# πŸ€™ James Beard Vibes *DOES LA KNOW FOOD? YES, CHEF! THURSDAY πŸ‘‹ HEY CUTIE Happy Thursday and Happy Easter Weekend to everyone hitting the road early. This one is short-and-sweet because, honestly, half of LA is already on the 5 North or posted up somewhere with family. But we still have Good Vibes to share. The James Bea* **Section:** Newsletters **Tags:** Newsletters **Reading time:** 6 min DOES LA KNOW FOOD? YES, CHEF! THURSDAY πŸ‘‹ HEY CUTIE Happy Thursday and Happy Easter Weekend to everyone hitting the road early. This one is short-and-sweet because, honestly, half of LA is already on the 5 North or posted up somewhere with family. But we still have Good Vibes to share. The James Beard Award Finalists just dropped and LA showed up in a big way. Plus, I built something I have been wanting to build for a long time: a complete guide to everything filming across Los Angeles right now. Every street address, every working title, every studio lot. When I lived in New York, I always wanted one place that had all of this info and it never really existed. So I made one for our community, starting with April's productions. It gets updated often, and if you spot a crew in your neighborhood, hit me up. Enjoy this, today's Good Vibes, and a well-deserved long weekend. I will see you Tuesday. Thankful for you all. - Wyatt πŸ“… ON THIS DAY 1978 The TV show Dallas premieres on CBS as a five-week mini-series. Its ratings success leads to a thirteen-year run, making it one of the most iconic primetime dramas in television history. 🧠 TRIVIA Los Angeles set a new restaurant opening record in 2025. How many new restaurants opened their doors across the city? A) 612 B) 729 C) 758 D) 803 ANSWER ↓ β˜€οΈ LA FORECAST Thursday πŸŒ₯️ 65Β°/50Β° Β· Mostly Cloudy, Gusty N Winds Friday 🌬️ 82Β°/55Β° Β· Sunny, Santa Ana Winds Peak Saturday β˜€οΈ 88Β°/58Β° Β· Sunny, Hot, Breezy Sunday 🌀️ 85Β°/57Β° Β· Mostly Sunny, Warm Monday β›… 76Β°/54Β° Β· Partly Cloudy, Cooler WEEK AHEAD: Scattered showers wrap up Thursday morning as gusty north winds take over. A moderate to locally strong Santa Ana wind event peaks Friday with gusts up to 60-65 mph in mountains and passes. Significant warming Friday through the weekend pushes highs into the 80s and low 90s, even along the coast. Winds ease Sunday, with onshore flow returning Monday and 3-6 degrees of cooling. Dry conditions expected through next week with above-normal temps continuing. LOCAL DISCUSSION β†’ πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ NATIONAL πŸ“Ί Watch continuous, live coverage of Artemis II with live commentary via NASA's YouTube Channel 🍫 Hershey's says it is going to bring back the old recipe for all Reese's products 🍟 McDonald's to launch 'under $3 menu' and 'under $4 menu' on April 21st β˜€οΈ The Weather Channel launches RetroCast, enabling all of us to get current forecasts, in retro form 🍎 Apple: the next fifty years πŸ”— Last publication's most viewed content: CicLAvia returns with its first open streets event of 2026 πŸ€™ LOCAL 🚲 New bike lanes and bus lanes underway in Culver City and Santa Monica πŸ€™ Paul McCartney at The Fonda reminded me that I live in Los Angeles (KCRW post) 🎡 Grammy-winning singer Brandy receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame 🎑 Santa Monica bets big to revive Third Street Promenade 🎒 Universal Studios Hollywood rolls out new dining pass covering meals and snacks πŸŽ‰ FUN πŸ₯‡ LA28 pre-sale begins for those of us living in Los Angeles, nearby areas 🌼 A big list of things to do this month in LA πŸ˜‹ Food Day for WeHo Festival is coming to West Hollywood at Plummer Park πŸ§‘β€πŸ³ Here are Los Angeles' 2026 James Beard Award Finalists πŸ¦… Another reminder that Jackie and Shadow are on PIP watch (bald eagle hatchings), watch on YouTube 🍟 EATS LOS ANGELES 2026 JAMES BEARD AWARD FINALISTS FROM LOS ANGELES The James Beard Foundation named its 2026 finalists and Los Angeles showed up. Winners will be announced June 15 in Chicago. Category Nominee Best Chef: CA Dave Beran, Seline (Santa Monica) Kwang Uh, Baroo (Los Angeles) Outstanding Chef Gilberto Cetina, Holbox (Los Angeles) Niki Nakayama, n/naka (Los Angeles) Emerging Chef Fatíma Juárez, Komal (Los Angeles) Best New Restaurant Ki (Little Tokyo, Los Angeles) Outstanding Hospitality Providence (Los Angeles) Wine & Beverages Kato (Los Angeles) Beverage Service Jack Benchakul, Endorffeine (Los Angeles) Humanitarian No Us Without You, Damian Diaz & Othón Nolasco Lifetime Achievement Nancy Silverton America's Classics The Serving Spoon (Inglewood) Impact Award CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights) FULL LIST VIA EATER LA → + JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION → SANTA MONICA PONTU PHOTO: PONTU Pontu is a casual walk-up window that's all about Peruvian rotisserie chicken with sides like fries, beans, and beet-topped salad. There's a surprisingly large patio tucked in back, with walls covered in Peruvian magazines and newspaper clippings. They're currently open from lunch to 6pm, with plans to launch an expanded dinner service featuring ceviches and tiraditos soon. WEBSITE + INFO + INSTAGRAM MONTEREY PARK MOUNTAIN HOUSE @szechuanmountainhouse Mountain House, the cult-favorite Sichuan spot born in Flushing, New York, is expanding in Los Angeles with a new Monterey Park location opening May 1st. Culinary Director Zhi Min Zhu leads the kitchen alongside chefs brought directly from Sichuan. Expect signatures like Swing Pork Belly, Chongqing laziji chicken, fu-qi beef offal in chile oil, and mapo tofu, all inside a stunning 120-seat mountain retreat interior with koi ponds, wooden walkways, and traditional dyed textiles. WEBSITE + INFO + MENU + INSTAGRAM MORE EATS ☦️ EASTER: Where to dine in Los Angeles for Easter Sunday, via Los Angeles Magazine πŸ‡²πŸ‡½ WEST HOLLYWOOD: Marvito is an intentionally unserious Tex-Mex delight, via Los Angeles Eater 🌴 COMMUNITY LA28 LA28 OLYMPIC TICKETS ARE HERE AND LOCALS GET FIRST DIBS Check your inbox. Over 5 million fans registered for the LA28 ticket draw and email notifications are now rolling out through April 4. Residents in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties can start purchasing tickets as early as April 2, with the general public gaining access on April 9. Single-game tickets start at just $28, with a 12-ticket cap per person (soccer tournament tickets don't count toward that limit). The Olympic Games run July 14 to 30, 2028, and the Paralympic Games follow August 15 to 27. GET TICKET INFO β†’ MORE COMMUNITY 🎑 SANTA MONICA: Santa Monica Chamber CEO to step down after four-year tenure, via Yo! Venice β†’ 🎬 GOLDEN GLOBES: Report finds Golden Globes generated $133.5M for Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, via MyNewsLA β†’ 🚌 SANTA CLARITA: Santa Clarita Transit debuts hydrogen fuel cell buses, via SC Signal β†’ 🏑 DEVELOPMENT LINCOLN HEIGHTS USC'S KECK HOSPITAL SUBMITS PLANS FOR 19,000 SQ FT EXPANSION RENDERING VIA LA CITY PLANNING USC has submitted plans for a new 19,077 square foot infill building at Keck Hospital on the Health Sciences Campus in Lincoln Heights. The three-story addition with basement will fill the existing courtyard between the main hospital building and the acute care tower, adding patient rooms, a two-story intake lobby, on-call rooms, lab space and offices. The expansion brings the hospital from 343 to 356 licensed beds. Site improvements include a new patient drop-off zone, a dedicated ambulance area with covered canopy, emergency generators built into the hillside and upgraded campus circulation separating emergency, service and general traffic. The building will stand approximately 57 feet tall with a modern glass, metal and terra-cotta facade designed to complement the existing campus. VIEW APPLICATION β†’ MORE DEVELOPMENT πŸ’ͺ HOLLYWOOD HILLS: Homeboy Industries breaks ground on treatment campus in Hollywood Hills, via NBC4 Los Angeles β†’ πŸ’Ό BALDWIN HILLS: City of Los Angeles seeks new options for Marlton Square redevelopment, via Urbanize Los Angeles β†’ 🎯 ANSWER C) 758. Los Angeles surpassed the previous record of 729 new restaurant openings set in 2024. The boom is largely driven by digital-first, delivery-focused concepts operating with smaller footprints and tighter margins. LA's food scene isn't slowing down β€” it's evolving. 🍽️ HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER LOS ANGELES! --- Curated by Wyatt Stephens Β· Published 2026-04-02 Source: https://www.curationsla.com/vibes/james-beard-vibes Cite as: CurationsLA, "πŸ€™ James Beard Vibes", https://www.curationsla.com/vibes/james-beard-vibes (published 2026-04-02). License: CC-BY-SA-4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Structured manifest: https://www.curationsla.com/vibes/james-beard-vibes/manifest.json