Holy Basil, One of LA’s Best Thai Restaurants, Is Opening in Santa Monica

Bangkok-style Thai food is headed to Santa Monica with the opening of chef Wedchayan “Deau” Arpapornnopparat’s highly acclaimed restaurant, Holy Basil. The new outpost will be located at 2828 Santa Monica Boulevard and is slated to open in late February or early March.

Holy Basil began as a food stall in a Fashion District food hall serving Thai-style street food like pad see ew and gra pow, before it expanded to a full-service space in Atwater Village. In Atwater, Holy Basil offers a more robust menu with dishes like scallops on the half-shell, crudo, and crab fried rice. The forthcoming Santa Monica location will have a menu that hews closer to what is offered at Atwater Village, plus neighborhood specials.

A legendary New York jazz club is coming to LA

Blue Note Jazz Club has announced its expansion with a new location in Los Angeles opening in March 2025. The new location will be located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and consist of two performance spaces, with the main room fitting 200 people and the smaller “B side” room fitting 100.

Holiday cookies for a good cause

This holiday season, Biite Club is selling cookie boxes stacked with sweets from some of Los Angeles’s best bakers to benefit No Us Without You. The box will feature a tahini brown from Kat Turner of Highly Likely, a pomegranate glazed molasses ginger cookie from Rose Wilde of Redbread, mini conchas from Danielle Molina, and chocolate chunk cookies from Justine Hernandez of Just What I Kneaded. In addition to the cookies, tickets include a festive portrait session. Purchase tickets through Biite Club.

Own a piece of All Day Baby

Silver Lake brunch restaurant is selling its wares today, December 19, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Head over to the now-closed restaurant to snag plates, mugs and glassware, hot sauce, and more.

Where to drink makgeolli in LA

For the Los Angeles Times, writer Dakota Kim assembled a crash course on the best places to drink makgeolli, an unfiltered Korean rice wine, in Los Angeles. Her picks include Jilli, Danbi, Baroo, and more.

Best bites of the year

The New York Times has published its roundup of the best dishes staff ate over the year. Two Los Angeles picks made the list: the mozzarella sandwich at Bread Head and the molotes de plátano at Komal.