Since becoming entangled in a zoning battle to serve food until 4 a.m., the Commonwealth Café in North Park’s “restaurant row” is slated to open next week, but will initially operate from noon to midnight each day until the city amends its license to stay open later.

“We’re guilty by location,” said Owner Leighton Hollingsworth, referring to complaints lodged by residents over the noise generated by the neighboring Bluefoot Bar, which brought increased attention to the area’s zoning regulation that restricts businesses from operating past midnight. Leighton is seeking a “neighborhood use” permit to skirt the issue and started a “goodwill petition” recently to gain support from local residents, citing that the retro-style café doesn’t plan to serve alcohol, nor does it present parking issues. For more information, visit www.thecommonwealthcafe.com.

Gay chocolatier William Gustwiller is opening a dessert café called Chocolat on El Cajon Boulevard in University Heights next month. The space will seat about 30 people and feature interior windows where customers can watch chocolate being made. Among the edible offerings: homemade pastries, flavored truffles and espresso drinks, all featuring the starring ingredient, plus David Rio teas from San Francisco. For more information, call (619) 504-5310.

A mini wave of yogurt shops has descended upon Hillcrest, with the recent opening of the futuristic-designed Yog-Art on University Avenue, along with the impending arrivals of trendy Pinkberry on Robinson Street and Tutti Frutti on Park Boulevard.

Customers of Kemo Sabe in Hillcrest can literally sing praise over the restaurant’s cherished dish, “skirts on fire” and other Pacific Rim favorites by taking part in karaoke from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., on Saturdays. And if you’re lucky, you might just see Executive Chef Deborah Scott at the mic belting out classic tunes as her way of saying, “Thanks for eating here.” The restaurant is located at 3958 Fifth Ave.

Zenbu in La Jolla is taking advantage of lobster season by debuting a variety of specials that include lobster spring rolls, lobster coconut bisque, lobster-scallop ceviche and more, beginning early next month. The promotion runs through March 22. Owners Matt and Jacqueline Rimel will receive daily deliveries totaling more than 200 pounds of the delicacy caught exclusively by local fishermen from Rimel’s seafood company. For more information, call (858) 454-4540.

After traveling to Alba, Italy for its annual White Truffle Festival, Chef Bryant Wigger of Vivace restaurant at the Four Seasons Point in Carlsbad will present à la carte and prix-fixé menus in late October, highlighting white truffles, which are considered the costliest and rarest in their phylum. The prized fungi will appear in such dishes as air-infused white truffle poached egg, truffled caviar with smoked sea scallops, truffle risotto, Montana-aged bistecca and more. For reservations, call (760) 603-6800.

They called it “fruited cock water” in the 17th Century, then later “moonshine,” but in modern booze culture we embrace it as brandy and whiskey. San Diego author Matthew B. Rowley takes readers on an illustrious journey through the history of home stills while offering less-than-discrete guidance for turning fruit into firewater in his new book, Moonshine! The 175-page tome emphasizes that private distilling is illegal without licenses and permits, but deaf ears will gleefully soak up Rowley’s authoritative advice for achieving perfected end results.