Perry Cheung

Five-spice duck confit salad

Ever since Chego closed on Overland and relocated to Chinatown, we've wondered what would take over the strip mall's corner unit. Thankfully, we'll no longer have to rubberneck (much) when we drive by. Perry Cheung soon will open a Vietnamese restaurant called Phorage in the location. Construction is under way and Phorage is tentatively slated for an early July opening.

The menu will reference in part Cheung's experiences as executive sous chef at the critically acclaimed Slanted Door in San Francisco, known for its upscale, contemporary Vietnamese cuisine. Except Cheung intends to strip down the approach. There'll be both beef and chicken pho, and a rotating range of soups. Look for daily specials, such as spicy tuna tartare and five-spice duck confit salad, which will be announced through the restaurant's social media network.

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Guzzle & Nosh

Kebab platter at MexiKosher

Katsuji Tanabe would like you to know that his upcoming dinner series, "Estos Es Realmente Real No Es Un Pop Up," at his taqueria MexiKosher is really -- no, no really -- not a pop-up. We know this because he says as much in the name, albeit in Spanish.

"We're not trying to do something trendy. We're trying to showcase to the people that I serve -- Jewish community and anyone who eats kosher -- that any cuisine could be kosher. It's not a one-time thing," says the chef-owner.

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Charity Burggraaf

Citrus-charred broccolini

Finding a general lack of community among vegan chefs, Makini Howell, a lifelong vegan and chef-owner of Plum Bistro in Seattle, decided to organize pop-ups around the country and invite fellow chefs to help. It's her attempt to begin building the kind of network she'd like to see vegan chefs have.

For the upcoming dinner series from Thursday, June 6, to Sunday, June 9, at No Vacancy in Hollywood, Howell called on Roberto Martin, who authored Vegan Cooking for Carnivores and Shawain Whyte, executive chef at Blossom Café in New York.

Together, the three created a four-course prix fixe menu for $75 per person, which includes a wine pairing provided by The Vegan Vine -- a new line by former NBA player John Salley. Items on the menu will also be made available a la carte.

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Truffl, LLC

Barbecue ribs to be featured at upcoming BBQ & Microbrews event

It's arguable whether we've fully arrived at Web 3.0, but there has been a progression in the recent history of online companies trying to bring us food and drink -- whether as a product or through an event. Foodzie morphed from an online marketplace to shop for small-batch products into the web equivalent of a suburban shopping center called Joyus. Gilt Taste started as an editorial driven site with articles from an all-star cast led by former Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl, only to drop the component altogether. Amidst this evolving arena, Truffl launched last Friday, May 3 as an online club with food events and editorial content tailored to member preferences.

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A. Scattergood

Rye toast with pickled root veg and vinegar dust

If you haven't been checking your Facebook page, Twitter feed, Instagram account, etc., lately, you may be sadly unaware of the latest temporary food-as-art installation, the Amalur Project, which last night debuted at Echo Park's Cortez. I'm sorry. But the happy news is that, as is often the case, there's always dinner tonight.

The Amalur Project is brought to you by Spanish-born chef Sergio Perera, who has, according to the website, cooked in such notable kitchens as Arzak, Jean-Georges, Mugaritz -- and, perhaps most importantly, his grandfather's kitchen. Joining Perera in the project is Burbank-born, Japan-raised Jacob Takehiro Kear, who cooked at Lukshon in Culver City and Tapas Molecular Bar in Tokyo and most recently was chef de cuisine at Eva. Also in the (tiny) kitchen is Steve Monnier, born and trained in France, and who has cooked at many laudable restaurants there and here, including L'Orangerie (which may trump everybody else's fancy credits, if you're an L.A. Francophile foodist).

Yes, the chefs have pilgrimaged to Noma. Yes, they forage. Not only do they trudge out into the surrounding local hills and dales and beautiful forests but they employ professional foragers to do so for them, namely Pascal Baudar and Mia Wasilevich, who have a ton of insanely laudable credits, too.

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Ronnie Woo

hangar steak with poached eggs and roasted beets

Beverly Hills-based private chef Ronnie Woo's culinary education began as a child growing up in Washington, with parents exposing him and his two older sisters to different restaurants at home and around the world. Later as a model for brands such as Banana Republic, Nordstrom's and K-Swiss, mixed with appearances on runways, Woo would develop a calm receptiveness that he applied toward his career in food, and which has allowed him to better accept feedback on his cooking.

When Woo launched his first brunch pop-up, last month at a private residence, it was due in large part to the requests of clients.

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BEP Vietnamese Kitchen

Breakfast chao by Connie Tran

On Sunday, April 21, and every other Sunday thereafter, Connie Tran will take over Franco on Melrose for a few hours to create an eight-course, family-style, prix-fixe brunch with beverages like chrysanthemum tea, pickled plum soda and Vietnamese coffee.

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Photo: Dante Fried Chicken

Sock-It-To-Me Fried Chicken

See also: 10 Best Restaurants for Brunch in Los Angeles

Combine all of the biggest dining trends including food trucks, locally-sourced fare and pop-up restaurants and you might end up with an experience that looks and tastes something like the "Downtown Brunch Up" happening at Daily Dose this Sunday. Nomadic chef Dante Gonzales will leave his namesake food truck behind at this stationary pop-up, where he'll serve his Sock-It-To-Me fried chicken and coconut honey biscuits in the ivy-covered, brick-lined alley of Daily Dose Cafe.

Daily Dose, which exists in a narrow courtyard off appropriately-named Industrial Street in the downtown arts district, will balance out Gonzales' chicken-and-biscuits menu with their own locally-farmed scrambled eggs and fried heirloom fingerling potatoes. The Sunday feast, which runs from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., is RSVP only and BYOB.

If you're not in the habit of doing either of those things, try these three other arts district brunch spots where you can get a beer on draft, a table without a reservation and ample free street parking on the weekends.

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Outstanding in the Field

Tickets are on sale for Outstanding in the Field's 2013 Tour. As is usually the case, the dates include a preponderance of stops at West Coast farms. In case you don't know much about this travelin' pop-up party, let us illuminate the vibe.

A 60-year-old bus zips around to farms all over the country. At each stop, local chefs of note prepare the farm's products for diner groupies thirsting for a taste of the terroir attached to the meal as well as some hot chef's epic manipulations of the farm's goods: confetti-colored peppers perhaps, or corn as pale and perfect as pearl bunches, fine fresh cheese made, naturally, on the premises, or even farmed abalone.

Turn the page for the upcoming Southern California dates and get that Visa ready.

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flickr/Andrea_Nguyen

MSG salt

For a limited time, former Alma chef de cuisine Derrick de Jesus is running his MSG pop-up at Brick House Kitchen in Venice on Monday nights from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. This latest version departs from the tasting menu series the chef ran at City Sip in Echo Park, but it continues his plans to scope out the best neighborhood for a restaurant sometime in the future.

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