Musco & Musk; Eyes on Fig & Olive; Strip Mall’s New Fortune

Word on the street says Paul Musco has racked up a win with Tesla’s operation in Europe. New cars sold on the Continent are required to come with first-aid supplies, and the Insider hears that Elon Musk’s luxury hybrids will get the packaging for them from Musco’s Santa Ana-based Skits LLC, which makes a high-end brand of cases and bags … Irvine Company’s brand has long been known for Mediterranean influences, but there’s a Continental aspect to a lobby makeover at Irvine Towers that features tiles shipped from Boissy Saint Leger, a suburb of Paris that’s closer to the English Channel than the Mediterranean. Not to worry, though—the supplier has quarries in Italy and Spain, which keeps the tie to the Mediterranean intact … There’s a bit of a hospitality theme at one of Irvine Co.’s newest office buildings. Reporter Paul Hughes notes that 520 Newport Center is now home to three hotel-related outfits—Tarsadia invests in ‘em, R.D. Olson develops ‘em, and recently arrived Twenty Four Seven manages ‘em (see related story, right) … The folks at Paper Mart in Orange say craft paper, jute and raffia are big when it comes to gift wrappings this year (see related photos, item in Marketing column, page 50) … The rumor mill around Newport Center indicates that whatever changes are afoot at Fig & Olive will leave the place with a feel that’s more OC than L.A. Our Fifi Chao checks in on the buzz in her Executive Dining column on page 18 … Big move in Little Saigon: Brodard’s decision to take its famous spring rolls out of Garden Grove means the loss of a big draw for the Mall of Fortune, a Westminster Avenue strip mall where scads of customers line up to buy thousands of the restaurant’s spring rolls daily. Good for Fountain Valley, where a new location is expected to open at Edinger and Brookhurst sometime next year. Now let’s see if the shift of the original Brodard’s—the fancier Brodard Chateau will remain on Trask Avenue in Garden Grove—prods what seems to be a budding makeover for the Mall of Fortune, where a decidedly utilitarian feel has gotten more interesting lately, thanks to a couple of hot spots that reach beyond the neighborhood’s tight focus on traditional Vietnamese fare, with Garlic & Chives drawing big crowds, and a Honeymee ice cream counter recently arrived … Head to Dunarea on Euclid Avenue in Anaheim and order the guláš for a taste of one of OC’s smaller ethnic communities—the Romanian-Americans who find the comfort of familiarity there. Enjoy the fresh bread and the way dill brings out the best in simple salads for a reminder of why Old Country recipes make it all the way over to new neighborhoods here … The Bowers Museum’s ongoing Virgin of Guadalupe Images in Colonial Mexico exhibit is notable for a number of reasons, including the chance to consider paintings done with oil on copper—definitely worth a look. Here’s a request for a follow-up: An exhibit that provides insights on the role of this object of veneration—also known as Our Lady of Guadalupe—in a Roman Catholic sense, as well as a local, secular context. Many folks of other faiths likely wonder how it has become a staple of street culture in Latino-American neighborhoods and beyond.