Silver Lake's 365 by Whole Foods: Here's What You Will and Won't Find

The old Ralph's parking lot has been slightly reconfigured and cleaned up

Will you shop at a Whole Foods without a butcher or fish counter? Will you miss the giant wheels of cheese and the organic yoga clothes? That's what you'll need to weigh when deciding how much you'll embrace the first-ever 365 by Whole Foods, which opens on Glendale Blvd. Wednesday at 9 a.m. The focus is on grab and go items or prepared to order items like pizzas and hot dogs (including a roast carrot dog!), with a healthy dose of technology to speed things up.

The store has an open feel with many of the items in low glass cases

What you won't find:
Beauty products (there are some supplements however)
Butchers and fishmongers
A cheese counter
A bakery counter
Any vestiges of old-school crunchy health-food store aesthetics
A juice bar? I don't think there's a juice bar

This is a teabot. It's a bot, that makes tea.

What you will find: 
A coffee bar that also serves beer.
A teabot
Most of the familiar packaged foods from Whole Foods
A decent selection of spirits and wine and a solid beer selection
A stripped-down industrial look that's more reminiscent of Fresh 'n Easy
A lot of touchscreens, including one in the wine area that offers tasting notes
Lots of food you won't have to actually cook

I got a sneak peek tonight, and though many of the items are stocked, most of the prepared foods won't be out until Wednesday. The LCD price displays weren't activated yet, so I couldn't get an idea of the pricing. Here are some early pics.

Stable produce is stacked in boxes out in the main store, while more delicate items and salads will be behind the glassed-in, air-conditioned area at the rear

The bulk selection is more modest than at Whole Foods

The Allegro coffee bar also serves beer and wine

Order pizzas, bahn mi dogs and sandwiches at this kiosk, and they'll deliver to one of the tables in the eating area

As in some European markets, you weigh your produce before checking out

There are several self-serve checkout kiosks to speed your exit

Vegan cafe By Chloe opens next week next to 365

Do you think you'll be able to do much of your shopping at 365? Or would you have preferred a real Whole Foods or a regular supermarket?

Ozu East is Stylish and Cute, But How's the Ramen?

crispy rice cakes

Almost overnight, Atwater has become the kind of neighborhood where restaurant patrons have a pretty good chance of recognizing the name of the great Japanese director Ozu. But you don't have to be a foreign film connoisseur to appreciate the minimalist style and modernized fusion menu at Ozu.

Owner Paul Yi has worked as a film producer and executive, and shows his appreciation with a variety of visuals playing on one wall, from Ozu classic Tokyo Story to E.T. to basketball games.

The fusion dishes lean towards Japanese, but with a healthy influence from Yi's Korean heritage. Crispy Rice cakes combine the chewy Korean noodles slicked with chili viniagrette and topped with an egg, is one of Ozu's best dishes. Spicy tuna omisubi is a tasty square version of spicy tuna roll. Everyone wants to try the avocado toast, which uses crispy rice where the bread usually sits, and it's a clever variation. The fusion version of a Cobb salad includes Kurobata ham, egg and edamame, but has neither the substance or flavor of the real thing.

Chicken-fried tofu is decadent and fun, but like many of the other dishes the mayo, soy and jalapeno create a rich, spicy and salt flavor profile that easily ends up overwhelming, especially in the creamy mayo area. Fried rice topped with a fried egg is another greasy but satisfying dish.

chicken ramen with black garlic oil

The trouble is with the ramen – but since the ramen is the centerpiece of the fairly brief menu, it's kind of a major problem. The addition of black garlic oil in the chicken ramen gives the broth an unpalatable bitterness that left us unable to finish it. Pork ramen also proved unfinishable, due to way-too-salty broth, and the noodles themselves are average. We also tried kimchi udon noodles with shrimp, but the kimchi cream sauce was cloying and way too rich.

 It's early days yet, so for now order a glass of Acorn Saison and some chicken-fried tofu and avocado toast to snack on. Perhaps Yi can bring in a ramen consultant, because the neighborhood is rooting for Ozu to become a great casual neighborhood spot. An ice cream annex is slated to open soon.

Ozu East Kitchen, 3224 Glendale Blvd., Atwater