Spot Check: Basturma Breakfast Burritos, Iberian Bikinis, and Ostrich Burgers For Jonathan Gold’s Birthday

Spot Check! Welcome to L.A. TACO's latest column, where we bring you the latest and most exciting openings, pop-ups, and food events around all of Los Angeles to check out.  

Xuntos opens tonight for tapas and pintxos today in Santa Monica from chef Sandra Codero, owner of Gasolina Cafe in Woodland Hills. The menu intends to offer traditional bites from northern Spanish regions, including Galicia, Catalunya, Asturias, and the Basque Country, with tapas including platters of cheese and hand-sliced jamon Iberico de Bellota, bikini sandwiches, mariscos, fried eggplant with membrillo, fideo negro with calamari and piquillo, ribs with salsa barbacoa, and pan cristal con tomate, to go with glasses of sherry, vermouth, and Txakolina.

516 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90401. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 4, 134 or 720 - “Santa Monica/4th” or Metro E Line - "Downtown Santa Monica Station."

Bread and Breakfast, who claim to be the originators of the basturma and soujouk breakfast burrito, are grand opening their second location tomorrow in Burbank. Everyone who makes a purchase gets a free taco. The menu promises basturma, carne asada, soujouk, and other meats and veggies on croissants, bowls, tacos, burgers, burritos, and sliders.

321 E Alameda Ave. Ste. H Burbank, CA 91502. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 92 and 96 - “Glenoaks/Alameda” or Bus Line 94 - "San Fernando/Alameda."

A Georgian feast and wine tasting will take place at Downtown's Le Grand restaurant on July 30 to raise funds for Ukrainians fighting on the front lines against the Russian invasion through an organization run by a U.S. wine professional called Winter Harvest. Jos! Wines will showcase five of its organic, Georgian-made wines alongside dishes such as mushrooms with sulguni cheese, khinkali dumplings, fried pork ojakhuri, the lesser locally seen megrelian khachapuri, and beet, spinach, and eggplant pkhali. $80 per person. reservations here.

You heard about their ridiculously tender asada and their Tijuana mom's bomb-ass handmade flour tortillas here first. Now Perro 110 has its own brick-and-mortar out in Cerritos. Now all you have to do is go there and order a couple of tacos perros, and satisfaction will discover you, no matter where you try and hide.

12731 Towne Center Dr. Ste. H Cerritos, CA 90703. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 128 - “Towne Center/Center Court.”

Moroccan-inspired Cafe Caravan opened in Los Feliz in March, offering a beautiful nook to kick back with a coffee and a morning feteer while pecking at your email or tinned sardines with a baguette or Egyptian breakfast with a glass of natural wine for lunch with a friend. Or hell, the hangar steak, and an avocado date shake on your own, just because it rhymes and no one's looking at you as much as you may think they're looking at you. The restaurant is hosting a bazaar every Saturday featuring vinyl, art, and vintage goods starting at 10 AM. Sundays' a brunch with live jazz.

4459 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 2 - “Sunset/Virgil” or Metro B Line - "Vermont/Sunset Station."

After more than 30 years since Jonathan Gold dropped his review on the ostrich burgers at Cuyama Buckhorn, the refurbished roadside resort is bringing them back to the remote Santa Barbara County outpost of New Cuyama, starting on our departed hero's birthday, July 28. The burger will be different now, as is the ownership here, made with ground ostrich, molasses onions, and sheep's milk gouda from Santa Barbara Cheese Company served on toasted rye for $28. There will also be t-shirts for sale with J. Gold's quote on the back reading: "Ostrich burgers may not be much of a tourist attraction, but how many times can you visit the Louvre?”

And speaking of Santa Barbara, street food vendors are having a rough time up there. Vendor Erick Morales has started a petition to get support for the embattled vendors by decriminalizing their businesses, explaining how he lost his job at a country club during the pandemic and turned to street vending to provide for his family. Sign it today.