A brand new pizzeria from leisure multihyphenate Issa Rae and her enterprise companions is ready to debut this weekend, bringing funk-inspired pizza to their fashionable cafe. By day, the downtown house will proceed as Hilltop Espresso + Kitchen. At night time, beginning Could 3, it flips to Downtown Dough, a pizza joint that focuses on a form of California-meets-Neapolitan fashion, the crust leopard-spotted from a wood-fired brick oven.

“The daytime is really for the drip, and the nighttime is for the dough,” mentioned co-owner Ajay Relan.

Relan and enterprise accomplice Yonnie Hagos launched Hilltop by way of their hospitality group, GVO, and rapidly partnered with the “Insecure” actor and producer, whose mission of making inclusive areas aligned with theirs. Within the years since, the trio launched one other 4 Hilltop places, downtown rooftop bar Misplaced and a glossy restaurant, bar and jazz membership referred to as Somerville.

“We could not think of a better partner and ambassador for our mission,” mentioned Relan, who added that Rae is “very involved” within the eating places’ operations and menu planning.

At Downtown Dough, the menu requires almond wooden sourced from Northern California, which is used on the wood-fired grill — for dishes similar to hen, branzino and steak — in addition to within the pizza oven. Chef Geter Atienza (beforehand of Damaged Spanish, Bouchon Bistro, the Fig) brushes his crust with garlic oil and sprinkles it with Parmesan and tops the pizzas with pepperoni, native honey and Fresno chiles; truffled fondue and farmers market cauliflower; bacon, Manila clams and caramelized onions; and extra. There are pastas, Black Angus meatballs, salads and crispy calamari.

Funk will be discovered within the restaurant’s taste — and within the air and on the partitions.

Downtown Dough serves wood-fired pizzas together with pastas, wood-grilled steaks and extra.

(Jakob N. Layman / Downtown Dough)

“All of GVO’s venues have a very music-first vibe curation, but funk is a genre that we had always enjoyed the most,” Relan mentioned. “It was just always the most fun, and [we’re] marrying our love for pizza with the free and forward era of the ’70s and the music that came along with it.”

Paintings, shade schemes and, in fact, the playlist will all take their inspiration from funk. Count on to listen to James Brown, Bootsy Collins, the Womacks, Sly and the Household Stone and different classics, plus newer acts impressed by these bands. Steen Bojsen Moller (additionally of Misplaced and Somerville) oversees the complete bar, which focuses on spritzes — a few of that are named for funk musicians, their albums and the actions they began.

This specific Hilltop, which debuted in 2023, was meant to function a pop-up, however attributable to its recognition it turned everlasting. The 6,000-square-foot location accommodates almost 200, together with a 22-seat non-public eating room. Within the evenings the trio beforehand used the open kitchen and ample house for catering and occasions however knew they needed to open a full restaurant finally.

Rae, Hagos and Relan hope to serve the downtown group with a sequence of experiences: espresso by day at Hilltop, pizza and spritzes by night at Downtown Dough, a nightcap and a taco at Misplaced’s close by rooftop — and extra tasks for Rae and GVO are already within the works. Downtown Dough launches Could 3, and can open Wednesday to Sunday from 6 to 11 p.m.

718 S. Hill St., Los Angeles, instagram.com/downtowndoughco

Carrots 4 methods (roasted, puréed, pickled and crisped) at Buvons Wine Bar + Restaurant in Lengthy Seashore.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Occasions)

Buvons Wine Bar + Restaurant

The most effective wine retailers in Lengthy Seashore lately expanded subsequent door with a restaurant and wine bar. Final yr, Alicia Kemper closed her cafe, Mangette, which she co-owned and sat subsequent to her fashionable natural-wine store, Buvons. Now, she’s reimagining the Mangette house as an evening-only restaurant and wine bar that works in tandem with the bottle store.

Smoked-eel carbonara at Buvons Wine Bar + Restaurant.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Occasions)

Buvons Wine Bar + Restaurant presents a extra intensive meals menu than what was discovered at Mangette and in Buvons (which presents by-the-glass pours and snacks). It attracts on weekly farmers market bounty and performs off the bottle store’s prolonged wine choices. Each the meals and wine menus rotate every month. Company would possibly discover smoked-eel carbonara with dashi and a confit egg; duck confit with leek chutney; or house-made terrine. Typically the kitchen can be helmed by a visitor chef; Could contains a menu by Côme Richard, who’s visiting from Paris.

Plates similar to charcuterie and cheese boards can nonetheless be discovered within the bottle store alongside wines by the glass, however extra ready dishes can solely be discovered within the new wine bar and restaurant. The brand new wine bar and restaurant additionally options extra seating areas than have been obtainable in Mangette, and hosts lessons and occasions similar to a month-to-month pasta workshop. Buvons Wine Bar is open Wednesday to Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m., whereas the adjoining bottle store’s hours at the moment are Wednesday to Sunday from midday to 7 p.m.

1145 and 1147 Loma Ave., Lengthy Seashore, (562) 342-6557, buvonswine.com

Jaime Taqueria

A “Top Chef” contestant with a spread of Italian eating places is branching out together with his first taqueria.

Uchepos, or Michoacán-style candy corn tamales, at Jaime Taqueria in El Segundo.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Occasions)

Through his hospitality group Memento Mori, chef Jackson Kalb operates Ospi in Venice and Brentwood, Jemma in Hollywood, Jame Enoteca and John Thomas Bar in El Segundo and the briefly closed Jemma Pizzeria within the Palisades. He launched Jaime Taqueria, his latest restaurant and first foray into tacos, to deliver some new taste near residence.

“This isn’t supposed to be inspired by any one regionality,” Kalb mentioned, telling The Occasions that he lives within the space and needed to open a cantina for the neighborhood. He tapped govt chef Marco Arreguin (Puesto, MXO) to guide the kitchen, and collectively they’re serving large-format plates similar to al pastor-inspired pork shank beneath pineapple glaze; starters similar to guacamole topped with scallion and black garlic chile crunch; sides like brown-butter esquites; and tacos piled with beef cheek quesabirria, filet mignon, citrus-achiote hen and mojo shrimp gobernador. Wash it down with margaritas, mezcal old-fashioneds, tequila flights, mocktails and extra. Jaime Taqueria is open Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with brunch slated for the long run.

450 Primary St., El Segundo, (310) 648-8231, jaimetaqueria.com

Jaime Taqueria’s citrus-achiote hen taco (entrance) and filet mignon taco.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Occasions)

Voodoo Doughnut

One of many nation’s most well-known doughnut chains simply launched a bright-pink outpost on the nook of Melrose and La Brea. Voodoo Doughnuts — which additionally operates a smaller location in Studio Metropolis’s Common CityWalk — can now be discovered slinging its signature bacon-topped maple bars together with classics, an array of vegan choices, and seasonal specials similar to cherry cola. The brand new Fairfax-neighborhood Voodoo Doughnut is open almost 24 hours a day and contains a bigger menu than the store in CityWalk. It additionally presents merch similar to shirts, crewnecks, pink mugs and baggage of espresso. A beachy location slightly below the well-known Venice signal can also be within the works. Melrose Avenue’s Voodoo Doughnut is open day by day from 6 a.m. to three a.m.

7101 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 782-7666, voodoodoughnut.com