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NOW OPEN: Secret Sushi Nozawa Bar in Beverly Hills
It feels like a speakeasy, only the highlight at the new Nozawa Bar is sushi. Weirdly, it's a secret sushi restaurant in the back room of an existing sushi restaurant but with its own chef: Osamu Fujita. There are only two seatings at lunch and two seatings at dinner, so reservations are a must. And no need to fuss over a menu—there is none! It's a true omakase experience, each course served simultaneously to everyone, and dishes like sashimi and hand rolls are based entirely on the day's fresh market catch. 

FRIDAY: The Cocktail Classic Shakes and Stirs Citywide
The fourth Manhattan Cocktail Classic drops this weekend, celebrating mixology across four boroughs, five nights, and dozens of venues. Catch a buzz and some knowledge as Middle Branch hosts an Ode to Eau, Booker and Dax show off techniques and technology, and Huckleberry Bar serves spirits made with Brooklyn pride. There's plenty more on offer, including an Industry Invitational at the Andaz Fifth Avenue; get on the highball as tickets are going fast.

Having not quite weathered the economic tumble, the St John Hotel was snapped up by Singapore hotelier Peng Loh's Unlisted Collection--and is now newly unveiled as the rather elegantly marquee'd One Leicester Street (yes, that's the address). Michelin-starred St John chef Tom Harris remains, but virtually the entirety of the place has been jazzed with a striking new aesthetic identity. Drawing on the sort of minimalist but warmly inviting sexiness of Shanghai sister hotel The Waterhouse, it's all muted greys, oak parquet flooring, copper pendant lamps, and lots of white, and white, and more white.

Charlemagne, a porn-shop-turned-French-brasserie in the West Village, does a suckling pig dish that reminds me of an old tale. My cousin Robert, who went “vegetarian” a few years ago at his girlfriend’s behest, treated himself the other week to a suckling pig at the Breslin when his lady left town. Out it came in all its porcine glory, with the bowls of sauces and the apple in its mouth. A few bites in, who showed up but his girlfriend’s roommate, who’d eat her tote bag to avoid meat. “Robert!” she gasped, “what in the world?” Robert dropped his silverware. “Can you believe this?” he replied. “I order an apple and look how they serve it!”

Considering the Sofitel Los Angeles' endless parade of famous faces, even the changing of the color of the valet parking tickets would likely register a media reaction. But the hotel has just unveiled the fiery remake of its intimate cocktail lounge to significant gushing amidst the Hollywood chattering classes. Meant to invoke all the sensual allure of its namesake destination, Kayat Designs' interior for Riviera 31--Lorded over by French Tuesdays founder Gilles Amsallem, as well as nightlife impresarios Jake Saady and Misty Mansouri--is all sexy reds and elegant chocolate leathers. Fifties-era Edward Quinn black-and-white photos add a touch of Grace Kelly glamour.

Meet Sugar Factory: Meatpacking's new brasserie/explosive dessert spot where 36oz bubbling cocktail chalices full of lollipops and gummi worms land on the table, and hot fudge-drenched, submarine-sized, red velvet sundaes take up the width of your lap. It's the classy, marble-bar-chandelier American brasserie that refuses to grow up. Meatpacking's first and only outrageous dessert palace where the entire dinner kitchen is open until 4am all weekend long.

Between gelato carts and waiter statuettes jutting out into the sidewalks, Little Italy is hardly subtle when it comes to self-promotion. But 180 Neapolitan Eatery, a new pizzeria on Hester Street, lacks a proper front door, let alone a sign. A scuzzy glass door leads to a generic elevator, and on the second floor, a little dining room stares down at pizzaiolo Salvatore Olivella’s thousand-degree wood-burning oven. There are some flowers in the windows. Otherwise, it’s all about the pizza.

You know those chili-mayo-and-cilantro-soaked banh mi sandwiches - full of glazed pork belly, coconut tiger shrimp, and spiced honey pork – tucked into crunchy, baked baguettes? The ones from Num Pang, that packed Cambodian spot off Union Square, Madison Square, and Grand Central? Well today marks the opening of its fourth location in what is basically NYC's Asian-Vegan-Seafood-Italian culinary Epcot known as Chelsea Market. And as you can see from the photo, not only does Num Pang "welcome friends & fam" with a very loving, chalk-written welcome sign, but Num Pang's opening has already been sniffed out by tons of NYers who know a good Asian sandwich when they taste it, and tourists who know a good buzz when they see it.

WEDNESDAY: Jeff Mahin's Stella Barra Opens In Hollywood 
ABC's The Taste may have been disappointing, but contestant Jeff Mahin's new pizza joint Stella Barra in Hollywood is redemptive. Expect a bigger menu and plates than his Stella Rossa Pizza Bar in Santa Monica, in addition to handmade pastas. The 120-seat restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. While you won't find a wood-fire grill, Chef Mahin is all about perfecting his popular dish: burrata with wood-grilled grapes. That's good enough for us.

FRIDAY: Rock & LoHo At Downtown Music Festival
The Lower East Side’s music cup runneth over as Downtown Records brings a second year of the Downtown Music Festival. The venues are a greatest-hits package of below-Houston spots. Mercury Lounge hosts Teengirl Fantasy, Cake Shop has Beach Fossils and Trash Talk, and nine different acts will take the stage at Tammany Hall. Even swank event space Capitale is in on the groove, hosting L.A.’s Black Hippy. The spaces are all intimate, so get your tickets quick.