Ktown's Hotel Normandie Gets Cognescenti Coffee and Cassell's Burgers

By Lesley Balla

The historic Hotel Normandie at 6th and Normandie in Koreatown is getting a facelift, but it's also adding some contemporary eating and drinking options to keep up with the times. First, Cognesecenti Coffee has a pop-up espresso cart set up on weekdays (8 AM to 1 PM) serving single-origin brews, according to LAist. If it's well received, it could move in permanently when the hotel renovations are finished.

Even bigger news: The hotel now owns the original Cassell's Hamburgers, and plans to close and move the Koreatown stalwart. (UPDATE: Cassell's last day is today.) Management will reopen the burger joint on the ground floor of the hotel, but probably not until next year. Many lament the state of Cassell's, that it's just not the same after Al Cassell sold it (he passed away in 2010). When Cassell's reopens, expect a few changes to the menu, but it will mostly continue with the good old-fashioned burger diner concept. Wonder what Roy Choi thinks about this?

[Photo: erinsikorskystewart/Flickr]