An on-site garden. A wood-burning oven. At the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza mall!

Dinner anyone?

This what we've been waiting for - a locally owned, sit-down restaurant in our neighborhood!

Post & Beam is slated to open late this year, offering the kind of cuisine (California-style comfort food) and ambiance rarely found in our immediate area. The 2,500 square foot restaurant will have outdoor patio seating, an open-hearth broiler, and the planting of an on-site herb and vegetable garden in the coming season.

The beer and wine list is sourced predominately from California, Oregon, and Washington, with selections from celebrated breweries such as Stone Brewing Company, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Eagle Rock Brewery, and wineries like ZD, Adelsheim, and Talley Vineyards.

The restaurant brings together some well-known brands:

• Chef Govind Armstrong (Table 8 and 8 oz. Burger Bar).
• Brad Johnson (BLT Steak, the original Roxbury, and Georgia).
• Director of Operations David Borrego (The Raymond, Wolfgang Puck, and Morton’s).

Adjacent to the famed Debbie Allen Dance Academy, the project is in conjunction with the $30 million renovation of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

The name, Post & Beam, honors the mid-century architecture commonly found in the area.

“We designed Post & Beam to bring something unique yet casual to this neighborhood,” Johnson stated in a press release. “We hope the restaurant will serve as a local gathering place, and also offer others less familiar with the area a reason to visit."

Chef Govind Armstrong, born in neighboring Inglewood, will shop at South Central Farmers Cooperative and other urban farmers in the area.

“Not only do we get to work with ingredients we are growing ourselves, which is thrilling for any chef, but we also have the opportunity to bring local and seasonal ingredients to the forefront of people’s minds in the area,” Armstrong stated.

Examples: House-Spiced Corn Nuts, Wood Oven-Baked Mussels, Grilled Octopus with green garbanzo, Cornmeal-Crusted Idaho Trout, Mashed Turnips with brown butter, black-eyed peas, and maple bacon. And there's Boneless Beef Short Ribs with fresh horseradish and long Cooked Greens with smoked ham hock.

As soon as I know WHEN I'll pass it on.

www.postandbeamla.com, Facebook, and Twitter.