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The couple behind Sprinkles Cupcakes is about to open a pizzeria restaurant in Brentwood

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From craft cocktails in the San Fernando Valley to chicken and waffles from the East Coast, here’s what’s happening in the food and drink world:

Pizza, pizza: Candace and Charles Nelson, the couple who brought you Sprinkles Cupcakes, are opening a pizza restaurant called Pizzana in Brentwood on Friday. Chef Daniele Uditi, who is from Naples, will be making Neo-Neapolitan-style pies using 48-hour fermented dough. Some of the pizzas on the menu will include the Amatriciana (Amatriciana sauce, fior di latte, crispy prosciutto, red onion, shaved Parmigiano); and the Corbarina (cherry tomato, zucchini blossom, burrata and gremolata). There will also be antipasti, salads, and beer and wine. For dessert, Candace has created a Neapolitan ice cream terrine and salted caramel panna cotta. The 45-seat restaurant will feature a pizza bar where diners can sit and watch the pizzaiolos in action. 11712 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, pizzana.com.

For the record:

1:21 p.m. March 28, 2024An earlier version of this story said the guests at the VH1 Save the Music Foundation fundraiser will be able to join Antonia Lofaso in the kitchen. The guests will not be able to spend time in the kitchen. The post also said Joachim Splichal was recently chef at Nic & Stef’s. Andreas Roller was the most recent executive chef at the restaurant.

Chicken and waffles: Sweet Chick, New York restaurateur John Seymour and rapper Nas’ East Coast chicken and waffles restaurant, will open a location at Melrose and Fairfax avenues on Thursday. In addition to fried chicken and waffles, the restaurant will serve shrimp and grits; mac and cheese; and cocktails. 448 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 592-3423, sweetchick.com.

Save the music: Antonia Lofaso, the chef behind Black Market Liquor Bar and Scopa Italian Roots, has teamed with VH1 Save the Music Foundation for a fundraiser at Lombardi House on May 4. Tickets to the event are $75 and include a performance by singer-songwriter Wrabel and food by Antonia Lofaso Catering. Proceeds will benefit Core Band Grant at Walnut Park Middle School. Tickets are available at https://on.vh1.com/MMMLA.

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Dining at the bar: Chefs and husband-and-wife team Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee have teamed with barman Devon Espinosa to open Woodley Proper in Encino. The trio is billing the new bar as a “cocktail restaurant,” located adjacent to the Lees’ Scratch Bar and Kitchen restaurant. Woodley Proper has a rotating list of snacks and larger plates to accompany the cocktails, which are sorted by palate profile: aromatic, floral, herbaceous and fruit. Cocktail party carts are available for larger groups along with table-side Yorkshire punch service. The carts feature a full bottle, house mixers, traditional and nontraditional accouterments, a bartender and a tutorial. The Lees are preparing the food at the bar, with a tower of house-cured charcuterie and cheeses; grilled bone-in salmon and Greek yogurt on toast; and a New York strip steak with a Russian tomato salad. 16101 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 906-9775, www.woodleyproper.com.

Time for brunch: Blu Jam Cafe, the brunch favorite known for its crunchy French toast (French brioche dipped in batter then rolled in cornflakes), will open a location inside the Spring Arcade Building in May. The restaurant has taken over the space formerly occupied by Bierbeisl Imbiss. Other Blue Jam locations include Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley. 541 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, www.blujamcafe.com.

Chef swap: Joachim Splichal, Patina Restaurant Group chef and founder, has appointed Andreas Roller as executive chef at Patina Restaurant at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Roller was most recently the executive chef at Nick & Stef’s Steakhouse. Megan Logan, most recently executive chef at Café Pinot, has taken over as executive chef at Nick and Stef’s. And chef Viet Pham, who has been with the Patina group since 2011, is now executive chef at Café Pinot. www.patinagroup.com/restaurants.

Still hungry? The new Hal’s Bar & Grill in Playa Vista will host a ticketed dinner as part of a Venice Art Crawl fundraiser Thursday. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams has opened a third Los Angeles location on Larchmont Boulevard in Larchmont Village. Barman Christiaan Röllich has introduced new cocktails at Lucques, a.o.c. and Tavern. Chef Sydney C. Hunter III is serving new spring dishes at Kettle Black. Rosy Oyster, a 35-seat oyster bar, will open May 1 for a limited time at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. Blue Bottle’s Bradbury cafe location is now serving Strauss Organic vanilla ice cream with affogatos, floats and more.

Jenn.Harris@latimes.com

@Jenn_Harris_

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