In 2023, the Los Angeles izakaya Budonoki, then just a few weeks old, decided to “dress up” as a different kind of restaurant for Halloween. For one night, the Japanese restaurant transformed into an Italian trattoria with Negroni slushes, arancini, and checkered tablecloths. Someone on staff offered the pun “Budo-gnocchi,” recalls co-owner Eric Bedroussian. “We […]