by Celia Soudry
LA Weekly Squid Ink
April 25, 2012
If you’re still mourning the loss of chef Evan Kleiman’s Angeli Caffe (who isn’t?), you can sample her food again at the Charleston on Mon., May 7, with two seatings at 6 and 8 p.m. The KCRW Good Food host will prepare a four-course rustic Italian meal, served family-style. “Every day I get emails from customers asking me to make Angeli food and bring it to them,” Kleiman says. “It’s pretty funny, like I should now run Angeli like a cottage industry from my house. Well, that’s not going to happen, but the pop-up allows me and my staff to reunite and make food we love and, of course, to see customer friends we miss and give them a fleeting taste.”
The Charleston is celebrating its first guest chef pop-up event by reigniting the flame of shuttered LA institution, Angeli Caffe. Rolling out the red carpet for 
If you’re still mourning the loss of chef Evan Kleiman’s Angeli Cafe (who isn’t?), you can sample her food again at The Charleston on Monday, May 7, with two seatings at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The KCRW Good Food host will prepare a four-course rustic Italian meal, served family-style. “Everyday I get emails from customers asking me to make Angeli food and bring it to them,” says Kleiman, “It’s pretty funny, like I should now run Angeli like a cottage industry from my house. Well, that’s not going to happen, but the pop-up allows me and my staff to reunite and make food we love and of course to see customer friends we miss and give them a fleeting taste.”
It’s been but a few months, but we’re still mourning the loss of Evan Kleiman’s Melrose staple, Angeli Caffe. If you, too, are sitting shiva for linguini vongole, you might want to snag a spot at the May 7 Angeli Caffe pop-up, taking place at Thai chef Jet Tila’s new Santa Monica spot, the Charleston. The KCRW Good Food host will be cooking a four-course menu of Angeli classics including her Lasagne Angeli, pollo arrosto, and that practically perfect plate of linguini with clams.
Where do you go if you’re hankering for 1930s décor, jazz, ’80s cover bands, karaoke, comedy, dueling pianos, comfort food and absinthe? The combination sounds impossible, doesn’t it? It’s not. The Charleston opened its doors to Santa Monica Thursday night, inviting L.A. to experience the newly renovated Wilshire Boulevard spot, formerly known as Angel’s.
The libations menu, which will run patrons $12 to $14 per drink, sounds ideal for an after-work drowning or casual evening of sipping. Whiskey, cognac, vodka, gin, pisco — the gang’s all here! The Charleston, Kaffir Lime Pie, Cucumber Cooler and the Sweet Tart all sound divine, as does the absinthe menu. And for those who prefer to steer clear of classic cocktails, wine and beer are also available.
Former Encore Vegas Wazuzu chef Jet Tila’s The Charleston wants to be everything to everyone. Restaurant? Check. Bar? Check. Monthly pop-up series? Check. Nightly live entertainment spanning genres from 80s cover bands to dueling pianos? Check. What can’t The Charleston do? Starting tonight at 10PM, yes 10PM, Tila plus partners Mike Lee, Jack M.Y. Lee, and Trey Martin open doors to the slightly modified Angel’s on Wilshire. The 1930s-style aesthetic may look quite the same, but Tila’s reasonably-priced $13 and under new American fusion comfort food 
