Rarely does a pizzeria bother opening in the mornings, when the only pizza likely to be eaten is a cold slice from last night’s delivery. On 3rd St., however, the olive-wood-fired oven at Olio Pizzeria & Café is stoked to 800° while the day’s first coffee is brewing.

Every morning, the newly opened pizza place refashions the dough that will later carry toppings like chanterelle mushrooms and butternut squash into bagel-like bialys, pastries and more.

The wood-fired Danish ($6; pictured) is an elongated pizza crust smeared with a vanilla-spiked ricotta and topped with fresh fruit (blueberries, on our visit)—everything crisped and caramelized by a quick blast of dry heat from the oven. There’s no flakiness to the pastry—just blistered-crust crunch at the edge, a prelude to the classic combination of ricotta and fruit in the middle.

Bialys—Polish breads that, unlike bagels, are baked (not boiled) and sport a large dimple rather than a hole—cover much of the Austrian-Hungarian empire on the menu, showing up alongside smoked salmon on one plate ($13), or schmeared with pesto and topped with a poached egg on another ($5). Bialy are well suited to both preparations, the bread’s particular balance between crunch and chew offering something L.A.’s often lackluster bagels never could.

Olio Pizzeria & Café
8075 West 3rd St.
Ste. 100
Los Angeles, CA 90048

(3^rd & Crescent Heights)

323-930-9490
http://www.pizzeriaolio.com/

The Tar Pit / 609 N. La Brea Ave / Los Angeles, 90036 / 323.965.1300 / www.thetarpitbar.com

The Tar Pit’s an intimate, ivory-toned ’30s/’40s-style cocktail-and-small-plates bar with dangling chandeliers and art-deco booth partitions, all from the Campanile guy, who decided to get into the cocktail biz after learning about mixology from his daughter, who’s obsessed with drinking in NYC. Bartenders hail from vaunted local spots like the Edison and equally reputable East Coast drinkeries like Milk & Honey, and go through a rigorous 3-week “bartender boot camp” in order to properly put together schmancy libations like “The Old Cuban” (aged rum mojito w/ Angostura bitters, topped w/ Champagne) the “Flame of Love” (invented for Dean Martin; bay leaf-infused vodka w/ fino sherry, and a flaming corkscrew orange peel), and the shaken, orange bitters and lemon-twist topped, 1/2 gin, 1/2 vermouth “Fiddy-Fiddy,” which apparently has given up on that bottle full of bub, mama. Food’s all shareable small-plates, with pairings recommended for each by the staff; options include pickled deviled eggs w/ Smithfield ham, a seared pave of salmon, and duck sliders w/ orange gastrique

Good sushi, reasonably priced. VERY creative specialty rolls; some of the best around.  A neighborhood gem.

Sushi Eyaki
5040 Wilshire Blvd (just West of Highland)
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 930-2636

An upscale taqueria from the family behind next-door’s long-running Leonardo’s nightclub, bedecked with dangling candelabras and aged leather-and-wood seating, with grub like Camarones a la Diabla o Rancheros (shrimp in a spicy chili sauce or sauteed w/ bell peppers and onions) and Enchiladas Suizas (stuffed w/ chicken and topped w/ homemade tomatillo sauce). In addition, they’ve also got a slew of ($1 on Wednesday!) “interesting” tacos (creamed corn w/ roasted poblanos, seasoned pork w/ pineapple chunks, etc),

Candela Taco Bar and Lounge

831 S La Brea; Mid-Wilshire.

323.936.0533

www.CandelaTacoBar.com