve sundaes concieved by Fieg, Action Bronson, LeBron James and more.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

(Nava Rawls / Los Angeles Times)

(Jess Torres/For The Times)

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

A Bangkok-raised chef is now serving vibrant Thai street food such as pan-fried noodles, grilled Isan sausage, Wagyu short rib with herbs and sticky rice, and flame-kissed pork jowl in Old Pasadena. To drink, there’s local ube beer and natural wine.

“I love to eat street food so much,” said Thaim chef-owner Ruethai Boonlieng. “I go back to Thailand all the time, and I always ask my friends, “Hey, don’t take me to the mall — take me to street food. It’s a true food for my soul, and people make the street food with care.”

Boonlieng’s Thaim is a portmanteau of “Thai” and “I am.” While some of her recipes are traditional — such as her mom’s preparation of Sukhothai pad Thai — others are modern spins, like brightening her sweet-spicy mango salad with fresh dill or turning her childhood favorite, egg tofu, into a deep-fried egg custard.

The chef grew up in Bangkok and learned to cook by watching her mother prepare home meals, then took pastry courses in Thailand as an adult. Boonlieng studied finance but entered the restaurant industry to help an aunt and a friend open a Thai restaurant — then discovered she loved it. She opened multiple restaurants in the Bay Area, then moved to Los Angeles to help open another and never wanted to leave.

As an owner of sweets-focused cafe U Dessert Story, with two locations in the Bay Area, Boonlieng wanted to incorporate some of her signature desserts at Thaim, too. Look for Thai tea panna cotta, matcha lava cakes and more.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)