Local Kitchen + Wine Bar opening in Santa Monica, because we all need more pizza and cocktails

Local Kitchen + Wine Bar, a new restaurant by Thyme Cafe & Market owner Maire Byrne, is opening soon in Santa Monica.

Thyme Cafe & Market has been an Ocean Park Boulevard fixture since it opened in 2009, known for its salads, sandwiches, pans of lasagna and containers of beef bourguignon to go.

At Local Kitchen + Wine Bar, Stephen Murray, who most recently worked under Michael Chiarrello at Bottega in Napa Valley, will run the kitchen. And he plans on making the kitchen’s wood-burning pizza oven the star of the menu.

Details on the menu are slim, but a sneak peek includes Neapolitan thin crust pizza, roast chicken, vegetable caponata and seasonal small plates. To sip, wine and cocktails.

The restaurant’s decor, designed by Leslie L. Hunt, will feature a copper bar, exposed brick, butcher-block tables, and dark blue leather banquettes. There will also be an outdoor seating area.

Local Kitchen + Wine Bar is scheduled to open in late October. The restaurant will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

1736 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 396-9007.

I enjoy pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Follow me on Twitter @Jenn_Harris_

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