"Cara quietly opened last month as part of a massive renovation at 1730 N. Western Avenue. The new tan-toned hotel (also called Cara) opened there last month, and offers patio dining throughout the property. So far Cara is only doing dinner from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., but there are future plans to keep a bar area open until 2 a.m. once appropriate to do so, and also to extend into lunch for hotel guests and the neighborhood. There’s also a coffee bar set up inside, with seats situated around a narrow pool in the middle of the open-air building, not unlike the setup just down the way at Marco Polo in Silver Lake. The California-casual space features lots of off-white colors and sandstone, and is shaded by 100-year-old olive trees throughout. The menu offers a similarly timeless bent, with Cal-Italian nods like buffalo mozzarella and heirloom tomato starters, ceviches, lots of roasted fish, and other mains like charcoal-roasted chicken with crispy potatoes. Chef Michael Patria, formerly of the Four Seasons Biltmore resort in Santa Barbara, is on to oversee the menu, shown below." - Farley Elliott