Figgy Pudding. Photo courtesy of AYC.

Allston Yacht Club recently won a bit of a battle with the City of Los Angeles – a permit hearing on Thursday, October 27, 2011 ended in the restaurant’s favor, granting it an exemption from the city’s strict parking requirements. This means you won’t find a valet posted out front, and while you might have to look for your own parking, there’s usually plenty of it around.

In addition to the change in parking conditions, they also received a conditional use permit to serve food on the patio, extend hours to 2:00 am on Friday and Saturday, legalize happy hour and the advertisement of alcoholic beverages, and limited entertainment inside the restaurant.

But not a whole lot will change around AYC just yet (they are still tying up some loose ends), except of course for its new fall menu. We missed the holiday cocktail tasting, but LAist got a stab at the libations, which included the Accursed Fruitcake (Applejack, ginger beer, apple cider and “inebriated fruits”), Hot Spiced Cider (two types of rum, Canton Liquer) and the Figgy Pudding (fig infused bourbon, egg white, egg nog, cinnamon simple syrup, nutmeg). If you don’t get a chance to try these before the holidays, you might impress some Turkey day guests by trying some recipes AYC provided last year.

We’ve also heard on the grapevine that they’ll be expanding their beer selections, which seems natural as there’s a lot of beer competition in Echo Park these days.

If you’re hungry, AYC’s fall menu includes some delectable updates, including: Warm mushroom salad, double fried Korean style wings (pictured), Dashi whitefish stew, mussels and house made sausage with white wine and garlic. While we normally enjoy the Wicked Wednesday deal (plates are just $5), write this might require a little date night tonight!

Double Fried Korean Style Wings. Photo courtesy of AYC.