Sometimes we have news about life on Larchmont Boulevard that doesn’t quite fill a whole story, but we can’t wait to share it. So today we have bits of buzz about Larchmont Blvd!
Muraya is closing! Don’t panic, it’s just for a few weeks while this beloved 18-year veteran of the street retools their kitchen.
“We are going to re-open in a couple of weeks as Pho La Vache, (pronounced fuh la Va shay), featuring the popular Vietnamese rice noodle soup traditionally made with bone broth and features meat and chicken but we will also have a vegan option,” explained Jane Kwak, second-generation owner, her father opened the restaurant as California Sushi Roll in 2006. Kwak, a former caterer with decades in her family business, took over from her brother, Chae Kwak, who now operates The Bop on Third Street in Beverly Grove right next door to Greek Eats, formerly Le Petit Greek.
Kwak told us that she always wanted to open a Vietnamese restaurant. She started researching the conversion from sushi to pho a few months ago and decided to make the leap.
“Larchmont is changing,” said Kwak. “I think customers would be open to something different. We have two other sushi restaurants on Larchmont but pho is hard to find nearby.”
Tonight is the last night of Muraya but in a few weeks, Pho La Vache will open at 125 N. Larchmont.
“I love this neighborhood,” said Kwak. “I am not going anywhere!”
Larchmont Jewelers to Open Soon 
“We are hoping to open in a month but by Father’s Day for sure,” Owner David Lee, CEO of Hing Wa Lee Jewelers told the Buzz when we asked him about opening dates.
Renovations on Larchmont’s very first LA City Historic-Cultural Monument at 119 N. Larchmont have been progressing in consultation with the city’s Office of Historic Resources.
New Parking Meters!
New parking meters were installed at the surface parking lot on Larchmont Boulevard this morning. Yahoo and thank you LADOT for replacing our old meters with fancy new meters.
The screen is bright and clear and there’s a scan code that activates the ParkSmarter app, though earlier this morning it wasn’t finding the meters because they are brand new, explained a member of the LADOT team that had installed them.
When we were there this morning, the meters weren’t taking coins so they told is they would keep working on that. Instead, we saw people paying with credit cards by inserting them into the machine. The tap doesn’t work yet either. Apparently, that’s a city-wide issue and not unique to Larchmont, also according to the DOT team. And, even though, they offer an option to get a receipt, that doesn’t work and isn’t likely to in the future. That makes sense because no one wants more paper and it would just be one more thing to service on the meter, right?
But at least you can read the meters. These meters are thoughtfully placed facing north and south instead of east and west so you can actually read them on a sunny day.
Check them out and let us know what you think!
