It may not be long until a branch of popular Los Angeles, California chain Umami Burger hits your city- the ninth Umami Burger is set to open in LA, and further expansion is certainly on the “burger crack” restaurant’s menu.

Umami Burger’s new flagship is set to open in a massive former spa at upscale shopping center the Grove, and expansion of the chain as well as a handful of offshoots including Umamicatessen are planned. Earlier this summer, Umami Burger founder Adam Fleischman got financial backing from SBE hospitality group- enabling the chain to plan locations in Anaheim, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Las Vegas and Texas.

Fleischman admits that success came quickly, but said he always imagined Umami Burger as a chain:

“I was wanting to do 50 restaurants from Day One,” says Fleischman, sitting at a round table surrounded by decorative rubber shavings on the floor at the back of Umami Urban in Hollywood on a recent Wednesday. “So, although I was surprised by how quickly we became popular, I wasn’t like, ‘How do we do No. 2?’”

In a Los Angeles Times profile, the restauranteur goes into the elusive concept of umami, also known as the “fifth taste.” (Joining sweet, bitter, sour and salty.) The flavor has been officially recognized for over two decades, but Western diners are still being introduced to Umami- of which Fleischman cites shiitake mushrooms and parmesan cheese as two illustrative examples.

As for the chain’s massive success so far, Fleischman credits the front page of Yahoo for catapulting Umami burger to restaurant stardom. He says:

“Our business doubled overnight, and it hasn’t slowed down since,” says Fleischman. “I was at the Burger Bash in Miami, and my phone was just blowing up.”

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Umami Burger Opens 9th Location in LA, Going National is a post from: The Inquisitr

When I close my eyes and picture Nicole Kidman I see bright red hair, a signature look for the A-list actress, but now that hair has been replaced with a new bleached blonde hairdo for her new role in The Paperboy.

The movie is filming in New Orleans, Louisiana and  Kidman showed up on the set today with her new haircut and kohl eyeliner alongside a bright green outfit.

The Paperboy is a movie about a reporter and his brother who attempt to exonerate a man they believe to be innocent but who is sentenced to death, while Kidman’s character is a female with a dark side who writes letters to men on death row.

The move also stars Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughney.

What do you think of the new Nicole Kidman haircut?

Nicole Kidman Goes Peroxide Blonde For “The Paperboy” Role is a post from: The Inquisitr

Would you pay your respects at a wake from a passenger’s seat or while shifting down to first?

A Los Angeles funeral parlor has instituted a novel, yet somewhat jarring new option for mourners. Instead of actually parking your car and saying a prayer or doing whatever it is atheists do casket-side, at the Robert L. Adams Mortuary in Compton, you can drive through a viewing lane and attend the visitation. Sound crass? Owner Peggy Scott Adams points to “convenience” as the main factor in offering the unusual mourning option:

“It’s a unique feature that sets us aside from other funeral parlors… You can come by after work, you don’t need to deal with parking, you can sign the book outside and the family knows that you paid your respects,” said Scott Adams. “It’s a convenience thing.”

Of course, convenience isn’t the only consideration when considering a drive-by grieving. Funerals are often a safety issue when gang or mafia deaths are involved:

In the 1980s, cemetery shootouts made gang members reluctant to gather for graveside services. The drive-thru’s glass partition is bulletproof, Scott Adams said, and so for a while the mortuary became a popular location for gang funerals.

Olivia Boudreaux, a mourner who attended a drive through viewing, says the detachment made the process simpler:

“I’m used to just going up and looking into the casket, and spending as much time as you need,” said Boudreaux. “But it’s good this way. Not quite as emotional.”

Would you pay respects in such a fashion, or does it come off as… well, disrespectful?

McMourning: LA funeral parlor offers drive-thru viewings is a post from: The Inquisitr

Actor Peter Fonda, son of Henry and brother of Jane, was the individual who police to report a body at the side of Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, TMZ was the first to confirm.

The gossip site reported that Fonda discovered the man “slumped” over the wheel of a car in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, and called 911 to report the vehicle. Police and the coroner appeared on scene and discovered the body of a man they have declined to identify, who had reportedly been deceased for three days. It appeared to be a suicide, it was reported.

Police officials later confirmed TMZ’s report as accurate:

Sgt. Carlton Cook at the West Los Angeles Community Police Station tells the AP that Fonda called police after seeing a car parked on the side of Sunset Boulevard, a man’s body inside.

No further information was made available regarding the identity or cause of death of the decedent.

Actor Peter Fonda happens upon dead body in car is a post from: The Inquisitr

It may be superficial, shallow and lacking pee-soaked subways, but LA has an edge here- although to be fully prepared…

[via Reddit]

LA v. NY, LA wins is a post from: The Inquisitr

There will be a NFL stadium in Los Angeles within a few years, and they will attract NFL teams looking for new digs. With that being said it looks like the San Diego Chargers, and the St. Louis Rams are the leading contenders to move to relocate to Los Angeles. It makes a lot of sense in a lot of different ways, both teams have roots in the city of Angels and both are either for sale or having difficulties getting new stadiums built in their current cities.

For the Chargers, who play in an antiquated multi use facility and they want public dollars to ease the cost of a new stadium in San Diego. They say that up to 54% of the cost of at least half of recent NFL stadium construction has been picked up by the public. They fail to realize most of those projects were financed before the economic meltdown. On top of that San Diego is a tourist destination that does not need to spend big dollars on a football stadium. People already like to go there, versus say Detroit who committed public dollars to build its football stadium, because there is no good reason to go to Detroit otherwise.

The Rams are for sale, and it looks like the leading bid contains only a short term commitment to the city of St. Louis. The Rams lease on the Edward Jones Dome contains a provision that the team can leave if that stadium is not within the top 25% of NFL stadium revenues. If the Rams continue to be as bad as they have been that will certainly be the case.

Related Links:

•San Diego Chargers news and notes
•St. Louis Rams news and notes
•The Business of the NFL
•NFL Complete

Looks like Chargers, Rams headed to LA is a post from: The Inquisitr

Tom Cruise was a mess on the red carpet for the L.A. screening of Tropic Thunder, and it was up to Katie Holmes to save the day (okay, night) with un-wiglike hair and not-so-mumsy PVC and satin. She was accessorized by something else as well– her weirdly expanded belly that looks like it’s on the fence of being an F.B. (Food Baby).

Maybe Tom is just distracted by new career plans that might branch off into the world of comedy with “Food Fight,” about ” a snooty New York chef (Cruise) who must cook meals at a school cafeteria.”

Get a load of Katie Holmes’ kinda-sorta baby bump.

Image: WireImage

Does Katie Holmes Have a Baby Bump? is a post from: The Inquisitr