Kevin Scanlon

Ricardo Zarate

This Thursday probably won't be your last chance to try chef Ricardo Zarate's renditions of Peruvian staples such as aji de gallina or lomo saltado. But it could be your final opportunity to eat them at Mercado la Paloma -- the colorful warehouse-turned-marketplace just south of downtown. Zarate has just announced he'll close Mo-chica on May 24. The space "will become an incubator for Ricardo's future concepts," says a press release. Just days later, on May 30, Zarate will debut a new version of Mo-Chica downtown.

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D. Solomon

Bar Ama

Most diners at Bäco Mercat have probably tried to guess chef Josef Centeno's upbringing from what they see on their plates. Jonathan Gold has observed that the menu mixes "flavors from Italy, France and Western China, Georgia (U.S.) and Georgia (eastern Europe), Tuscany and Peru." In fact, the chef comes from San Antonio, Texas. Hence, the new restaurant he plans to open next fall: Bar Amá. The menu? Tex-Mex, the food Centeno grew up with.

Centeno's family's cooking inspires the menu, which may include "my great-grandmother's enchiladas, my grandmother's menudo and my mom's rice and beans," he says via email. Plus items such as guacamole, queso, ceviche and grilled meats. To drink, he plans to serve Mexican beer, mezcal and tequila.

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C. Soudry

Newly opened BierBeisl in Beverly Hills

Adding more raw fish to Sawtelle Boulevard, morinoya is Little Osaka's newest "authentic hole-in-the-wall izakaya," serving tapas dishes including yakitori and oden as well as sushi and sashimi. The Slice Truck also is settling into the area with its first brick-and-mortar restaurant, fulfilling owner Dave Hanley's vision of a little, local independent pizza place. Opening on Sawtelle between Coffee Tomo and Blockheads Shaved Ice is Seoul Sausage Company, the Korean catering company that's gained a following for its kalbi and spicy pork sausages at several food festivals over the past year.

From the owners of the Roger Room and Il Covo, the Pikey, a British gastropub replacing Coach & Horses, offers bites such as cardoon and sunchoke soup with bone marrow, braised lamb shank and crispy pig's ear salad from the Spotted Pig chef. On Main Street in Santa Monica, Brick+Mortar replaces Saluté Wine Bar (opened in 2008).

In other news, Acapulco in Westwood closed its doors after 33 years in business. The decision to close was based on the location's recent business performance, Rick Van Warner, a spokesman for Acapulco's parent company, Real Mex Restaurants, told The Daily Bruin. After less than a year, Taberna Mexicana in Beverly Hills has shuttered. We had high hopes. The one-of-a-kind Japanese maid cafe Royal/T Cafe announced its upcoming closure after five eventful years in Culver City -- there will be a few more art shows and the Tea Lovers Festival throughout May.

Read on for an April list of notable openings and closings:

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The Charleston

Ginger Kiss

Springtime is upon us -- you can tell by the pastel-colored clothing and cocktails around town. Hopeful newbies and restaurant industry pros to look out for this season include Japanese ramen noodle shop owner/comedian Menji Miyata, bibimbap peddler/Bibigo project manager Matthew Kim, mixologist Salvatore Calabrese and burger connoisseur Adam Fleischman, to name a few.

As some of our favorite bars close (Lou's days are numbered, Palate Food + Wine), others emerge, not necessarily taking their place.

A 1920s-themed "gastropub," The Charleston, recently took over the shuttered Angels space on Wilshire Boulevard. There you'll find toasted mac 'n' cheese, short-rib tacos (small but highly recommended), marinated olives, bacon-wrapped dates, pulled pork sliders and cocktails served in spiffy glasses (try the Minted Mule). We visited the intimate bar on opening weekend (Saturday night) to find a packed house. In more opening news, Los Angeles Brewing Company opened with 100 beers on tap and Tortilla Republic debuted with a list of 50 tequilas (yes, they have their own wall).

Read on for a March list of notable openings and closings:

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J. Ritz

Of all restaurant genres worth revisiting, the coffee shop ranks high. And it's one that Los Angeles, for better or for worse, particularly excels at updating. The Beachwood Café, formerly known as the Village Coffee Shop when it shuttered last year, has joined the ranks of the nouveau diner. This latest incarnation is currently in its soft-opening phase in its longtime location, nestled in the compact commercial strip by the 1923 Beachwood Gates. (Go ahead, make Hollywood facelift jokes.) The restaurant has even got a new name, except that it has conveniently been part of the neighborhood lingua franca for years already.

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A. Scattergood

moveable kitchen equipment at The Tar Pit

The Tar Pit, Mark Peel's retro cocktail bar and restaurant, served its last pickled deviled eggs and clams casino and Vieux Carre on Saturday night. Open on La Brea Avenue -- conveniently located a few blocks north of Peel's restaurant Campanile -- since late 2009, The Tar Pit closed because of a problem with the lease, Peel said yesterday behind Campanile's booth at The Gold Standard.

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Guzzle & Nosh

Fujiya Market as seen through its safety mirror.

Among the potato chips, soda and lotto tickets at Fujiya Market, you'll find aisles stocked with slabs of fresh tuna, daikon radish, tinned mackerel, ponzu, furikake, natto and a dozen varieties of soy sauce. Located at Clinton and Virgil, a block south of Melrose, Fujiya looks like a typical corner store -- unassuming, a little down at the heels, its sign faded by the blasting sunlight -- but the 80-year-old market is one of the last reminders that this neighborhood was once so thoroughly dominated by Japanese-Americans it was known as J-Flats.

"This [neighborhood] was the first stop for many Japanese people when they came here," says co-owner June Tani.

Fujiya Market is the kind of neighborhood store where red Hawaiian sea salt shares shelf space with American junk food, where the owners still deliver groceries to a handful of elderly clients, where regulars come to socialize, not just shop. In a city often bemoaned for its impermeable car-centric lifestyle, Fujiya Market is an outpost of neighborliness, as much a social center as a store. After 80 years in business, Tani and her business partner Wayne Kohatsu plan to close Fujiya in the next few months.

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Robert August Olding

Kazunori Nozawa at Sushi Nozawa

Tonight's your last chance for tuna, yellowtail and albacore at Sushi Nozawa, the 25-year-old sushi joint tucked into a Studio City strip mall. The restaurant, whose chef Kazunomi Nozawa has been described as a "sushi tyrant" and "imperious," told us last month that it would close its doors.

But it won't be the last opportunity for sashimi, ngiri and hand rolls surrounded by signs that read "Trust Me." Yesterday, the restaurant announced that the location will be converted into a branch of Sugarfish, Nozawa's chain of stylish, less expensive versions of the original. (Less intimidating, too.) All branches serve the omakase "trust me" menus for which Nozawa is known, along with a small a la carte selection.

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Quarry Girl

Remembering Shin BBQ

The elderly browse the obits for long-lost friends; foodists check the blogs for restaurant passings. This week, sushi fiends flooded a Studio City strip mall for Nozawa's last days. After only two years, Elements Kitchen in Pasadena bid its patrons farewell. "Thank you all for the wonderful memories and support ... It's been such a great ride and I'm grateful to all of you!" wrote owner Onil Chibas on the restaurant's Facebook page.

Pourtal Wine Tasting Bar in Santa Monica has poured its last glass. "Dear Friends and Family, Thank you for the well wishes after we announced our closing. It was a wonderful 3 years, and we made many friends along the way. This may be 'Goodbye' for now, but it is not the end of Pourtal," wrote owner Stephen Abronson.

Not all is grim. Three-part cafeteria-style dining concept UMAMIcatessen soft-opens March 3. Inside the space, the Back Bar, headed by Adrian Biggs (La Descarga, Harvard & Stone), houses 30 bottles of wine priced at $28, craft beers and specialty cocktails. Wines on reserve will rotate.

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For our last meal at gr/eats, which closes today, we wanted something traditionally Japanese: a burger. Actually, gr/eats does a good burger, preternaturally soft on the inside with a sharp layer of char on the outside. With an order of chicken katsudon, it epitomizes the culinary aesthetic of the charming Sawtelle Boulevard cafe: Japanese, American and a little of everything else. This was a menu where fish tacos coexisted with nabeyaki udon, where fried chicken and tofu meatballs were friends, where paella and spring rolls lived harmoniously as neighbors. [Photo gallery after the jump.]

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