CENTURY CITY, CA - FEBRUARY 28: Chef Michael Voltaggio attends the FEED Foundation/Hungry In America project benefit hosted by Vanity Fair held at Craft Los Angeles on February 28, 2010 in Century City, California.
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Vanity FairRenowned French Laundry chef Thomas Keller is set to open Bouchon Bakery on August 16 in Beverly Hills. The fourth outpost of his original Parisian-style pastry-and-baguette shop in the Napa Valley town of Yountville, the bakery is situated just below his Bouchon Bistro and next to Bar Bouchon, across from the Montage Beverly Hills Hotel.
If you can’t wait until Tuesday for a brownie-like Chocolate Bouchon (pictured below) or a Pain Au Raisin, get on the list for the friends and family preview happening over the two days before the grand opening.
Meanwhile, tattooed Top Chef Season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio surprised foodies with the launch of a new sandwich shop, Ink: Sack (the name, we admit, sounds a little off.) two days ago. Food bloggers — invited to preview the décor of his long-awaited restaurant Ink, on Melrose Avenue — were afterwards taken next door to see his new sandwich space … which he announced would open in 48 hours.
The chef, known for his virtuoso experiments in molecular gastronomy, passed out much less complicated fare to the small crowd. The fare includes the C.L.T. sandwich (chicken liver mousse, curried chicken skin, lettuce and tomato) and a beef tongue Reuben. Most of the items on the menu are priced between $4 and $6.
Don’t expect such prices two doors down when Ink (which counts Michael Ovitz as an investor) opens. The restaurant is expected to debut in September after major delays due to permit red tape. “I feel like a jack-in-the-box that somebody’s been cranking and cranking, and finally the top just broke,” Voltaggio told Grub Street LA on Tuesday. Apparently, all of his permits have now passed muster.
Bouchon Bakery: 235 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, 310-271-9910
Ink Sack: 8360 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles
