Meeko on Main

Old Bank District Lights

2012-02-08T18:40:00.001-08:00

Light at OBD garage, originally uploaded by meekorouse.

Back in November of last year, I posted some photos of the Old Bank District folks unloading these screens off a flatbed truck. They were eventually installed on the OBD garage.

They were put up shortly before the rest of the holiday decorations, but unlike the decorations, these blue "curtain" lights are still up. Not sure if they'll be permanent or not, or why the curtain shape (we were thinking they'd maybe project stuff in the opening part but I've never seen anything like that).

Just in case they take it down, I wanted to make sure everyone (who actually looks here) can see how that installation turned out. I must say the blue glow in our loft is rather nicet.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

2012-02-02T23:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Last Saturday we walked up to Chinatown for the Golden Dragon Parade, the annual Chinese New Year parade in DTLA. We met up with Steven, (an old friend of Sean's) for breakfast at HomeGirl Cafe (yum!) then the three of us headed over to to the Parade kickoff area to check things out, say hi to some folks and then stake our spot in front of the Chinese Historical Society building this year..

Steven and Sean in front of the Chinese Historical Society of SoCal after the parade.

Here's a few of the images I took while we were out and about:

You can see the whole flickr set HERE

The Return of the Trashcan..

2011-11-19T10:32:00.001-08:00

The trashcan near the corner of 4th and Main disappeared a short while back (we're not sure since we've been out of town off & on the last couple months). Yesterday there were workman installing a new replacement:

The workman had to literally climb inside the bin to weld it in place.

Yeah. It was a slow day. =)

Most Wonderful Time Coming Soon!

2011-11-15T16:53:00.001-08:00

A chance view out the window had us spotting a big flatbed truck parked across the street this afternoon:

So what's under those tarps??

Holiday lights are here!

They were pulled off the truck:

and then carried off to be stored temporarily..

Assuming they'll go up within the next week (since Thanksgiving is next week) and our neighborhood will begin to look all festive again:

Lights on 4th Street between Spring and Main,(photo from Dec 2008).

**UPDATE** Indeed they are holiday lights but not for 4th Street.. They'll start work in the next day or so I've been told.

Dinner at the Nickel

2011-10-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

The Nickel all ready for Halloween

The last couple times we've eaten at the Nickel it was for lunch. Hearing about a new dinner menu from Kristen, we made a point to go there Wednesday night.

New items include a variation on the chicken & dumpling, appetizers like the double stuffed artichoke and the white bean soup.

Double Stuffed artichoke is stuffed with its own artichoke hearts and mashed potatoes.

We also split an order of fried chicken drumettes with maple bacon jam served with polenta and braised kale.

I preferred the drumettes over the stuffed artichoke. The maple bacon jelly was had just a little (yummy!) spiciness to it, and we couldn't really tell there was bacon involved, but the drumettes were still very good.

We also split an order of the "Frim Fram Sauce with Ausen Fey with Sha Fa Fa on the Side"

This is that variation of chicken and dumplings which comes with a side of lemon cream sauce and herbs. It's served in a little soup tureen.

This is a very hearty soup..

Here's a close-up of those yummy dumplings and pieces of chicken.. I put a little bit of the herbs on my spoon. It gave a nice bit of seasoning:

SeanYoda said the lemon cream sauce "added a nice tangy flavor" to the soup. I imagine had we not shared this it would have been way too much for one person.

NIckel Diner
524 S Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Semi Sweet Now Open!

2011-10-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

After several months of build-out, inspections, and anticipation, Semi Sweet Bakery officially opened today in the Santa Fe Lofts (near 6th and Main).

"Ding-a-lings" of various flavors including red velvet and traditional were available..

pound cake, triple chip cookies, cheese danishes..

Apple and Cinnamon "Pop Pies" and Lemon Current Scones

The Blueberry Corn Bread looked really delicious..

We picked up a couple of those "Triple Chip Cookies"

Along with the cookies, we picked up a red velvet "ding-a-ling" to try and a slice of the maple bacon sticky bun..

Yes, maple bacon sticky buns!! We split a slice before lunch.. It was so delicious.. not too sweet not too bacon-y (as if there was such a thing!) Very repeatable treat!

According to their Twitter account ( @SemiSweetBakery ) will be open Tuesdays through Sunday from 8am- 4pm initially. Right now they are just soft-opening and are getting their wares out gradually. I inquired about those savory buns and she expects to get her meat delivery worked out within the week and will be adding those items requiring meat to her menu soon.

As you can see by my images they seem to have several sweet choices to choose from. Their coffee is provided by New Frontier Coffee Roasters out of Century City.

Be sure and go by and check the place out.. and maybe get a cookie or some of the yummy sticky buns. As having just tried one, I highly recommend it! Based on what I've seen so far, there is definitely a niche for Semi Sweet in our neighborhood and welcome addition. Being a local DTLA resident you can feel right about supporting another local business owner.

Semi Sweet Bakery
105 E 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Tel: 213-228-9975

New Genesis Apartments in White

2011-10-24T08:43:00.001-07:00

New Genesis Apartments in White
Originally uploaded by meekorouse

I'm guessing they've been working on the interiors and are wanting to protect the work site from possible rain by tenting. It's still early this morning and the fog hasn't burned off.

Semi Sweet October

2011-09-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

With a pie shop set to open in a few days in the Arts District, you'd think things couldn't get any sweeter downtown but you'd be wrong. Sharlena Fong is closer to opening her brick and mortar "Semi- Sweet Bakery" on 6th Street. How much closer to opening? How does a couple weeks sound?

Sharlena Fong outside her bakery space at 6th and Main earlier this year.

You may know the Old Bank District resident by her famous maple bacon glazed donuts that put the Nickel Diner in the spotlight those early days. Maybe you've had her chocolate chip cookies, a favorite treat at all the past bookclub meetings at Metropolis Books. I spoke with her on the record back in March for a BlogDowntown article.

At the time she was hoping for a summer opening. Things don't always go according to schedule, especially when it's a storefront you're trying to open on your own, all while keeping your bakery company going. Passing by the shop every few weeks you knew something was progressing but what?

Husband Sean and I passed by Semi Sweet yesterday after lunch (at the Nickel of course) and we struck gold. Sharlena was in and we were able to get a quick tour and update on the bakery.

The shop's entrance is at an angle as the bakery is sandwiched between P&P and Las Perlas. As you walk in, your eye goes to the beautiful new bakery display case:

Here's a fuzzy view (it's with my iPhone and we were just leaving) of the neat wooden cases on the wall behind the bakery case:

The walls are painted blue and a beautiful crown molding and medallion effect is installed in the seating area (the medallions will be replaced with wall sconces before opening). Here's a quick shot of that really nice long bar for window seating out front:

The reason for the rushed photos is that while we were chatting about the kitchen and looking at the neat convection ovens and the six burner gas stove, the gas company showed up to turn the gas on. We had to cut our little impromptu visit short. Great excuse, no?

Before the gas man showed up Sharlena shared that if all goes as planned (and it should at this point hopefully) she may be soft opening Semi-Sweet the week of 17 October... So keep an eye out. Better yet, "like" Semi Sweet on facebook and see the neat photos of their kitchen area (including those convection ovens) and see the updates as they are posted there.

Semi Sweet Bakery
105 E. 6th Street (in the Sante Fe Lofts building)
L.A. CA 90014

Last Day at Metropolis Books

2011-09-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Exterior of the Canadian Building as it is today. Julie Swayze, owner & proprietor of Metropolis Books can be seen standing outside her storefront.

It's with a bit of Melancholy that I share the news that today is the last day of Metropolis Books operating in the brick and mortar location on Main Street. Owner Julie Swayze was busy packing away the last several boxes of books, loading them into a U-Haul (and later a van) as she was emptying her store out.

What book inventory that remained was being dispersed to various non-profits including a retirement home, a women's shelter and a couple public libraries, (to include the Pasadena Public Library). Julie says she hopes to wrap up today so it's finished. No lingering last quiet hours to contemplate this part of the journey of her life. She's a very busy women.

While chatting with her, one of the recipients of her donations had arrived to pick up their allotment of books. Within minutes, Downtown dweller and small business advocate Brady Westwater arrived with a cart. He was there to pick up one of the store's bookcases he purchased during the "everything must go" portion of the store's sale.. During the last couple weeks, pretty much anyone had a chance to purchase the store furniture, fixtures, framed art and poster prints straight off the walls. Now Metropolis Books will be not just a happy memory of place and time for many Historic Core neighbors but a a physical part of our home. (Yes, I too managed to pick up a small bookcase from Julie).

What's next? Julie will still have the online portion of Metropolis Books, but she will now be freed up to keep her main focus tending to an ailing family member, which will require much more of the attention, love and support that she gave to our neighborhood. Julie provided a place of community, a support for local artists and writers; A place where neighbors could get one on one customer service, a bent ear of commiseration or share a laugh.

Julie may have spent five years on Main Street, but she's earned a permanent place in the heart and history of Downtown LA.

disclaimer: If you think this is too sappy, come back and read this again in a couple weeks when the bookstore's closure has finally hit you. =) Hugs and best wishes to Steve and Julie and to Julie's family on the new part of the journey.

NOLA's A Taste of New Orleans

2011-09-26T14:38:00.001-07:00

NOLA's opened a month or so ago in the former E 3rd Steakhouse location. It's owned by the same people that brought you E 3rd, Zip Fusion, and K-town BBQ. They're open for lunch, dinner and have a Jazz Brunch on Sunday.. but honestly you can come by for lunch or dinner and still enjoy some live jazz.

NOLA's Taste of New Oreans at 3rd & Traction..

They have about six beers on tap: Spaaten, Sierra Nedava, Blue Moon, and for those that want a little New Orleans: Jackamo IPA are the ones I recall seeing behind the counter a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately they don't have a menu online but they do have images of the menu on their Facebook page.

Last week after the Arts District neighborhood walk we had dinner there. I ordered the Cajun Bloody Mary and was pleasantly surprised. My favorite bloody mary is still the one I got at Commander's Palace last year, with the one from Jazz Kitchen in Anaheim (it's got that crab boil on the edge and is zesty & spicy)

The one at NOLA's is in my top five. They put the jalapeno in the Bloody Mary, not on the side. That definitely gives it a bit of kick. I will definitely order it again!

How authentic are they? As far as menu offerings there's something for everyone. As far as that spiciness I like, my Bloody Mary was the best part. Thankfully there's Tabasco for everything else. I'm guessing it's tame so those who've never had New Orleans style food can season to taste (and I suggest you do or you'll leave disappointed like another friend of mine did on another visit)

Mini Cornbread muffins with cinnamon butter spread.. were sweet and just the right size.

Red Beans and rice, a New Orleans standard had bits of turkey meat cooked in it

Sean ordered the Beans and Rice with fried chicken.

While I didn't try the chicken, Sean said he thought Popeye's was better.. =(

I ordered the Jambalaya:

Jambalaya is a rice dish with chicken and pork andouille sausage mixed in. YUM!

The dish was huge. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be family style or not, but based on how much is served in the entree, you can easily share the dish with one or two other people.

DInner was a little bit pricey. The total for 2 entrees and 3 drinks came to around $70. Not something we can do too often. Sean suggested when we come back that we do a split plate. We each had a cup of my own dinner and about a cup of Sean's beans and rice and still had a considerable amount of leftovers to reheat the next day for lunch. Splitting our plate would also have allowed for room for dessert which I wasn't able to order as I had no room, even after walking a couple hours that night.

I would definitely want to come back here, perhaps try the Jazz brunch. That said you can hear music of varying styles (and decibels) every day. One thing I would suggest for those trying to go on a date or have a conversation, sit toward the back of the restaurant (near the entrance). Otherwise, you will want to bring a notepad & pen with you. In their defense, I'd been here a couple weeks ago and the band playing that night was not only good, but played at a moderate level so you could converse with the person at the bar next to you.

NOLA's A Taste of New Orleans
734 E. 3rd St. (at Traction)
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Changing Concepts on Broadway

2011-09-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

One wouldn't be wrong in wondering if this location next to the Broadway McDonald's was cursed. There's any number of places around downtown like this, where a new restaurant or cafe will open and shutter within a year only to open a new concept just to close yet again. From "Hoagies & Wings" to "Kalbi BBQ" to "Teriyaki and Burgers" (which should be opening 'soon') you keep hoping for these mom & pops to make it.. to pull through and keep going.

I liked Hoagies & Wings.. It wasn't anything I could eat regular on my current lifestyle plan, but it was good (& greasy in a good way). They seemed to do alright for lunch but aside from the initial lunchtime hype, business seemed to taper off. Whether it was location, hours, or delivery options.. who's to say? They closed.

A few months later the Kalbi BBQ opened up and they too seemed to make a go of it, but like Hoagies & Wings they seemed to be empty of customers many times I passed by there. I am a bit embarrassed to say I never made it over there to try it. I always thought about it after the fact (after I'd eaten lunch at Starry Kitchen which I am still happy and amazed with). The Kalbi place sounded good and simple. I don't know if it lasted a year.. It shuttered maybe a month or two ago.

Now this:

Teriyaki & Burger "coming soon"

I guess if I want to put my money where my mouth is literally I need to be sure and check this place out when it opens. I"m honestly not excited about teriyaki and burgers.. like the predecessor, it's a simple concept that should attract a wide range of customers around downtown. It's up to locals to support it and for the business owners to get the word out about their place and have hours that are attractive to loft dwellers. It's not enough to be a lunch place and leave the loft dwellers out of your business model. It's not enough to have delivery (no idea if this place will have it or not) but only deliver to a short radius, or close early. Yes the stores on Broadway might close early but the thousands of potential hungry customers that live downtown are always looking for good, fast, affordable meals.

So now that it's on the radar we'll keep an eye out for it.

The Pie Hole LA Arriving Soon!

2011-09-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

News of "The Pie Hole" taking over the former Ay Carumba! restaurant location at 714 Traction has circulated as early as June or July, (maybe earlier?) So the fact they are working on their build-out isn't news, nor that they'll be opening by the end of September.

The fact they have a facebook and twitter account (where you can read in 140 characters or less about the Strawberry or the Chocolate Silk Pie).. or perhaps the fact they are working with GroundWork Coffee to provide some excellent roasts to accompany their sweet and savory pies might be news...

With only a handful of weeks before the planned opening, visible change is evident including a cutout of what is rumored to be a service window:

It's yet to be seen if this is the case or if it's another store window to bring more light into what was previously a dark kitchen and self-serve cooler area.

Word on the street is that the mural that was painted for Ay Carumba! will be painted over with new art.

The Pie Hole LA
714 Traction Ave
Facebook and twitter: @ThePieHoleLA

LA Reflection Plans to Open Next Week

2011-09-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

Located at the breezeway of the LAPD Headquarters courtyard, LA Reflection has been poised to make its debut for weeks (if not months). Pending a Health Department visit ("within the next day or two") the upscale restaurant will be given the OK to open..

Speaking with an unnamed source at the restaurant, they might have sneak preview tastings on Thursday or Friday around lunch,(no specific time was given). Monday the 19th is a private dinner. They'll be soft-opening to the public for lunch Tuesday the 20th,(breakfast and dinner service will be added in approximate two week, staggered increments).

According to their website, the menu will offer a mix of International flavors: American or Mediterranean meals, specialty pizzas (including a "build your own" pizza) sushi, soups, salads, and desserts. The menu may firm up some based on feedback from patrons.

LA Reflection
155 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213)625-5011

"The Archway Theatre" Coming to Al's Bar..

2011-09-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

The sun had already set in the Arts District near Traction and Hewitt as our small group, [Scot Ezzell (Joel Bloom weekly walk torch-bearer), myself and the 2 Arts District BID officers] returned from our travels around the Arts District.

The American Hotel was bathed in semi-darkness, but you could still see there have been some recent changes. Most of the paste-up art and graphics were peeled off the back half of the building's wall and a door to the left of the hotel's entrance was thrown open.

As the light spilled out the door of the former Al's Bar, movement and voices were perceived. Work was well underway as we spot two gentleman renovating the interior.

"Is it a new Bar?"

"Is it a restaurant?"

Steven Sabel,(Managing Artistic Director of the new theatre on Hewitt) replied that no, not a restaurant or bar, but a Studio/Theatre.
The Archway Studio/Theatre.

The Archway will be the scene of various plays,musical performances, comedy shows and special events, among other activities.. They aspire to a grand opening on the 15th of October with their first production to occur on the 27th.

That first production will be a variation on MacBeth.. "Macbeth: Shakespeare's Natural Born Killers" Sounds like fun, doesn't it? A call for auditions has already gone out in several theatre/ trade magazines and will be held this weekend, September 11th and 12th.

You can view the casting notice HERE

As for us who are either too shy and don't have that acting resume, we have well over another month before we see the finishing touches on the theater. Word on the street is that the pastings have been peeled off so a mural can be installed on the wall outside The Archway.

Once open, (according to their website) the studio will offer "..a full complement of available classes in a variety of yoga practices and styles, theatrical skills and techniques, and stage performance."

The Archway Theatre
305 South Hewitt St.,
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Revisiting the Past at Metropolis Books

2011-09-04T16:27:00.000-07:00

Noted local author, proprietor of Libros Schmibros (a lending library in Boyle Heights), "bookstore activist" and former NEA staff member David Kipen revisited Metropolis Books on the 230th anniversary of the founding of Los Angeles. He appeared in support of Los Angeles in the 1930s a WPA guide to the city, now re-issued and includes an introduction by Kipen.

Kipen's appearance brings a closure on the bookstore's five year run supporting local talent and books. It was noted by proprietors Julie Swayze and Steve Bowie that Kipen was the first local author to appear at Metropolis when they originally opened, and as they are nearing their last month in business, he's closing out as their last book signing.

Kipen read an excerpt from the book,(a description of the former Stock Exchange on Spring).. The Federal Writers Project authors' use of word was something that was a joy to read and poetry on the ear. Kipen took questions about the book itself or just about anything on LA... One person inquiring about the social community of artists and writers of the WPA.

The event finished with a request by Kipen to sing "Happy Birthday" to the City of LA before he met with attendees and signed copies of his books.

Julie videotaped this event as she has done for events many times in the past and I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes part of the documentary she's working on.. The working title is "The Last 30 Days: the Closing of Metropolis Books" If you go to the Metropolis website, you'll see Julie's getting coverage by local news along with some of the press she's received in the last couple months.

The store's last day of business will be the 29th of September.. so a few more weeks to visit our neighborhood store and pick up some books (at the moment most of the books are going for 30% off).

As an aside, I consider Julie and Steve downtown neighbors and friends. Despite knowing it's because of family and their need to start a new path that doesn't include the bookstore, they and the bookstore will be missed. It was indeed part of the community and a quality place to find some very good reads.

METROPOLIS BOOKS
440 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
@metropolisbooks

Lunch at Cole's

2011-09-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

If you want to 'getaway' without leaving the neighborhood there's not a better place to go on a mini vacation than Cole's.

Cole's was the place I went back in June 2006 for "Brother Mike" Schneider's 100th Rate a Restaurant meetup.. I can't say I could feel anymore like a tourist than I did that day.

It was talk of downtown that fateful day with Eric Richardson of Blogdowntown and Celia and Jim (Winstead) that put to mind the things we were lacking out in the burbs.. that put our wheels spinning to eventually move downtown.

We did move downtown October 2006, and we're pretty happy. DTLA lacks many of the conveniences we were used to living in the Bay Area (where Sean is originally from) but it's a city in transition. It feels like it's kicking the training wheels off after having not been up to speed in a while. Lots of bumps along the way.. It's not the city our friends think it is.. not the booming glamorous metropolis our out-of-state friends imagine; nor is it the grimy, crime-ridden death trap that some not so local think it might be.

I like my neighborhood, I like downtown. If I'm going to live in SoCal this is where I'm glad to be.. Just enough community spirit and activism and just small-town enough to make it cozy.

I'm going off the track for a reason I guess because having lunch at Cole's made me ruminate on that. The years that people have tried to make it here, find their own local spot and their own niche.. I don't hang out at Cole's. Since it's transition from hole-in-the-wall hangout to clean, retro chic. It's a hangout of another kind. Still worthwhile, still historic.. and they do make those dip sandwiches.

I'm not going to go on about whose is better.. I will say I am a big fan of the bacon potato salad. It's always a treat.. and for another time, the once New Orleans resident in me noted the Zapp's chips in the host station at the entrance (on our way out of course). Assuming there's a next time.. I might have to go with that just so they keep them in stock.

The thing is, we don't go to Cole's too often.. maybe one or two times a year for all the years we've lived here. Few enough times I always feel like a tourist when I eat here and can enjoy the cushy booths and the quiet solitude of not running into anyone in particular. At night it's a totally different story, with plenty of locals and Westsiders and business folks fresh off work hitting up the Association or trying to squeeze into Varnish, the little "speakeasy" in the back.

I'm not a bar scene kind of person.. I think those days are long gone for me. I do like the neighborhood scene though, and that's enough.

Art Walk Patrol

2011-08-11T18:31:00.001-07:00

Along with LAPD bicycle patrols, LAPD was seen walking their horses up Main Street.

After Last month's tragic accident involving a car parallel parking on Spring, banning the food trucks, art parks and stepped up police patrols seems to be the immediate response.

While picking up dinner and a movie, the sidewalks still seemed a bit busy at 4th and Main.

It's yet to be seen how the changes will affect tonight's Art Walk.

Awning is off Banquette

2011-08-08T09:33:00.001-07:00

Awning is off Banquette
Originally uploaded by meekorouse

While the sounds of construction for new tenant Baco goes on behind the scenes, the awning of OBD favorite "Banquette Cafe & Wine Bar" has been dismantled from the facade of the San Fernando Building.

Lunch at The Spice Table

2011-07-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

The Spice Table opened earlier this year (in the space of the former Cuba Central) specializing in Singaporean/Vietnamese style food. We've yet to try dinner there and only got around to having lunch today; it's important to note that as the lunch is a simple menu of sandwich and side offerings. There's about five different Banh Mi style sandwiches to choose from and range in price from $7 (for the chicken) up to $9 (for the fried catfish). Sides like the spicy sweet potato chips or the Napa cabbage slaw are available separately.

Lunch is ordered at the counter and the food is brought out to your table. Drink (coke products, juice, coffee and tea) are available.. The cold drinks are self-serve from a couple big buckets of ice at the end of the counter as you're headed to a table in the dining area. Sean and I both ordered the cold cut sandwich:

coldcut: Vietnamese ham, paté, headcheese, garlic mayo, pickled carrots, pickled daikon, cucumber, cilantro, jalapeños)

Sean ordered the spicy sweet potato chips as his side and I ordered the slaw.. We split them so we could try both..

Spicy Sweet Potato Chips

Slaw: napa cabbage, carrots, crushed peanuts, scallions, mint, fried shallots, pepper-lime dressing

The sweet potato chips wavered between crispy and bendy but were very good and were dusted with (I'm guessing) sea salt.. The slaw was creamy and the cabbage firm and crunchy. The crushed peanuts were a nice enhancement. I'm assuming those with a nut allergy will want to stay away from the slaw though.

One thing that surprised me was that despite our ordering in, our lunch arrived in "to go" style:

paper-wrapped banh mi and slaw.

No matter as we were able to eat in leisure, savoring our lunch and enjoying the rustic ambiance of the cafe. I was actually looking forward to checking out the interior after having talked with Matt Stroud of Timeline last year. It was Matt and his company Timeline that created that prefinished wood look on the front counter, tables and chairs at Spice Table. Seeing his hard work put into practical application was neat. Along with the metal and brick, the whole place seems very cozy and comfortable at lunch.

The food was really good and despite the higher than expected price point (husband Sean reminded me that for the price of just the sandwich we could have had a Banh Mi with sides for about the same at Starry Kitchen. Starry Kitchen doesn't do sweet potato chips or a cold cut sandwich..) I get his point, though. Lunch for two was about $30... ouch.

I think Spice Table has its own merit though and worth another visit. I hear they do a pork belly sandwich that has a two week process in its preparation. I'd be back to try that if I could, and maybe the curried fried chicken wings, oh, and the chips. I really liked those. =)

Now Dinner.. that's a whole different adventure.. and hopefully we'll get around to that sooner than it took us to get there for lunch. Was it worth it? Yes. I'm just not sure I can make it a weekly thing.

The Spice Table
114 S Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA. 90012
213.620.1840

If you want to view my set on Flickr: HERE

Our Trip to the Doctor

2011-06-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

Those that follow me on Facebook know that Sean has been under the weather. The short story is "he is feeling better" the long story..

Sean had a chipped wisdom tooth extracted a couple Fridays ago.. but then as it healed he had a sore throat.. I don't recall having a sore throat after my wisdom teeth (3) were extracted, but I had a different procedure I think.. Sean got his at the dental office, and I went elsewhere & was knocked out as they had to do minor surgery on my mouth to remove the impacted molars.

To be clear we don't think the extraction was the ultimate cause of his sore throat.. this was just something considered at first when this started happening "oh maybe it's your mouth healing from the extraction?"

Sean was gargling regular with warm salt water but that wasn't helping. His throat/roof of his mouth continued to swell and he was unable to talk. He was running a fever from at least Wednesday of last week.

Friday after my contact lens follow up.. we walked down to 7th Street to catch the "E Dash" bus and headed to City West area of Downtown. We got off at the stop by the Mayfair Hotel and walked the 2 or 3 blocks to an Urgent Care place, (which was only a couple blocks from Good Samaritan itself). Sean doesn't have a doctor still (but one of our DTLA neighbor friends gave us a referral so maybe we'll go with that one?!)

The urgent care place, ("US Healthworks") on a Friday mid-morning was not a bad situation.. Unlike the Walk-In ER at Good Samaritan there were no drunk, unbathed patients throwing up on themselves. There were no mentally ill people bothering the nurses station for a bed, (maybe that happens at night?)

At the US urgent care place we had a place to sit while we waited, there was no line of people in the hallway having to stand because there was no place for them. The room was actually clean and pretty quiet given how many people were in there. There was a TV in one corner mounted to the ceiling, and a couple vending machines (one a big coffee vending thing I didn't get near.. the candy machine I just glanced at, but it didn't have anything healthy in it at all). The whole process was a LOT shorter too.

**EDIT:

We were there a total of maybe two hours. When at the walk-in ER it can take anywhere from 5 to 8 hours just to be seen. While the urgent care place isn't ideal (it's best to have your own doctor and make appointments but sometimes you just can't, either because you don't have a doctor or you don't have insurance.

That's often the situation in many US cities.. Downtown LA isn't much different.

****END EDIT***

Part of what sped the process was that Sean had printed and filled out the paperwork at home and brought it in with him. He signed in and got called up twice: once for his paperwork and a second time to pay his co-pay. Sean has insurance through work. I know many people don't and have to go to the walk-in ER or hopefully to places like this which are a cleaner and more pleasant experience.

We waited again to be called to see a doctor. That part took about 30 or 40 minutes. The entire process took about two hours. The longest waiting was waiting to be called up to be processed. Somehow knowing you are going to be seen soon makes it a little easier. I checked my twitter and watched Dr Oz for some of the wait. (I'm still trying to figure out what Walnut Oil does for you... I couldn't hear that part of his program I just was advised it's good against "belly fat" (do you cook with it?? put it on salads? what?!) I may never know!)

Sean was diagnosed with advanced Strep throat.. So he's taking antibiotics twice a day with food.. He's still a bit run-down but he's doing much better and we were able to go see our 'double feature' yesterday.. "Sunset Blvd" at Last Remaining Seats in the morning and meeting up with friends from out of town in the afternoon for Cars 2 and dinner. We even had some ice cream at the Disney Ice Cream parlor before we headed home.

He's at home working today and hopefully will be taking it easy and not going out. He doesn't have much of an appetite and is leaning towards tea and hot soup and salads. I'm hoping by Wednesday he'll be 100%. Wednesday is "Safety Last" and the last our Last Remaining Seats tickets.

Demitasse 'Coming Soon'

2011-06-18T09:37:00.001-07:00

I don't get around like I used to, so when we were out & about walking through Little Tokyo for "Tip a Cop" at Urth Caffe, Sean (the spouse) noticed a big "CAFE" sign being erected on the side of the Kajima Building at Weller Court.

Friday I took a couple pix of the actual Cafe front..

This is the corner where that gelato store used to be.. Honestly I only went there once as it seemed a little high end at the time to me.. I'm curious to see how the new cafe turns out.

Cafe Demitasse is on Facebook and twitter, its description on the former says: "Uncompromising in our approach to all things coffee, Demitasse pursues perfection in every cup." That honestly sounds like it wants to be another Lot 44 (the place that eventually closed on Spring Street). Hopefully this place will fare a bit better considering its main competitor in the area are the 2 Starbucks.

Personally while I like good coffee (hello? Can we get a Peet's downtown???) I don't like listening to pretentious coffee people... my husband is good for that, (and less obnoxious too) ;P

I walked by and they are still working on the build out.. I'm guessing the location will be open by the end of summer.. Maybe September if I had to pin it down. There wasn't anyone to ask (it was just construction folks there it looked like). There's little to no information on their site.. other than the social media links, (and oh they are hiring!)..

Maybe someone else has heard something?

Regardless, I think there's always room for one more coffee place (how about at 4th and Main?? Now that Banquette had to close.. we need a new sidewalk hangout!) so I wish them well of course.. Welcome to Downtown!

Cafe Demitasse
135 S. San Pedro (Weller Court near 2nd Street)
@CafeDemitasse on twitter and search for "Demitasse" on Facebook.

Lunch at Urth Caffe

2011-06-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

Thursday was Tip a Cop at Urth Caffe, so we headed to the Arts District do our little bit. Tip a Cop is an event a public safety event involving LAPD and Special Olympics. Usually the police officers will be taking orders and serving up the food, with all tips going to Special Olympics.

We were wondering how this would work at Urth Caffe, which is a cafe that doesn't really involve table service so much as they bring the food out to the table after you order and pay at the counter. It turns out the cops weren't serving when we were there.. but we did get talk to the folks out front and ended up making our donation.

Lunch was really good.. For drinks Sean had the iced tea and I ordered a Spice Chai Boba.. We both ordered lunches that involved salad:

"Light Lunch Combo" which is a soup and salad combo..

Sean opted for the vegetarian chili... He said it was good but the consistency was more like 'soup' than traditional chili. He really enjoyed the fresh bread that accompanied his lunch.

My lunch was the Heirloom Tomatoes and Burrata Salad..

I had to leave 2/3 of the cheese behind so I didn't get in trouble on my diet, but I did sample the lower half of my bread accompaniment.. and I agree the bread is yummy! I wished I'd eaten the entire piece.

We got dessert and that's what really blew our lunch for us.. but can you blame us?

Urth Caffe Banana Cream Pie!

sliced.. with detail of the amazing graham cracker crust..

LOVED the banana cream pie! Definitely too much for one person.. and if you just want to try it, have 3 friends with you and you'll still get more than 2 bites worth.

We hadn't been to Urth Caffe in quite some time, so Tip a Cop gave us a good reason to trek out there (it's about a 20min walk from Main Street) and going off-peak lunch we were able to find a seat.

The only downside,(and this was the same problem the last time we came here together) is that we already had our food and were eating before my drink showed up. Our bill for lunch, dessert & the two drinks came to $45, another reason we don't go out of our way to eat here.. When you do, it's worth it. The food is excellent.. the service.. not consistent.

Urth Caffe
451 South Hewitt Street
(Hewitt and 5th)

Coly's Stromboli

2011-05-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Coly's Stromboli is now OPEN!

Open as of Wednesday the 25th, Coly's Stromboli (in the former Pie Boy Pizza location) at 456 S. Hill Street is all about those delicious Italian-American pocket pizzas: Strombolis.

Coly is our downtown neighbor Coly Den Haan (of "The Must" Wine Bar) and she lends her name to the new eatery, one of three locations she & her business partner, Rachel Thomas, are opening this year in the Pershing Square Building*

At Coly's they serve 5 different meat-filled varieties: the Original (which has 3 different kinds of meat),Hawaiian (which has ham and pineapple as you might expect), Pepperoni, Sausage and Peppers, and Chicken Parmesan.

They serve veggie rolls and a few salads as well.

For my first order (I called in so I could pick it up as the spouse was tied to his desk) we chose the Sausage and Peppers. I ordered a full Antipasto Salad (you can order it as a half order for a little less).

Close-up of the Sausage & Peppers Stromboli:

Sausage and Peppers: sausage, sweet peppers, onions, mozzarella, provolone, and marinara. (I halved & plated it at home)

The Stromboli was as fresh it could be considering I had to carry it from 5th & Hill to 4th & Main.. so it was still hot, the sausage had a nice zest to it, the crust not too thick, so a little damp from all the juices inside. It's served with a little side of sauce, but honestly the Stromboli is great without it. The Stromboli is about 7in long, so a good size for one person or (as we split and shown on a plate at home) good with a salad.

Speaking of the salad:

Antipasto Salad: Romaine, salami, pepperoni, garbanzo beans, olives, provolone, mozzarella, onion & peppers.

Did you see the Salami??

Close-up of a chunk of salami.. pieces are large, and the olives are whole, pitted black olives.

The salad was really great.. and the oil on the salad was rather moderate, "not too greasy" was Sean's pronouncement. I would say not greasy at all.. but I'm used to ordering salads and having to ask for the dressing on the side because so many places over-do the oil. I forgot to ask for dressing on the side but I didn't have to worry. This was great! Pretty close to perfect!

A whole salad (which I ordered) runs $7.. half that amount for a half salad.

A combo (Stromboli with chips and a 12 oz can of soda) runs $9.

I think this might become a regular thing for me..

Coly's Stromboli
456 S Hill
213-627-9990
Hours: M-F 11-5pm (currently)

*"The Perch" will be opening this summer on the rooftop and later this year "The Must" returns, opening at 5th & Hill on another floor of the Pershing Square Building.

Mural on Main

2011-04-22T11:47:00.001-07:00

Mural on Main
Originally uploaded by meekorouse

THURSDAY: As seen from 5th & Main Streets: A mural was in progress, painted on the side of the Old Bank District garage. @RawMaterials tweeted out that it was the work of Claudio Ethos.

Schnitzly Schnitzel Now Open!

2011-04-06T12:34:00.001-07:00

An email from Patti B. in our New Downtown yahoo group Thursday last week let us know that Schnitzly Schnitzel was now open. Sean had driven by a couple weeks ago when they had yet to open so it was on our radar.

Our schedule opened up where we could finally go there for lunch today. As far as we know this location on 7th near Los Angeles is associated with the location on Pico near Beverly Hills.

exterior of Schnitzly on 7th near Los Angeles.. not the best shot but there's a lot of characters hovering about.. (the fellow talking loudly on his phone excluded.. he was a fellow customer looking for a business associate late for lunch.. no I didn't ask, he just was really loud).

Nevermind that and go inside. It's really nice (and there's lots of seating though I didn't get a shot):

A long counter where your salad is made to order (lettuce, tomato, pickles, red onions or grilled onions.. and several scrumptious sauces are available for your fixings) Scnitzels come in a variety of flavors..

Sean went with the Garlic Schnitzel & had the garlic mayo with it..

Various salads are available: Schnitzel, steak, and a healthy salad.. I went with the Schnitzel Salad (Indian flavored):

Like the sandwiches, the salad is huge. While the salad itself isn't anything exciting, the schnitzel is good!! I had sweet chili sauce and garlic mayo on mine (but was advised the chimichurri is good too!)

They have canned soda (like coke zero!) Snapple etc.. in a cooler at the end of the long counter.. Since they just opened it's still cash only. Lunch for the two items came to about $24.

HOURS: Monday through Thursday 930-6pm and Friday 930-3pm
213.488.9511

No website yet.

I guess I should post more?

2011-04-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

Wow no update since January. I'd tell you what I was up to for the last two months but it has nothing to do with downtown.. which means this blog is pretty limited.

On the other hand I've been updating my "diet blog" a couple times a week. I've lost 20lbs on Weight Watchers (we're doing the online version b/c I hate the idea of having to show up somewhere every week & confess my sins of not drinking enough liquids or explaining to a stranger why I opted for some Fresh & Easy chocolate..) I have about another 50 lbs to go. Yeah. Sitting on your butt really does harm your health.

The last story I did for Blogdowntown was last month on Sharlena's new place that will be opening in the summer. "Semi Sweet" I think it'll be a neat place and she'll be offering a really wide range of savory items.. not just the sweet stuff she's known for.

I've been to Michigan to visit my brother the week of St Patrick's Day. He's been very ill so I was grateful I got to spend time with him when I had the chance. I'll be headed back sometime this summer for a family gathering to celebrate his life.. He passed on not a week after I saw him. No I don't want to talk about it.

Honestly after that, blogging just doesn't seem so crucial at the moment. I haven't gotten out much in the past couple weeks either, so I really am not up on what's going on.

So what am I doing with my time?

I'm working on another of my new year's resolutions to do the family tree. My dad gave me a nice wedge of info to kick-start me again. I was up to 4am this morning working on it and got a little further along than what my dad had info for, so that's good. I'm working on my biological family tree as well. That's a totally different story not downtown related that I'm aware. There are some half-siblings I'm looking for but I don't think they live in DTLA; assuming they're living I'm leaning toward the IE and the bay area.. that's where I"m at with those clues.

Honestly the only thing I can scrape together that's even downtown related is the amount of dust that filters through our not-so-sealed 100year old windows. My allergies have been kicking up with the dust.. Sneezing by both me & the cats is pretty rampant here.

I'm trying to organize our stuff.. Going through stuff, boxing up the clutter and putting it all in one place to be gone through with Sean later: the stuff, not all of it mine, so it's not for me to just get rid of it. But yeah, looking at our place you'd never know I was into Simplicity.. not to mention I have a collecting gene myself I fight against. =)

I'm contemplating "Book Crossing" some of my older fiction books to clear some shelf space. Maybe donating to the library is quicker and less tedious, but Book Crossing might be fun too. I haven't Book Crossed anything since Berkeley maybe.. (my memory is going) and the couple books I sent 'into the wild' never really went anywhere, except an Ruth Rendell galley book.. which I guess horrified the reader who found it. Yeah, it was a creepy book. I didn't write it, so not sure why the person felt obliged to complain while doing their online review. Free is Free. If the book stinks, just pass it on.

If you've heard of "Book Crossing" do you know of any "Official" Book Crossing Zones in downtown LA?? Do you know of any friendly places to abandon a book to the wild? Please don't say the library or Disneyland.. it doesn't work there. Seriously.

DineLA Week 2 @ Starry Kitchen

2011-01-31T16:13:00.000-08:00

Today starts 'week 2' of DineLA; and one of our favorite restaurants is once again participating. Lunch was $16 a person and includes an appetizer, entree and dessert. A LOT OF FOOD!! I ended up using most of my daily 'weight watchers' allotment on this one meal.. As I write I am still stuffed!

I thought I'd share some pix from our lunch today!! =)

Sean's meal was the Crispy Kimchi Rice Cakes appetizer, Spicy Black Korean Pork Belly Banh Mi w/ Spicy Vietnamese Salad as a side..

I went for the Pandan Chicken, the Spicy Black Korean Pork Belly wrap w/ Spicy Vietnamese Salad as a side..

I ended up not being keen on the Pandan Chicken.. That's a first for me! I did have one of Sean's Kimchi Rice Cakes.. I liked that!

and dessert..

Pandan Flan and Durian Cheesecake (foreground) We ended up halving them so we could try both.. yum! The Pandan Flan is still my favorite though. =)

DineLA continues til Thursday February 4th all over Metro LA.. with varying price points.. lunch and dinner. If you're in the LA area I would suggest going to the LA Restaurant Week website and see if there's someplace new (or a favorite place) in your area you'd like to try..

**Disclaimer** Yes, I'm still on Weight Watchers.. I have a blog for that now! Check it out: Do or Doughnut **

sidewalk scene

2011-01-31T16:06:00.001-08:00

sidewalk scene
Originally uploaded by meekorouse

This was the scene on the corner of Main & Winston early Saturday morning. I posted this to Facebook then, and got several interesting comments regarding the hinky-ness of this filming. They did have a permit.. they weren't necessarily the part of the filming that was legitimately going on this past weekend. (we still haven't figured this out) and they weren't selling shoes.

What amused me about it (because getting woke up on Saturday from some guy with a bullhorn wasn't it!) was their attempt to film a cafe scene on the sidewalk in front of the parking lot next door.. Good Luck with whatever that is. Maybe next time they can save up and rent a real cafe??

Beer at the Nickel

2011-01-11T20:53:00.000-08:00

As most folks who know me, know one of my favorite places to eat is the Nickel Diner. I have several posts about the place and have joked in the past often this should be my Nickel Diner blog.. "so what you eat this week??" Actually, it's been a while.. in part because I've been out of town a lot the last couple months. Then there's the diet. Going on Weight Watchers new program had me anxious to see if I could even go out to eat, let alone enjoy my favorite places.

Having a mad craving for meat, we headed to the Nickel so I would be sated. The surprise waiting for us was Kristen Trattner, noticing the Sean's NOFD tshirt mentioned she had a bottle of Dixie for him to try. "What?!"

Sean taking a sip of his Dixie..

Turns out their beer & wine license went through the beginning of the year. Kristen says they should have it on the menu officially next week and will carry about five or six different beers at a time. Like the soda they offer, she says they plan to mix it up and 'keep it fun'.. So at least for now, they plan to have different brands available.

This was Sean's first Dixie (I got him hooked on Abita) and agreed with Kristen it's definitely an 'everyman's beer' and similar to a PBR. So there you go. =)

Big Thanks to Kristen for sharing the news with us. It's a long time coming for that beer and wine license.

As for me, I did alright!

I ordered the lowrider burger (Ano chilis, pepperjack cheese, red onions, lettuce, tomatoes) w/ a salad instead of fries. I asked for the dressing on the side. I did good earlier in the day so I actually had just enough to be able to eat the burger (leaving the bun). It was just the thing!

Next time I'll get that steak salad.. sometimes a cheeseburger is all you really want.

Just Another Saturday on Main

2011-01-09T08:26:00.000-08:00

An average weekend (or weekday) will find traffic stopped on Main so that filming of some kind can occur. I get so many FilmLA notices (one must subscribe to email updates as the posting of FilmLA notices are erratic or non-existent), I'm not sure if this was an 'action' shot or just a messed up car commercial.

If you see the video the car is being driven South-bound on a normally North-bound ONLY Main Street. Basically all day long traffic is stopped, shouting occurs to silence the neighborhood and then a 'take' is shot, then repeated several times over several hours. Most people who live downtown are familiar with this as it seems Downtown LA is the location for any number of programs, (like CSI: NY or Castle) commercials and movies (too many to name).

This one was fairly innocuous, as far as noise and light (night shots can often be bad as giant spotlights are shone into buildings as they light the block up and shooting on sidewalks can be annoying if you have some jerk PA trying to tell you you can't walk on your own sidewalk out of your building). I can't speak for anyone dealing with the traffic stoppage though.

2011 Resolution Re-do..

2011-01-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

One of my more successful resolutions.. to read more is getting renewed for another year.

I know New Year Resolutions are a joke. Most of the time they aren't kept or, attempted halfheartedly. I have a new crop of ideas that I hope some will shake themselves out to a positive effort. Some are just things I want to change about myself.. thought processes and bad habits. What it comes down to I think, is de-cluttering. So far I'm not doing so good & I'd like to think it's because I've spent the first part of the new year w/ the never-ending sinus cold. Never-mind that, here's my list I came up w/ on the flight home from Florida late last month:

2011 GOALS

read at least 2 books a month (since 1book a month seemed so easy)

start writing letters (you know, 'snail mail')

take a creative writing class!

go back 'on program' (this I've started on Jan 3rd! enrolling in Weight Watchers revamped program:"points plus" so if I talk about #ww that's what that is).

go 'home' more.. and by 'home' I mean the Bay Area.. When we moved so many years ago, I really did think we'd get back at least once a month like we seemed to do when we would head to Disneyland from Berkeley.. OK, or every other month realistically..I'd be happy if we could get up there maybe 2x a year?? to start?)

get a passport. I finally am curious enough to go on a cruise or if I ever hope to go to Tokyo or anywhere else in the world ever again).

bike, walk, or wii a day! (gotten to a rocky start with the cold but.. so far so good)

'walk' the cornfield. I know this sounds lame but getting my butt over there to walk the track just hasn't happened yet.

organize the loft: We aren't hoarders I swear! but one of the bummer things about lofts is the lack of storage. Yesterday I actually priced a storage place to put all the stuff we want to keep but not have you know, 'out'..

re-write my manuscripts: I liked doing NaNoWriMo last year despite not getting to the 50k word minimum, but it did force me to sit down and write a few hours a day. More of that would be good.

Find lost siblings. One of the oddball things of the last year or so is that my biological older sister 'found' me on Facebook. So I found out I have half-siblings from my biological father's previous marriage. I joined Ancestry (which is fun!) and so I'm working on that some. It's not good for finding living people so much, but for doing my family trees, it's interesting. I want to find these half-siblings mostly for my biological sister.. If I can find at least one person this year that'd be good. Right? =)

convert our old videos: both VHS and those mini VCR and Hi-8 tapes of home movies we made at Disney World on our various vacations... Besides the convenience of stream-lining it all, the older they get, the more they degrade.

That last one is harder than it sounds.. I think at some point it's going to take a hardware upgrade (plus I don't know if I have what I need yet to do the conversions).

I think I would add to the list of 'goals' for this year:

visit my dear friend Joe in Eureka. I haven't seen him since he moved up there & I miss him bunches. It'll just be very difficult to get out there w/ out a car.

Find another place to have my afternoon tea and hang out..since Banquette closed New Year's Day..

See more movies! I have about 8 movies I want to go see right now.. and no, they're not all Disney!)

get my macbook looked at The tracking pad has been sticking & it's frustrating.

We'll see how I do. Go ahead and laugh. I already am.

HAPPY 2011!!

2011-01-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

how I'm spending my new year's morning.. watching the Rose Parade w/ a bit of a cold.

Spent a quiet NYE celebrating at home after dinner at Pete's. I think a lot of our downtown neighbors and friends celebrated too in their own way, (whether it was staying at home or going to a local club like La Cita or Villains Tavern). However you spent it, hoping you're all having a wonderful & hangover free New Year's Day!

Whatever 2011 brings, may it work out for everyone eventually.. and that you have health, happiness, and as ever, friendship.

Christmas on Main

2010-12-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

wreath on the Old Bank at 4th and Main..

Merry Christmas Downtown Neighbors!

Haven't been home the last couple weeks.. Missed Art Walk and any number of things going on in the neighborhood.. and plan to spend Christmas with a dear old friend from out of town... but otherwise enjoying the holidays downtown..

When it seems like the city has closed down for the holiday take a minute to enjoy the silence.. or at least a hot toddy at Pete's I guess. I would be surprised if they were closed.

OtoH today is your last chance to enjoy holiday shopping downtown as many businesses will be closed for the next couple days..

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T08:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Downtown! =)

I haven't posted much as I haven't spent a lot of time out & about this month. Instead I spent a couple days in Florida to celebrate my mom's birthday at our DVC home resort, Kidani Village..

The rest of this month I've been attempting NaNoWriMo; 50,000 words in 30 days.. or in my case 25 days.. I'm several thousand words behind at this point.. but I have a few more days. =)

I'm very out of practice for writing fiction. I was thinking contributing to a news blog would give me practice, but it's a different sort of writing altogether. It makes me wonder how Carl Hiassen does it.. (as I guess he still writes for the Miami Herald).

I'm definitely considering taking a writing or extension course early next year. My writing needs help!

Last weekend, the 20th I took another day off from writing to attempt the 2010 "Great Los Angeles Walk" This year they were back to Wilshire Blvd. and since we were unable to really attend it (for long) the first time around 4 years ago, I made sure to make it rain or shine..

Meeting up at Pershing Square (Sean tells me it's 7/10 mi from 4th & Main to One Wilshire) about 100 of us set out from One Wilshire and walked to the Ocean.. Well, I made it to 20th & Wilshire in Santa Monica.. that's when a kind-hearted soul named Michael offered me a lift to Border Grill =)

So Sean tells me that's 14.35 miles of the 16 miles to the beach (or 15mi total from our building.. LOL!). I guess that's not bad for not walking near at all this last year. I am a bit disappointed in myself but I knew if I let the big group get ahead of me by much near the end I would just keep getting behind..

one of my group shots..

my Great LA Walk 2010 flickr set

Today we're taking it easy, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, calling family and later we'll head to Pete's Cafe for T-day dinner and I've got what's left of our Cajun Kringle to eat for dessert later.. Ordered from New Orleans it's really yummy!

Eventually we'll be braving those "so early it's late" Black Friday specials.. but for now, wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.. however you spend it.

Tweet the Vote!

2010-11-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

Today all over California (and elsewhere around the country) people are queuing up at their polling places to vote their choice for Governor, LT Gov., Senator and other representatives.. Foursquare is in on it with a "I voted 2010" badge..

If you already voted by mail (which is what I did) you can still get in on the badge by giving a shout-out to your friends.. "I voted" and even if you don't get that sticker that others may be getting by going to their polling place, you got your badge. =)

However you vote.. just make sure you do! Let your voice and your vote be counted!

Art Shows Closing at 5th and Main

2010-10-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow spotlights two separate exhibitions closing at the home of Gallery Row, 5th and Main. Bert Green Fine Art (BGFA) hosted artists Jeff Gillette and Scott Horsley. Edgar Varela Fine Art (EVFA) whose gallery fills the back space at 5th and Main, hosted Ivan Limas. I was lucky to speak to all three artists at their respective openings last month on September 22nd.

Jeff Gillette

Gillette standing in front of his piece "Charpi" (2010)

Jeff Gillette got inspiration for his "Slumscape" series from his experiences in the Peace Corps in the late 80s. Having spent two years in Calcutta, India seeing the immense filth of the slums he found a beauty in the "cacophony of debris" and compared it to modern art sculptures. Since then he's made several trips back to India and Nepal getting new ideas and material for his series, which he first painted in 1995.

Gillette's new series of "Slumscapes" might have people questioning. "What's with the Mickey Mouse?" Noting that many, if not all of his current "Slumscape" works incorporate the mouse icon in some way or another.

"No one likes looking at this (stuff)." He says "They hate it, they try to go around it. This is like an access to it. It forces people to indulge. People will be like "look it's Mickey!" and they'll be drawn into it.. and what are you getting drawn into? It's a toilet."

"Dread/Coca" (2010) Jeff Gillette acrylic and collage on canvas $2,000

"Everyone loves Mickey Mouse," Gillette insists. Using the Disney icon as an access point to his art, it brings social awareness and allows the art-goer to see everything. He further explains that while people don't like to look at slums and the filth and garbage, they will look at Mickey. "It allows them an access point to engage."

Scott Horsley

Horsley with Recreation I and Recreation II

Horsley, who grew up in New York,received his graduate degree at UC San Diego. He met Bert Green at a show a few years ago and has been in a few of his shows including the LA Art Show.

Horsley now spends most of his time at the University of Florida at Gainsville where he teaches.

Having got his start with painting, he found it became busy and he's cut down to the basics. "Paper and pencil appeal to me," he says, expressing the purity and raw nature of graphite on paper. His graphite on Luxe paper drawings explore the relationship of sex and the absurd, how fear and ecstasy intermingle when faced with death or tragedy. His current series are full of "ecstatic joy in the grip of a sinking ship."

Many of his works seem to book-end each other, whether it's "The Expression of Truckliness" a duel piece about the concept of what truck-ownership might envision.. or "Recreation" a somewhat startling image of what seems to be duel hangings were actually contrasting images Horsley happened upon in the news. He explains on one page was an image of several soldiers witnessing an execution in Kabul, and on the opposite page, a group of people watching Patriots cheerleader tryouts. In both images the heads were cut out of the photos, "It was like the exact same photograph," said Horsley. "The images were so similar and so diametrically opposed, that like 'death' and that ecstatic sexual moment so those things back to back.. I couldn't believe it that they existed together."

Again, the shows end tomorrow, the 30th of October, which will culminate in an artist's talk with Jeff Gillette at 4pm. Don't miss it as Gillette will be sharing slides from his travels to the various slums that are the inspiration for his art.

Bert Green Fine Art
102 West 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013 ·
213-842-8574

EVFA presents Ivan Limas "Free to Behave"

Ivan Limas at his show's opening last month.

In the EVFA Gallery, Ivan Limas filled the room with his vibrant project-based works. Limas, who lives and works in the Santa Fe Art Colony, is a life-long Angeleno. He spent his childhood growing up in various parts of LA like Compton (and later La Merada) and says it had a big impact on his life. While some of the kids he grew up with were into the gang culture or graffiti art, he stuck to drawing comics, but his drawings eventually moved him to explore ideas in culture, and experience.

"A lot of my work is about defiance, exploration and self-perception.. cultural perception."

Immersed in the comic culture in his youth, he was surrounded by various subcultures whether it was anime, the machismo of Mexican-American, gang culture or graffiti art. He brings his personal experiences to bare. He'll get many ideas from his walks around LA or the conversations he hears. He said a lot of his work might be about the polarities of those sub-cultures and understanding those persona.

Most of his work in this show are oil on canvas paintings. He explained how he learns from his environment, often "doodling" while listening to lectures or conversations when growing up. He used this technique for several of his paintings in his current show. When going to a location, he would create several drawings based on the sounds and voices he hears and then photographing the environment. "I let the environment affect me," he says. He creates the larger oil paintings based on the drawings he created earlier at the project's location.

His work varies from video or mixed media sculpture, or performance pieces where he wrapped himself up in bandannas.

"Bandannas to me are like these mini flags.."

He talks about visual signifiers, like those communicated through items like a common bandanna. The bandanna having many meanings in different cultures, and he thinks about where the bandanna originated from, whether it's from Mexico,Spain or somewhere else. His hope is to "contextualize it into contemporary dialogue.". He has created a series of 3 bandannas with ironed transfers that might hint different places to different people. Discussion of the pieces range from the language expressed in the wearing of bandannas, the color significance in gang culture, or any number of things.

He wants his work to be available to everyone, not restricted to any one group. Bringing the idea of an item that's not necessarily considered art and having people think about it in a new way, or bring their own experience to the interpretation. Whether it's a synthetic ostrich skin-encased vacuum cleaner or a video installation of Ivan cutting off his own tongue.

His show also wraps on 30 October, when Limas is scheduled to have an artist talk in the EVFA gallery where he will discuss more about his history and background. It's possible he may bring up his earlier work on a comic book that he wrote and illustrated for use as his college thesis. While the work never got published, "It made me realize I wanted to go from a painter to multimedia."

EVFA

DTLA Car-less, the MetroLink Way

2010-10-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to editing a short clip from our return into Downtown LA late last month as we cross over the LA River and into the rail-yards of downtown.. I suggest turning down the volume as the iMovie 'theme' music wears on the nerves after a minute

Portofino Cucina Italiana is Open (again) !

2010-10-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

The new Italian restaurant opened on the seemingly cursed corner of 5th and Main a little over a month ago. As happy as everyone was the place was now home to a well-meaning, determined restaurateur Diego Ortoli , it closed to as much sadness as they battled plumbing issues.

Diego thought it best to close while he worked out the plumbing fix. About three weeks later, he opened back up this past Monday. The food is just as good (if not even better than we recall).

One of my neighbors had gushed about the gnocci, so I knew exactly what I had to order.. Gnocchi piccanti

from the menu: "Home made potato dumplings with broccoli, roasted garlic, jalapeno and imported romano cheese"

While I didn't notice broccoli so much, the roasted garlic was deliciously prevalent and the jalapeno added just the touch to make a cheesy, spicy, garlic-y goodness. I was wishing I had a spoon so I could scrape every last drop of the sauce from the bowl. Seriously.

The spouse ordered the Scaloppine di manzo alla Piemontese:

from the menu: "Thinly sliced Sirloin steak sautéed with garlic, parsley, roasted bell peppers and basil in a white wine sauce, topped with fresh mozzarella, served with roasted rosemary potatoes and vegetables"

I am in love with these rosemary potatoes!! I swiped a couple from Sean so I could use them to mop up the last bits of my gnocchi sauce. The steak was tender, and IMHO ran a little towards sweet.. (Sean disagrees with me on the 'sweet' description, but this is why I don't do reviews usually).

Suffice to say I liked his dish enough I want to order that next time we go. Diego says he has a lot of new staff (3 weeks is a long time to go without regular work honestly) including a new chef who has over 20 years in the cruiseline business. He came out to our table and checked on us, and me not being in my "nosy blogger" mode I didn't get his name, but he seemed friendly and his food is great!

Sean wasn't wanting dessert, but I still had room to split something, so Diego surprised me with this great cinnamon-y apple cake/torte:

if you order this, try it without the chocolate first.. the cinnamon and apple is light and clean (and very filling) and I thought the chocolate murdered the cinnamon. In the words of Sean when I asked him what he thought of the cinnamon, he said "what cinnamon" but he had drenched his first bite in the chocolate drizzle.

I asked Diego if he'd be doing breakfast again and he said for now, no.. I guess there weren't enough people knowing he was open for breakfast.. so I can only hope that'll come back eventually..

NOW FOR THE COOL SURPRISE!!

Diego mentioned that he found out from his legal adviser that he can do BYOB Wine! So as long as he has "nothing to do with it," you can bring your wine bottle in a paper-bag, along with your own glasses & corkscrew and have that wine with your pasta. So all my friends whinging about "what's pasta without wine?!" you can stop whining and have your wine. =)

Just stay classy ok??? ;P

so.. you know the deal..

Portofino Cucina Italiana
464 S. Main
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Portofino Cucina Italiana"

the blogdowntown article:
Portofino Cucina Italiana Opens at 5th and Main"

Get Ready for Autumn Lights!

2010-09-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

Autumn Lights, an Art Walk of a different kind, will once again take over Pershing Square this weekend.

Emmeric in front of his work "The Horse He Rode in On"

Art Walk night, Emmeric Konrad was creating live art on canvas hung in a empty shop window of the Medallion Apartments. His painting, on a white canvas sheet started shortly after 7pm was a work in progress, as images from the 2009 "Autumn Lights" were projected onto the center of the canvas. Attendees could see him wrapping up his work titled "The Horse He Rode in On", around 1030 PM.

He was there in support of Artist/Curator Lilli Muller who was getting the word out about this year's "Autumn Lights." While the Muller produced and curated event is partially funded by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, Muller has put most of her own money into this event, now in its 6th year. She was hoping to drum up more support of the artistic and fund-raising kind for this year's event.

Over 70 artists and counting will be creating unique installations within Pershing Square this Saturday, September 25th. Muller says "It's going to be pretty intense."

"I want this to happen for the city and I want it to grow for next year."

"The cool thing will be that there will be more performing things going on as you are walking through it, so it's more interactive."

"There's a very eclectic music schedule," Killsonic will be opening performers, "Ruby Friedman Orchestra," as well the ukulele band "The Ooks of Hazzard" among others.

Attendees last year might recall the amazing projections on the walls of Pershing Square, digital and laser lights, black-lit art installations, and many creative pieces that were made especially for Autumn Lights by local artists.

Emmeric dropped a hint about one of the pieces you may be seeing this year: "Suzi Moon is doing a thing with women's underwear. She's tearing them apart so they look like jellyfish.. and they're black-lit."

Along with Emmeric (and aforementioned Suzi Moon), other featured artists include: Jerico Woggon, Rush Varella, DJ Vader, Flip One, Rick Mendoza, Shane Guffog, Anna Broome, and several dozen more.

With three times as many artists and performers getting involved one may wonder what next year holds for "Autumn Lights," and Lilli seems to have great visions for next year, "I'd like to create a corridor and get California Plaza and MOCA involved." Noting the Fall fund raising event at MOCA, she imagines working together and possibly doing "Autumn Lights" in cooperation with the LA Film Festival. "Creating a backdrop for events."

"All these walls, it would be really cool do something like that."

Until then, you can enjoy this year's event at Pershing Square. The event runs from 7 PM til 1 AM on September 25th. To see more detail about the event, including a list of artists and performers participating go to:

Autumn Lights LA 2010

Donations I believe are still welcome and can made by contacting Lilli Muller at: lillim99@gmail.com

here's my mini set from Autumn Lights 2009 which includes this:

Random LAFD

2010-08-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

So I was meandering my way back home when I spotted an LAFD truck just off 7th & Hill Streets.. The firefighters were pulling a small ladder off the truck and headed to the sidewalk. Being the nosy person that I am (heh) I stopped to see what was up.. (I didn't smell any smoke but that doesn't mean something isn't amiss)

Apparently not much other than the ladder..

here comes the ladder..

and UP it goes!

meh.. they're done.

See?? Random! =)

Broadway is looking UP!

2010-08-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Broadway near 6th Street is getting a fresh coat of paint..

over at Payless..

applying new window treatment..

and next door they're making repairs to the storefront:

World of Color Road Show

2010-08-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

The World of Color road show wrapped up its 4 city tour in downtown LA... Although it's nothing like the real World of Color (which is full of most awsomeness.. like the Bellagio fountains on steroids.. 200ft water cannons, fire balls and flamethrowers, along with several hundred feet of projected water screen amazingness)

Sean & I wandered over there after having dinner at Starry Kitchen last Friday.

We just got new his & her's iPhone 4s from the Glendale apple store Saturday before this, and so this was the first real test for them. Taking videos was alright but the flash seemed to over-expose the images.. and without the flash you may notice it's a bit blurry. The phone takes forever (in the sense of taking an image) to decide to shoot something..

Day time or dusk images shoot way better.. but despite the frustrations, we we gave it a go. Luckily the 10minute loop repeated itself

So here you go..

and a little bit of video:

the projected images where first abstract..

later you could see snippets of the Blue Fairy, Fantasia, Aladdin, and Sorcerer's Apprentice portion of Fantasia..

This is NOTHING like the real World of Color.. but if you haven't seen it, hopefully it makes you curious to go to the park and check it out.. FWIW I heard a few people heading off discussing how they haven't been to Disneyland in a while and "We really need to make another trip to Disneyland soon!" I guess Disney marketing accomplished their task with this one..

my complete flickr set here

World Cup at the Down & Out

2010-07-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wanted to watch the Germany/Spain match so headed over to The Down & Out where I met up with neighbor Sara J. and had a very peaceable time watching the match. There was a good crowd and after the first half we were able to move up to the bar to sit and watch the three screens.

It was my first time at the Down & Out and based on my experience I would definitely go back. I still got to find out what that pear cider I had was. It was alright. =)

Babycakes

2010-06-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

Babycakes NYC has been open on 6th near Los Angeles for a while now, and since I have a friend that was interested in gluten-free options, I meant to get there eventually. I had heard not-so good things about them, so it wasn't on the top of my list. Then I happened to be in the area.. so what better time?

they have quite a selection of vegan and spelt cupcakes..

I wasn't sure what to choose, so I got a carrot cupcake since the carrotcake is my favorite at "Big Man Bakes" ('compare what you know' is my default).

I also got an agave brownie, and a slice of banana bread.. the total came to about $10 for the 3 items.

carrot cupcake..

you can see the bits of carrot..

The frosting was sweet.. and the carrot cupcake was rather dry and bland. The frosting didn't make up for it, but at least helped it go down.

Agave brownie

at 1.50 you won't feel too guilty wasting your money on one of these.. but your taste-buds might complain. Of the three items, this was the most "diet" tasting. It was small and gritty and just not tasty. I love chocolate and brownies are one of my favorite treats. From experience, I know brownies can vary from being just good to moist & tasty to sweet & decadent. IMHO, this was just nasty. I'll stick with my boxed brownie mix, thank you!

Banana Bread!

you can see a piece of actual banana in the bread..

This last one was my favorite of the three. It was moist and tasty. It actually tasted like banana.. I didn't like that the chunks were big enough to see (that kinda grossed me out, actually) but however they make it, it's the one I would order again if I was in the neighborhood.

Babycakes NYC
130 E 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 623-5555

Cupcake Update: Since I last did a cupcake post, Lot44 Coffee has closed up and is no longer a cupcake option. Pitfire Pizza hasn't had it's Aunty Em's cupcakes in ages, and so the local options are limited to Big Man Bakes and BabyCakes NYC.

Babycakes NYC is the only vegan/gluten-free/spelt option downtown, but if you, like me, are not limited by what you can ingest, Big Man Bakes is the better (if more limited) option. The carrotcake cupcakes and pumpkin spice @ Big Man Bakes are still my favorite.. I'm still hunting for a truly moist & delicious red velvet (since I can't get Aunty Em's downtown). Suggestions?

my flickr set

2010 LA Times Festival of Books

2010-05-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back we headed over to UCLA for the LA Times Festival of Books.. We were able to get in at a few of the great panels we were really wanting to hit..

SATURDAY..

Carol Burnett discussed her book This Time Together

2010 Featured LATfob artist David Shannon was signing his books.

SUNDAY..

Sebastian Junger talked about his experience with the 173rd Airborne brigade in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, featured in his new book, War

Our DTLA buddy Eric Lynxwiler was signing copies of his book Knott's Preserved

Charles Phoenix was on hand for signings too!

Here he is with Sean after just signing my book Southern Californialand.

Father Gregory Boyle, famously of his work with HomeBoy Industries, discussing stories from his book, Tattoos on the Heart (which I'll write more about in a future post).

The last panel on Sunday that we attended, was the Publishing in the "new media" panel.

This was the the Wil Wheaton panel I kept tweeting about. =) Pablo Defindini was a great addition, talking about his publishing with TOR and I still didn't figure out what Dana Goodyear was talking about.. but that's more my fault than hers I'm sure! (something about text stories that are popular in Japan).

I thought Wil Wheaton did great (I saw him as part of another panel on Social Media a previous year). He best epitomizes the role of social media and the new media publishing.. Self-publishing his stories and blog postings.

Overall it was a great Book Fest! I just wish Ray Bradbury was there.. I don't blame him though. When will the LA Times bring back the book review section?? Book Reviews are still an important part of the discussion. (otherwise why have a festival?)

My @LATfob flickr set

Langer's!!!

2010-04-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! Happy Spring.. Speaking of new beginnings and all that..

Yesterday was a day of Firsts (actually last weekend was too.. but that's later) Since the cat woke us up around 4am, we stayed awake and had breakfast at LA Cafe on Spring. It was ok.

The real surprise came later.. we were headed out to run errands and SeanYoda recalled a place I've been wanting to go with him for a while but the timing was always off (I always seem to remember when they were closed on Sundays and often our plans don't work out otherwise). Langer's.

We went to Langer's!!!

I've eaten at Langer's a couple times while assisting in Blogging support a year or so ago. While SeanYoda reminded me he has had Langer's before (he recalled my bringing home leftovers from an event one time), he had yet to visit the location for lunch. So here we are!!

We waited to be seated.. and it helped we came in already knowing what we wanted.. (hint is in photo) It was just a matter if we were going to split an order, or get our own...

We ended up splitting of course!

my half of the #19 Our server kindly put our halves on our own plate and I'm not sure, but think she may have given us an extra pickle..

Sean bites into his half..

We also got a side order of potato salad just in case the 1/2 wasn't enough.. (it was though as I ended up offering the remnant of my 2nd pickle half to Sean and left very full!)

One order of the #19 (pastrami w/ swiss & slaw), a side of potato salad & 2 iced teas came to $25 plus tip..

We parked at the Langer's lot at 7th & Westlake.. (and they do validate at Langer's)

Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant
704 South Alvarado Street
Los Angeles, C.A. 90057
(213) 483-8050

HOURS: Monday - Saturday, 8am - 4pm

Langer's is the BEST pastrami sandwich in LA (if not the world..) with Canter's being 2nd... You can take the Red Line out there to MacArthur Park if you don't have a car.. and if you do have a car.. like we happened to have this Easter weekend, then you now know where to park! =)

more of my Langer's Flickr Set

Easter Happenings

2010-03-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

While my Easter egg hunting days are pretty much over, I don't begrudge someone else's little one a chance to have a run in the grass..

New City Church

It seems that there's going to be a bit of a festival atmosphere at Grand Hope Park (that's that green area where dogs aren't allowed despite the sculptures hinting otherwise) near the FIDM at 9th & Hope in South Park.

Next Sunday New City Church is hosting an "Easter Fest" with an Easter egg hunt, arts & craft-y stuff and the ubiquitous bounce house.

Easter falls on the 4th of April and the fest will run from 12-3pm. I don't know much else so you'll want to contact the folks at New City Church with any questions.

Easter@newcitychurchla.com or 213-471-2415

I'm not active in any churches at the moment so I have no personal agenda with this, just figuring with the uptick of folks with little ones, they'd want to know about this.

Our Lady of the Angels

For a less boisterous and not-so-kid-friendly way to spend Easter the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is hosting (with advanced reservation required) an Easter Champagne Brunch.

The Champagne Brunch is after Mass and is prepared by the chefs at the Center at Cathedral Plaza.. Adults $30, Children (2-12) $20 plus tax.; For more information & reservations please call (213) 680-5271.

J Restaurant & Lounge

Can't make up your mind?? J Restaurant and Lounge will be hosting a family friendly Easter Sunday Brunch from 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Easter Sunday at 1119 S. Olive Street in South Park. Brunch will be served on the outdoor patio and an Easter egg hunt will be held for the kids.

There's plenty of churches around downtown and they may also have some Easter Sunday activities.. The ones I listed are the ones I knew about.. I'm not suggesting you go to any of these but if you want to there you go..

As for me, I'll probably end up at Disneyland. Unless Botegga Louie is open.. mmmmm Botegga Louie. For me the holidays are about food of course.

false alarm

2010-03-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

What ended up being a false alarm, had the LAFD making a run to the Rossyln late Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning. A prankster residents had pulled the alarm.

Pet's Concierge

2010-03-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Meet Toni Duarte of Pet's Concierge..

Toni out walking her clients' dogs..

I don't think Toni dresses up like this every day! =) I caught up with her on St Patrick's Day walking a couple dogs. Toni has an event coordinator business as well a pet care service.. Toni watched our cats, Kiki & Alexander while we were recently in New Orleans.

Toni lives and works downtown, supporting other downtown dwellers. She's super friendly and easy to work with.. She walks dogs, does petcare visits, as well day & overnight care (if available). While a lot of her clients are dog owners, she has plenty of small animal and cat owner clients as well.

Pet's Concierge

New South Park Businesses..

2010-03-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

As briefly mentioned in my previous post, I was running errands yesterday in South Park. Walking up Flower and meandering back towards the Historic Core I noticed a couple new places.. (I may not be the first but I haven't noticed it blogged yet)..

The first was at the Gas Company Lofts..

Evy

According to Evy of California's website they are "manufacturers of sportswear and occasional dresses for girls sizes newborn to junior." While it's not something I'm in the market for, I'm sure there are plenty of New Downtowners with children of a certain age that will be so happy to have a fashion place for their families.

Also noted on Evy's site is a Hello Kitty line! I know a particular someone that might be keen on that.. (assuming it's something more than just little kids' clothes).

Another place I spotted is the street level of Market Lofts.. on the Hope Street side.

YAS! ( Yoga and Spinning Center )

"Yoga for Athletes" proclaims a sign in their window.. The Yoga and Spinning spot should be open late April or early May.. YAS has other locations in Silverlake and Costa Mesa. They plan locations in Redondo and Manhattan Beach as well..

I was sort of keen on the place til I saw the "Yoga for Athletes" sign.. I am far from it.. and would love to try a spinning class sometime. I would love a place to go where I could be around other folks lumpy like me.. but until I lose the first 30lbs I'd still be wary of being around other exercising people.. Why are only skinny folks hanging out at the gym?? Where do the fat people go?? LOL

Ok. this wasn't supposed to get personal.. so something to look forward to in our ever evolving, and growing downtown.. Yay for new businesses!

Angels Flight Testing!

2010-03-10T08:41:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I was walking back to the Historic Core from running errands in South Park. I was heading to Starry Kitchen for lunch and was about to turn off Broadway & Hill (the escalator was running up to Cal Plaza) when I spotted a most excellent reason to take the stairs up Angels Knoll..

Angels Flight Testing!!! Yes.. they were running the cars intermittently.. I video-tapped it a few times but my cel phone did a pretty good job too..

Open Mic @ Banquette

2010-02-28T01:02:00.001-08:00

Saturday night was an open mic night at Banquette Cafe & Wine Bar. While the spouse was under the weather, I went downstairs and checked out Richard McDowell and others performing in the small interior of Banquette..

Richard had advised me he'd be performing at 8pm. It was more near 9pm, since there was a couple musical groups that performed ahead of the poetry readings..

I caught the last number of this act when I first arrived..

This act performed quite a while.. they were alright, but I think having them perform some 8 or 9 songs (I lost count) in one set was a bit much.. I think they could have broken the sets up and let the poets perform in between. IMHO of course.. I mean I don't work at the Cafe so my opinion is pointless..

FINALLY.. Richard and a couple other folks got to perform..

I made a couple videos.. (I goofed w/ Richard's by holding the camera wrong, but righted it after a little bit.. ) I may link to those at some point.. sooner or later..

UPDATE:
(*again, apologies for messing up the camera angle.. corrected in seconds 9/10)
video1* "Life as a Poet"

video2 "Jiggsaw"

We even got treated to some comedy.. which went from weirdly uncomfortable to LOL funny and back again a couple times. I guess good comedy does that.

Downtown Historic Bid Signage

2010-02-26T22:07:00.000-08:00

24hr hotline number posted on trash bin at 4th and Main.. Supposedly been up at least a week. I just noticed today on my Friday lunchtime walk home.

Digging Main Street

2010-02-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

Tuesday afternoon: digging a big hole right in front of Blossom's Annex entrance at the corner of Main & Winston.

Art Walk Cat

2010-02-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

Mac & Cheeza Comfort

2010-02-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

Although its website says "Opening Fall 2009," it was during last night's art walk the little shop soft opened.

Located on 8th between Broadway and Spring, (next door to Kelly's fudge) if you blink you might miss it.

The shop specializes on one thing: Mac & Cheese. It comes in some 4 different sizes from "Baby Mac" at $5 to "Mac Daddy" (which sounds like a family size portion) which runs about $25 and includes one additional item. Items like mushrooms, spinach, collard greens and meats like bacon or chorizo, or veggie sausage are $1 each.

Order at the counter, and it's made right in front of you.. Choose your size, what kind of mac (whether regular or rice) regular cheese or soy, any additions you want or if you want a toasted topping..

They make it to order and put it through their little oven..

"Baby Mac" w/ Spinach...

We got ours pretty quick and the container was HOT.. so be careful. It was also cheesy so we made a little mess taking the lid off.. They have Tapitio sauce to put on it so we got a packet of that.. (personally I like sriracha as it's a little hotter) and split it in half.. I'd say it's about a cup and a half serving.. Which technically is more than a serving. One person could definitely eat as a meal.

With the tapatio added and mixed up.. You can see the cheesiness and spinach..

HOW DID WE LIKE IT??

Well, for the price point it can't be beat.. I'm a big fan of mac & cheese.. This isn't my favorite mac & cheese.. I want to go back and try the chorizo or the collard greens.. anything that will give it a bit of a kick. The cheese blend is very mild and doesn't really add anything to the dish.. The spinach was good but again, there wasn't much flavor in ours.. It is what it is: Mac & Cheese.

Mac & Cheeza won't unseat my favorites: Royal Clayton for portion, price & creaminess.. or Nickel Diner's Smac & Cheese for zestiness.. even Pete's Cafe, which is somewhere between Royal Clayton's & Nickel Diner in portion, but has a 5 cheese blend that is cheesy.. but not zesty, would win out over this place.

Will I go back (I think I said I need to try more flavors!)? Yes.. not too often though.. after my art walk adventures (splitting a strawberry shortcake at Syrup Desserts and a couple minis from Big Man Bakes) I gotta pace myself.. I gained a pound overnight from all my food naughtiness... Also the Nickel being my favorite is a lot closer. ;P

Mac & Cheeza is soft opening over the next few days.. and then they'll have a Grand Opening the beginning of March. Check them out if you're in the area.. They're soy/ veggie friendly and again, they are very reasonably priced. CASH ONLY for now..

Mac & Cheeza
223 W. 8th St
Los Angeles, CA 90014

HOURS PRINTED ON THEIR MUNU:
Sun-Thurs 11am-11pm
Fri & Sat 11am-2pm

Here's the rest of my Feb ART WALK Photos (food & cat heavy)

New Year.. not much else

2010-02-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

I realize it's been about 2 months since I posted last.. (and then it was personal posts) I honestly haven't felt like I had anything to post about. Not much going on.. for me anyway,(haven't really attended anything lately).

MORE RESOLUTIONS!

1. Since the new year I went back on Weight Watchers, so I've not been out to eat much.. I started the year at 223lbs and as of today.. I'm about 215lbs.. My goal is to lose about 100lbs by May 2011.. in time for the 10th wedding anniversary.. Although I admitted to a friend yesterday that if I get to 130-150 I'll be happy with that I'm sure.

I was pretty content at 170lbs but I know that isn't ideal for me. ;P

Veggie Dog at Weeneez (one of the things I can eat on Weight Watchers)

2. BOOKS! Last year I did pretty good at the "reading more" thing. In general I did read more.. THIS YEAR I'm putting myself up for a very doable challenge: READ AT LEAST ONE BOOK A MONTH.

So far I'm doing pretty good! Right now I'm reading The Last Dickens by Mathew Pearl (we'll see if I finish as the book is due this Thursday.. and I can't renew).

Recent titles (listed in most recent first):

-Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Theif (meh but the movie is coming out soon)
-(DK New Orleans City Guide)
-(Lonely Planet New Orleans City Guide)
-Why New Orleans Matters by Tom Piazza (great book!!)
-LA Noir* by John Buntin (*still reading.. will resume when done w/ library book)

Besides getting back to LA NOIR I want to read Lolita (I love Vladamir Nabokov and have read this book at least 3x over the years) for the Metropolis Books book club meeting for this month.

3. walk/riding my bike.. we'll see how this one goes this year.. Didn't do much riding last year (and not much walking at all) because I wasn't feeling up to going out and being seen in public as overweight as I've gotten.. and this all started when I had gained about 20lbs back.. and then I went over the 200lbs mark.. so you KNOW I wasn't going out then.. LOL so we'll see..

4. Blogging more? Like I said I've not had the heart to blog.. or look around the neighborhood for 'ideas' or stories.. part of me doesn't give a crap. There's people doing it better than me.. and some doing it MUCH MUCH better than me.. so why bother?? I sometimes think I'm so OVER the whole blogging thing. OTOH.. I've gotten pretty lazy.. LOL So this will be a BIG "we'll see" ;P

I guess if I can get off my butt and do more than the Wii Fit Plus.. maybe I'd see something around town to blog about.

NEW ORLEANS.. New Orleans is taking a big chunk of my thoughts these past couple months. People who actually know me (to some degree that is) know I used to call New Orleans home. I lived there off & on from 1991 to March 1999. I felt like I was hitting a plateau in some regards.. and took up my mom's suggestion to give Florida a try.. so I transferred my job to Sarasota and tried it for a year.. The previous December I had started posting on #radp (usenet) and met my future husband, Sean, through a monthly Disney chat.. I moved to Berkeley March 2000. We married in May of the following year.

I think at this point in time, had I not met Sean, I would have ended up back in New Orleans. I love my mom but Sarasota just isn't my bag. For me it was a lot like Indianapolis (with a major weather substitution) Throughout the years growing up, it was full of family and holidays, but I wasn't doing much else. It's not to say there's nothing to do in Sarasota, as an adult, I just wasn't getting out and doing it..

New Orleans is the sort of place where almost every weekend there's a festival, and so many holidays and parades.. It's an incredibly easy place to make a niche for yourself, to make friends and find things to do and see.. It's full of life and flavor.. and so much emotion.. My worst days made good memories. How many places can say that that??*

*Please note, I moved March of 1999.. Long before Katrina.. So my rule about living in New Orleans definitely has some serious exceptions. Katrina being a MAJOR one.

So.. I was OK for a while.. Settling in with Sean.. growing a life together. However, even in Berkeley I wanted us to go 'back' to New Orleans.. He's never been. Me, I wanted to see my friends and walk my old haunts and show him "my home".. Despite New Orleans negatives, there were many positives.. and I was very comfortable and happy there.

We came close in 2002.. I got the travel books to encourage his interest (he never really looked at them) and as it was we ended up visiting Philadelphia (as well Hershey, PA and Baltimore, MD) so I could visit my "Honorary Uncle" and "Honorary Tante".. I am so happy we did that.. I don't regret it one bit.. The only thing to note is that it put New Orleans on the back-burner.. for many years, despite me bugging him to go.

After Katrina I thought I was going to go nuts not going.. It wasn't a time to do touristy stuff.. I wanted to go and put myself to work.. Being married, you can't just get up and leave your spouse to go do your own thing.. Maybe you can, but it wasn't something I thought I could do at the time. It was heart-breaking.

People crap or carp about Katrina.. I don't think some folks can imagine the permanent mark that Katrina has made on the city and its people. So much of the land still devastated, and a good portion of its population scattered to the four winds: to this day many places and people have never recovered from this.

I won't go on here because my post isn't about that.. and I honestly don't want to hear the junk people still put out. No one is asking for your pity.. I don't give a crap that you don't care. I do.. and that's what matters to me. New Orleans has come back, in large part because there's enough people who do care.

I don't know what New Orleans is like today.. I imagine it the same in many places, and in many more places, things have closed or been wiped off the map.. The skyline is changing.. Different people live there now.. several of them are friends of mine, and some.. never moved back.

Last December the spouse made a comment to some NOLa friends of ours.. that with the Disney exhibit there at the NOMA (New Orleans Museum of Art) he'd have an 'extra' reason to come to New Orleans.. This after I hassled him last October to go.. (didn't work obviously).. This time I put it to him.. and decided, if he doesn't go, I will.

So.. VERY LONG STORY.. not short.. some 11 years later.. I'm going back to my other home, New Orleans.. next month. My best pal Rebecca will be in town with her son, and so we'll meet up as well some other friends.. I'll take Sean around the Quarter and Uptown, and we'll do the D-Day Museum as well the Art Museum and possibly Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World (he wasn't interested in Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest this trip.. nor are we wasting time with swamp tours, nor plantations this time around). It's mainly a hang out with friends and get Sean acquainted with New Orleans.. If he falls in love with the city like I did the first time I stepped foot there, that's a bonus, but I'm not holding my breath. The guy has a subdued nature, (unless the CAL Bears are playing).

I wasn't sure if I should post about the trip here.. I meant this blog to be about living Downtown LA.. I've re-started using the "I-5 Nomads" blog for our frequent adventures (many Disney related..) last Fall.. but that seems like a more appropriate place.. So we'll see.

Anyway.. I'm rambling at this point and it's been very TMI.. So, that's what I'm up to.. or NOT up to, I guess. Hope yours is a GREAT new year! Here's to more Downtown LA blogging.. by everyone, not just me.

Merry Christmas Downtown

2009-12-25T05:35:00.000-08:00

Hope your holiday is a wonderful, fun occassion.. full of celebration and surrounded by those you love.

Guinness "slide" starring OBD

2009-11-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

Many downtown neighbors will spot old bank district locations in this fun Guinness ad filmed at 4th & Main in early October...

The office scene was filmed in the Historic San Fernando Building..

* video is embedded from youtube user "scottmkaplan"

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T07:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Downtown Neighbors! SeanYoda & I had our Thanksgiving dinner last night.. so we'll be enjoying leftovers from here on out..

We got most our fixings from Trader Joe's..

stuffed turkey breast w/ cranberry stuffing..

cornbread stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, gravy, and roasted veggies.. ("meat veggies" yum!)

OMG! Something's missing!! LOL.. we forgot to take out the cranberry sauce we'd picked up at Costco on Tuesday.. oh well!

pie...

it only looks like Seanyoda is going to cut his thumb off.. picked up the pie at Fresh & Easy.. good stuff!

meeko's pie.. yummy!

Hope your Thanksgiving is yummy.. no matter how you celerbrate..

all done!

2009-11-23T16:00:00.001-08:00

The folks at Gilmore Assoc. have put all the decorations up around the Old Bank District.. (updated @ 6am 11/26)

corner of 4th & Main.. the Hellman Building, the Old Bank & west to the Continental Building on Spring all have bows and wreaths..

Continental Building with bows.. (11/24)

Hellman Building entrance at night..

The Old Bank at night..

and of course, the San Fernando..

when you come to look for a loft, you'll see the lobby is decorated too..

garland decorates the stairs..

UPDATE:
lights across 4th Street..

Christmas Time in the City!

2009-11-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the bows and wreath went up on the Hellman and the Old Bank. This morning, garland was beginning to trim the windows on the Old Bank. It's Christmastime again, at least at 4th & Main..

Another Blue Cupcake..

2009-11-17T11:28:00.001-08:00

The DASH reflected in the display case at Lot 44 on Spring Street.

This blog is really looking like "Meeko on Cupcakes" rather than a neighborhood blog.. but here I am enjoying some Fall yumminess and figured it was time to give Lot 44 & Blue Cupcake another writeup.. yeah.. it's Pumpkin time!

creamy pumpkin filling.. and moist pumpkin cake..

eggnog latte

I would think the Pumpkin Cupcake should be available through Thanksgiving..

Happy Anniversary Raw Materials!

2009-11-12T16:36:00.000-08:00

Along with the celebrations that goes on during your average downtown Art Walk tonight, is something definitely worth celebrating! One year ago tomorrow (the date of last year's November art walk) was the grand opening & official ribbon cutting with our Councilwoman, Jan Perry..

Jim & Celia, co-owners & proprietors of Raw Materials Art Supplies
Happy Anniversary Raw Materials!! Here's to many, many more!!

Raw Materials
460 S Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 627-7223

Nickel Diner on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives!!

2009-10-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

REMINDER! Nickel Diner on D3 Monday the 19th!!

Back in June some folks may recall (or not) that Guy Fieri (season 2 winner of Next Food Network Star) & his crew came to film at Monica & Kristin's "Nickel Diner" near 5th and Main. The time has come for the show to finally be aired!!

Set your DVR/VCR or be sure and catch the episode.. or if you're in the neighborhood, be sure to meet up at Cole's just off 6th & Main just before 10pm Monday night the 19th and watch it with some of your neighbors.

We got the DVR set, but we'll be ambling down there as well.

Nickel Diner
524 S Main St.
Los Angeles, CA.

Seen From the Loft

2009-09-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

Big Man Bakes gets its new signage up..

I scampered downstairs to get a better view..

the store location is just south of the Hellman building in one of the OBD garage build outs. (click image for larger view)

Big Man Bakes is open.. and had their grand opening on September 10th..

Big Man Bakes
413 S. Main Street
twitter @BigManBakes

Autumn Lights

2009-09-20T15:24:00.001-07:00

a couple shots from last night's Autumn Lights, curated by Lilli Muller and included some 50 area artists in various mixed mediums.. The evening's event was from 7pm-1am and used every available space in Pershing Square.

It's possible they make this a weekend long event in future years..

My point & shoot isn't reliable so I used my cel.. so not the best quality images either.. (but I do have video!) I'm sure you will see better images around the web elsewhere, but this is what I got.

This one's my favorite:

plastic water containers illuminated from within and hung from a tree..

spotlights in the trees..

wall art..

plastic bags become flowers (lit from within) Yes that one in the front is a Disneyland bag..

and one of the many pieces with moving lights:

projected onto the wall at the fountain.. shutting doors..

more cupcakes.. for culture!

2009-09-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Latin American Heritage Month (or National Hispanic Heritage Month as it's also known) starts officially September 15th, and you can celebrate all month at Lot 44 Coffee.. with a Blue Cupcake treat.

Latin American Heritage Month was started in 1968 under President Johnson as a week-long celebration, then later expanded under President Reagan for a full month (Sept 15- Oct 15) celebrating the culture and heritage of the Latin American people.

So what's this got to do with cupcakes, you ask?? In honor of the month-long celebration, Lot 44 is the place to get Dulce de Leche and Mojito cupcakes..

You know I tried the Mojito!

the buttercream frosting is infused with bits of mint.. very light hints will hit your mouth.. then the rum cake & lime filling will add a refreshing taste.

Did someone say lime??

The overall flavor and texture is light and flavorful.. a perfect cupcake for a hot September day.

The dulce de leche will have to be tried next time.. (but why wait? go check them out yourself!) Seriously.. these are amazing cupcakes.. I have loved every single one I've tried so far. The red velvet, the mocha espresso, the lime (fantastic!), the black raspberry chocolate.. and now the mojito.

There are plenty of other flavors.. six 'standard' flavors, but each week there may be a couple new flavors added and rotating to the selection. These 2 new flavors are special for Latin American Heritage Month.. and they all go great with coffee or something cold.

Yeah, I like cupcakes.

Regent Changes its Hue..

2009-08-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

After a little over a year and a half, the "Main Street Recovery" mural came down today. A fresh new coat of bright yellow paint is now gracing the facade of the Regent Theatre..

The mural as seen from spring of 2008. The mural was originally installed on the Regent Theatre the 30th of January, 2008. Each part of the mural tells a story of Main Street's changes and the changes in Downtown. It was a temporary installation, but one can't help but think it had become a part of the landscape of Main Street.

This morning.. the scaffolding was being raised:

By late afternoon, the mural was halfway down.. and much of the new paint had been applied.

and then a little after 7pm.. this is what the Regent looked like:

As for the "Main Street Recovery" mural, it's rumored that it may make future appearances around the Old Bank District at some point. As for now, for the immediate future, the Regent will be grooving out in bright yellow.

Main in Bloom

2009-08-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Stella waters her sunflowers.. You can see them blossoming outside Stella Dottir dress shop near Winston & Main.

Around the Historic Core

2009-08-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

Walking around the neighborhood..

cleaning up the Rosslyn Hotel sign..

This side all done!

7-11 7-11!

opposite Rite-Aid..

future location of a new 7-11 at 5th & Broadway.

and lastly, (but NOT least!) in the Old Bank District..

Old Bank DVD will be headed around the corner..

sometime soon** ("AUGUST") Old Bank DVD will be relocated.. They will be in the same building (San Fernando Bldg @ 4th & Main) but taking over the currently empty former home of MJ Higgins Gallery.

**update: 22 August 2009 After talking to Old Bank DVD it may be late August or early September for the relocation of the store.

Cupcake Day

2009-08-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

Some sites suggest that yesterday, August 18th was "National Cupcake Day" while other sites suggest it's not til December. Regardless, I was out & about and made a point to stop in at Lot 44. Lot 44 is your downtown location for "Blue Cupcake" varieties.

They had several of their familiar flavors: strawberry red velvet, coconut, PB&J.. coconut.. lime, and a new one.. blackberry chocolate! I wanted to try a couple flavors so the mini cupcake at about $1.35 ea was the way to go.

mini "Blue Cupcake" cupcakes @ Lot 44 Coffee.

Look at that yummy filling.. was like biting into a blackberry chocolate truffle. Good stuff!

Whether "National Cupcake Day" was yesterday or December.. Any day is a good day for a cupcake. Seems like Downtown has some good options out there whatever you're wanting.

I think I'll be back. Soon.

Blue Cupcake
Lot 44 Coffee

It's National Night Out!

2009-08-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

Downtown/Skid Row Senior Lead Deon Joseph at last year's National Night Out (held in Little Tokyo).

Tonight is National Night Out.. a night out against crime. Block parties will be going on all over the city, and downtown LA is no exception. Downtown neighbors will want to head over to the Paseo Plaza at El Pueblo tonight as the party will be going on there from 6-10pm.

National Night out is a good opportunity to meet your SLO (Senior Lead Officer) in a fun, informal environment.. live music and food and possibly booths with local businesses and neighborhood committees might be there as well.

If you haven't seen it already, check out Downtown News article SLO Patrol about your Downtown Senior Lead Officers.

Believe it or not, the LAPD is very community minded, and the National Night Out is an excellent opportunity (among many) for residents and the community as a whole.

The LAFD should be there as well in a support mode. However, I hear from a very reliable source that they are also happy to meet the community! So say "Hi!" and if you want, thank them for their efforts. In a time of budget cuts, staffing cuts and State-wide deficits, they are still doing a most excellent job and deserve all our support.

PDF List of Events going on around LA

my (fuzzy) 2008 National Night Out flickr set

Big Man Bakes OPEN!

2009-07-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

Big Man Bakes cupcakes are now being sold at Ray's Old Bank District Market near 4th & Main.. "Extra Large Cupcakes" go for about $3.25 and $1 ea for the 'mini' cupcakes..

Went in there around lunch and they had their carrot cake cupcakes & the red velvet cupcakes. I'm a big fan of the carrot cake capcakes as they are very moist.. The red velvet was good too.. but the frosting was a little too sweet.. in a sugary-y birthday cake sort of way.. but still good. Yes, I'll be back..

There are many cupcake options out there. Please note some really good cupcakes can also be had at Pitfire Pizza at 2nd & Main. The Nickel Diner has an amazingly yummy red velvet cupcake. New options coming soon: Blue Cupcakes opening on the 20th of July (in cooperation with Lot 44 near 3rd & Spring). Babycakes NYC bakery coming to 6th & Main hopefully later this year.. The Historic Core is becoming cupcake central! Pace yourself and start checking out these new places.. Go to Big Man Bakes first!

Big Man Bakes
409 S. Main
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Happy Birthday Main Street USA!

2009-07-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

Disneyland celebrates it's 54th birthday today..

the "Partners" statue at Disneyland..

Today, 17 July 2009.. the Disneyland Park (and the Disneyland Resort as a whole) celebrate its birthday.. Today I'll be making a quick trip to the park to attend a "D23" presented event.. "Disneyland USA" which includes a special screening of the aforementioned named film, with discussion and desert.

**Speaking of birthdays, you too can get in on the fun by getting a free day at the park ON your birthday.. (all is needed is to show valid ID with birthdate for admission).. this particular promotion concludes the end of this year.

fire safety

2009-07-13T00:52:00.000-07:00

Living in the Old Bank District, we're near the Skid Row Fire Station 9 as well as LAPD's Central Division. That said, we get our fair share of public safety vehicles rushing by on their way somewhere. When either one of these entities makes a noisy show and suddenly stops outside one of our buildings.. I tend to take notice.

This was outside the Hellman Building today near 4th & Main.

LAFD were called out on what I later found out to be a false alarm (some joker may have tripped the fire alarm). The thing is it's not really funny because these are some well trained folks that have better things to be doing than get called out on useless errands of stupidity (that's my opinion). I'm ever so glad they are so quick though.

Had it been a real emergency, they were ready to go! They had their axes in hand and were geared up and ready to get to work. Several minutes later after taking care of the situation, they were very organized and headed out safely on what I imagine was another run, or back to their Skid Row Station.

I guess the only thing I wanted to say is that our police & fire are here to serve the public in times of need, such as a real emergency.. Please be safe at all times & also don't fool around with your building's fire equipment or alarms. It could be your life getting saved next time.

getting back to blogging

2009-07-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while.. I recently headed for a last minute trip to Florida (to visit my mom who wasn't feeling well) the last week of June.. SeanYoda had the flu of some kind and before my trip was over, I too took ill..

I spent several days after my return to LA bed-ridden with serious sinus congestion and cough.. but was well enough in time for the 4th of July (before going back to bed another day to recover).

So here we are the 2nd week of July and the July Art Walk is coming up tomorrow.. Later this month is Bloom Fest in the Arts District.. I hope to make that if possible. I also have a trip to the Berkeley/ SF in a few weeks.

Stuff going on.. and I'm behind on local happenings.. I hope to get my act together soon.

OTOH with all the sickness & travel I've been doing a lot of reading! =)

People swimming at Manasota Beach (Sarasota County Florida)

At Ca d'Zan (John & Mable Ringling Mansion) on Sarasota Bay.. Sarasota, Florida.

Photos of the 4th of July visit to Disneyland are up at SeanYoda's Flickr

OBD movie star..

2009-06-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hotel Barclay as seen from 4th Street in the film End of Days (1999)

Woke up and went to turn on the news.. The TV was tuned to the StarzHD channel where End of Days (1999) had recently started. I've never seen this movie (not a big Schwarzenegger fan honestly) but what caught my eye of course was the locations. The film supposdely takes place in NYC, but of course LA is the star of many locations including Broadway's Tower Theatre and what I think was a re-dressed Bar 107. What really played a role in the early scenes is a helicopter chase that ends at 4th & Main..

Old Bank District..

Helicopter flying past the Continental Bldg at 4th & Spring.

At some point the helicopter lands on 4th Street and one of the 'bad guys' falls through a fake overhang on the 4th Street entrance to the Hellman Bldg.. The Hellman Bldg doesn't actually have any glass overhangs.. one can surmise it was built especially for the film.. The Hallman is about 100 years old, you know. ;P

Helicopter landing on 4th (in the larger image you can make out the San Fernando Bldg and the Farmers & Merchants Bank & part of the Hellman Annex (4th St facades) on the right.

The Barclay Hotel is on the left.. guessing they used special effects to put the other buildings into the image.. they just aren't there. In 1999 the corner of 4th & Main across from Barclay was a parking lot and the construction on the Medallion project was many years away.

Old Bank District buildings star in many many movies.. (most recently last summer's Eagle Eye) As an example, one can easily point out the Hotel Barclay in many films, tv spots and primetime tv shows. On one hand it's kind of fun pointing out familiar places (I love "location spotting" when I'm watching CSI and can see where they filmed downtown or in the Arts District) but if it's easy for me, I wonder if some locations are being over-used?? What about the residents who live there (me being one of them I stay away from the filming and have been fortunate not to have bright lights shining in my bedroom from an all night film shoot.. some of my neighbors have not been so lucky).

This movie was shot in 1999 (or maybe 1998?) and so the Old Bank District Lofts hadn't been completely developed yet (the San Fernando Bldg at 4th & Main was the first.. then the Hellman across the street, and last the Continental at 4th & Spring) but people do (and did at that time) live downtown. The film industry was using downtown LA as its own backlot for years, nevermind what people living there had to say about it. As downtown LA becomes more populated, one wonders if landing a helicopter on Main Street is so easily done these days. =)

Still, I like spotting my neighborhood. I hope they continue using downtown and the OBD as a star location, as long as they respect the businesses and people who are inconvenienced by all the disruption. It's fun seeing OBD in movies.. even the bad ones. =)

Hope For Firefighters 2009

2009-06-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

TODAY June 4th!!!
If you haven't heard elsewhere, today, June 4th, is the 12th Annual Hope For Firefighters event at Hope Place (333 S Hope Street)..

If you don't already have lunch plans.. (or if they are easily changed) be sure and head over to Hope Place at the top of the hill behind the LA Central Public Library. There you will find an amazing event to help raise funds for Los Angeles Fire Department Widows, Orphans and Disabled Fireman's Fund.

one of several hot LAFD food booths from the 2008 Hope For Firefighters!

There will be hose pull and bucket brigade relays, apparatus demos, live music, special guests, and of course the AMAZINGLY delicious food cooked up by various LAFD fire stations around the City.. mmmmm BBQ!!! Plenty to see and do on your lunch!

The event runs from 1130am-230pm. If you miss it today you'll have to wait another year, so I encourage you to BE THERE!

You can find more info at: Hope For Firefighters

Meander-ific!

2009-05-31T23:03:00.000-07:00

I was a good girl and went on the bike meander today.. I didn't have the point & shoot (the Canon died at Disneyland, and although now working.. doesn't seem to work as quick as it used to) so I only had a cellphone for the ride...

Here we are at an overpass.. There was eight of us today,(Warren & Kay are foreground left & right respectively) on our way back through Vernon and Hancock Park.. One of the 'new folks' had a flat, which allowed my uber- out of shape self catch up.

Sometimes I know I've been avoiding the meander.. I keep meaning to go, head on over to the Toy Lofts around 10am and have fun meandering around downtown LA. Sometimes schedules work where I don't make it as there's friends in from out of town, or we're going out of town.. Then sometimes I get anxious, and don't go.

The last big one back in January had us heading to the Atwater Village bike bridge and back.. that really kicked my butt. It seems like when Warren isn't heading up these meanders people end up going to long distance places like SilverLake or who knows where. This is where my angst comes from. I know I'm out of shape and honestly not up for the long distance, or the hilly streets like I had in the past. I get anxious about where we are going and if I'll wear out. My knees have been popping a lot more lately. *whine*

We got some good meanderers though.. Kay comes all the way from Eagle Rock. I know I can't complain when this bike goddess shows herself after a ride from Eagle Rock, then rides back home. Then again, she hasn't been sitting on her butt these past five months. ;P

I am proud of myself though. I made it.. and then I met SeanYoda for a lunch at Wurstkuche (which was extra yummy since I forgot to eat breakfast before heading out) and super filling. A good treat, then walking back from the Arts District. Several hours later and I can honestly say I'm not sore. Yay Me! =)

Will I go next week?? um.. yes? =)

**LA Bike Meander is an informal group of cycling folks that meet up at 10am in front of the Toy Lofts every Sunday to ride around wherever, not a race.. but a meander. Yes, sometimes there's a meander of one.. sometimes four, and sometimes, like today, there were eight...

Anniversary Dinner at Bottega Louie

2009-05-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday the 19th (besides being Tip-a-Cop day at Pete's) was my 8th wedding anniversary. Hubby had to work so we had made tentative plans for "Happy Hour" at the recently opened Trader Vic's at LA Live: (We have made a point to celebrate a couple of our anniversaries at the Trader Vic's Emeryville previously).

SeanYoda worked much too late so our backup plan was suggested as trying Bottega Louie at 7th & Grand. It's been open a month now, and we'd heard many good things about the cafe, the wifi, the take-out etc.. Since we'd not been.. the anniversary dinner seemed like a good opportunity to give it a go!

It was after 9pm when we met up outside the restaurant. I didn't bother taking exterior or interior architectural shots.. Suffice to say the place on the inside is rather voluminous with plenty of seating and the high ceilings make for an echo chamber of patrons conversing over their meals.

You can see the menu online at the Bottega Louie website but I'll of course have shots of what we ordered!

First we were seated in the main dining area (the front is the cafe where one can have coffee, pastries or pick up from the take out coolers; I assume the wifi is also used in this area). We could barely hear anything that was said to us because of the echoing noise of the patronage. There was a good number of diners, but room for more.

We were offered stil or sparkling water which I gathered we got the still water. We ordered drinks: Diet Coke and an Arnold Palmer. While we waited for our drinks we looked over the menu. A lady sitting at the table next to us was politely inquiring if we'd been here before and was saying how much she enjoyed the Portobello fries.. so ended up ordering that (under small plates) and the Italian Salad which we asked for split plates on that..

The Italian Salad ($12) Chopped lettuce, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, black olives, pepperoncini, provolone, pepperoni & red wine vinaigrette. The Italian salad is plenty for 2 people (this is just half).

Portobello Fries ($8) were a delicious and zesty treat of battered & fried portebello mushroom slices, seasoned and served with a dipping sauce. Very good! SeanYoda was thinking he'd like more sauce.. but otherwise I would definitely order this again (and was tempted to say I'd want my own.. in that it was almost too good to share. There was plenty enough for two, however).

Entrees..

After such great starters I didn't want to overstuff myself.. there were a couple items that caught my eye.. the Ravioli especially. Our server Kim suggested the ravioli since the portion was a little more sensible. As you will see it's 6 pillows of ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese..

Ravioli ($12) House made pasta stuffed with spinach and ricotta in a light cream sauce with pancetta, sage & peas.

Just the right size and very delicious! I used a little bit of the bread we were served with our water to make sure I got all that wonderful sauce.

SeanYoda went with our server's suggestion for the Trenne..

Trenne ($12) Braised prime rib-eye with Tuscan black kale. The pasta in this dish is a bit chewy.. The meat is heavy with flavor. SeanYoda said he liked it but I definitely preferred my dish. =)

I was definitely satisfied with my meal.. everything was perfect, but then Sean suggested dessert. I didn't know if we had it in us to split dessert.

Dessert.. which I can't recall the name of but it was very good! A fine finish to a wonderful dinner. The berries in sauce were rich!

Total with tax (before tip) came to about $60.

I have nothing but good things to say about our experience here, from the service, to the food and everything.. The only downside is the noise.. Because of the high ceilings, the sounds are just way too loud to be able to hear what is being said to one another or the staff without asking multiple times. It got rather frustrating. Despite that, we'll definitely be back!

**note: our fellow patrons at the table next to us got a pizza to go (pizza is around $14) that too looked good.. The sandwiches run about the same price so a more recession friendly meal is defnitely possible here. Don't be scared off by the fancy menu.. between a pizza and a couple beers another night, I am thinking this would be a regular spot for Downtowners.. (also the Breakfast menu looks very tempting!)

Bottega Louie
700 S. Grand
Los Angeles, CA 90017
213.802.1470

Regent Theatre

2009-05-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

Never get tired of seeing the Regent sign lit up!

May Art Walk

2009-05-18T10:05:00.001-07:00

I ended up staying in during May Art Walk last Thursday to relax and enjoy not being out in the noise and crowds. I was tempted to go out but figured there were other folks out taking photos and I was right!

Under the Alexandria has some shots here: May Art Walk

This just makes me realize I need to start getting out again.. I'm getting some cabin fever.

Resolutions what Resolutions?

2009-05-06T11:57:00.001-07:00

So much for losing weight.. I haven't been doing the wii since January.. nor riding my bike, nor doing the Skid Row Watch Walk.. nor.. well really much of anything that will help me lose the weight.. and if anything it's gotten worse.

The heavier I get, the less likely I feel comfortable going out & about.. which is exactly what I need if I want to lose the weight.. Today's weigh in?? (after I had breakfast.. which I know is bad!) 212lb. yep.. I am WAY over the 200 mark..

It's weird this time last year I was well on my way to 180 and under.. (I got down to 170lb and maintained for about a month before settling at 175 for a bit..) then around September/ October I cut out my all day walks down to practically nothing.. just walking when I needed to get somewhere.. I was able to do the Great LA Walk with little to no problem (the pain came after!) as well meander around Disney World for 2 weeks with no issue.. but now I'm mortified that all my progress has gone down the toilet.

What's weird is that I'm eating out a LOT less... but I'm still gaining weight. Something to be said about walking it all off I guess. =(

Hate to say it but I need to cut out the desserts if & when I do go out to eat.. and maybe my next couple reviews need to be more on the healthier side.. perhaps I should try the salads next time I go to the Nickel?? sigh... no more salt peanut cake. *cry*

Fat Meeko likes her salt peanut cake. Maybe a little too much..

Maybe we need to try some of that old New Orleans "half-fast walking club" strategy?? I don't know that Pete Fountain lost any weight doing it.. but maybe I'll try something different (like not drinking my way too much through it).

OK enough personal.. hopefully next post will be more downtown.

Maple Bacon Donuts @ Banquette Cafe & Wine Bar!

2009-04-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hey Downtown Neighbors!

Coming back home from an afternoon out, this homemade sign caught my eye as I walked through the entry gate of San Fernando Bldg. What's this? Homemade Donuts!! So I popped into Banquette & took a closer look.. Asking one of the Baristas if these were those same delicious donuts created by Sharlena Fong at the Nickel, the reply was but of course!

Can I get a WHOO HOO!!!!

Paneless Repair.. Fixing a Window on Main St.

2009-04-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

Settling in at the new place we had some minor repairs that needed to be made.. and they all happened yesterday!

First our fridge got looked at (SeanYoda had noticed the door was offset just a bit and was preventing the light from going out when you closed the door) as even when the door was shut you could see some of the inside of the fridge was open to the outside. A replacement washer & some adjustment was all it took. Yay!

I also noticed a crack in one of windows.. which I was concerned would get bigger if there was another big earthquake like we had last summer. When they came to see about it they found another, more deeper crack that penetrated to the wire meshing that lined the center of the window panes. Eventually they came and replaced the pane entirely!

they had already removed the damaged pane..

Paneless View (I snuck a shot while they were measuring the new pane)

measuring & cutting..

replacing the glass

all fixed!

They did a pretty good job! I just wish we could look out the window, but many of these have the double-sided reinforced glass (which is good I think) but keeps one from seeing much.

I'm just very glad it's all taken care of now & can keep working on settling in. Yay! Old Bank District!

The Must a great place for Art Walk Night

2009-04-09T09:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight is Art Walk.. and while I probably won't go there myself (it's so crowded!) one of the really good, but not so recession friendly options around town in the evening is The Must!

The Must opened late last year as a wine and comfort food bar in the back of Weeneez at the corner of 5th & Spring. We ended up eating there several weeks back (Mar 10th) when we wanted to go for cheeseburgers at Weeneez and it was closed.. but the The Must was open. We were hungry so we attempted dinner here.

The total bill came to about $60 for 4 items, drinks and a dessert.. A lot more than we were planning to spend. The food was pretty good but in the end it's ideally a wine bar. A great place to come and have a drink and try one of the many small plates-- if you're meeting friends after work or you want to stop here during art walk or any number of events you'll be attending downtown.

Service the night we were there was spotty.. that night they could have used at least one extra server. We probably wouldn't have noticed so much if we were there to socialize rather than have a nice dinner. Dinner was indeed nice.. just not something I would do very often in this economy.. wine & snack? yes.

Rather than go into details here's some pix of the yummy dishes we tried:

sauteed wild mushrooms ($6) and my least favorite.. tasty but not too exciting.

Sweet Potato tots with Ranch Dressing ($6).. Very GOOD!! order 2 of these as you won't want to share.. seriously.

Mini Chicken Sliders: Crispy fried chicken breast, smoked mozzarella, ranch dressing, and pickles on mini biscuits. $4 each or 3 for $10. These were excellent!

Orange, Almond & Bacon Salad: Blood Oranges, smokehouse almonds, applewood bacon, butter lettuce & citrus honey vinaigrette. $7 Ehhhh.. was ok..

For dessert they had 3 options the bread pudding appealed to us but they were out. We ended up ordering the fluffernutter which I've never tried before ever..

The Fluffernutter.. with chocolate dipping sauce. High on the naughty treat level but not exactly what I was really wanting.. (when you got a craving for bread pudding fluffernutter isn't a good substitute).

All in all it wasn't a horrible meal, and I would definitely recommend the place to anyone wanting to get a glass of wine and bite to eat. If you want Tapas, go to Warung. If you want a yummy cheeseburger and Weeneez is closed, go the extra block to the Nickel. It'll cost you a LOT less than The Must.

If you want a great glass of wine with a tasty treat such as the sweet potato tots and the chicken sliders.. go for it! We'll be back one of these days to try the bread pudding but it'll be a while. Our wallet is still a bit bruised.

Moving On Main Street

2009-03-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

Downtown Neighbors may have noticed a certain chubby Meeko schlepping stuff on a trolley across the street.. Meeko is moving yet again.. but still on Main Street, so no blog title changes.. just a few days of hard labor with us getting our stuff out and moved to the new place.

New Place, New View, (same landlord!)

We love living in Old Bank District and hopefully a major difference will be that we'll have places to put all of Sean's Disneyana prints and I'll be able to move my desk & stuff back into the loft and give up the little office I've been renting the last few months. A place for everything and everything in its place (that's one of my mom's favorite sayings but not sure where she got that from).

We've eaten out almost every day this week.. which isn't usual for us but I've got some new pix.. so I'll be posting soon.. (The Nickel on Tues & Friday, Blossom on Wed & Royal Clayton's on Thurs & I had lunch @ Weeneez on Friday!) So now you know why it's been more quiet than usual around here. There's just so much stuff to do! DirectTV guy comes this morning so we'll have to move the TV next I guess! (then the cats!)

Alexander will have to take a nap first to get ready for his move today!

No Meat Friday

2009-03-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

Along with the Vegan Chili at The Nickel ($3 for a small bowl), another good & affordable option is to head to Weeneez for some soy or tofurkey dogs. It being Friday I reminded myself I hadn't tried the non-meat options at Weeneez yet, so I headed over today to try a tufurkey dog.. my first one at Weeneez!

Tofurkey Dog is served with grilled peppers & onions, a dill spear and a horseradish mustard was suggested by Julie as a good condiment.. I have to agree!

Take a bite!

it's not just a tofu dog.. it's seasoned with sundried-tomatoes and basil.

I asked Julie if there was anything else in it, because it had a bit of a spicy seasoning in the "non-meat" and was VERY good! The horseradish mustard made my brain burn but was a good accompaniment to this "dog."

Even if it's not a "non-meat Friday" this is still a good option at Weeneez. I can see ordering it when I'm craving a hotdog and am not necessarily in the mood for my favorite the Kosher Polish.

With a large soda my lunch came under $7. With a price like that, you might want to order two. =)

Veggie Chili

2009-03-15T02:07:00.001-07:00

Small Vegetarian Chili on a cool Art Walk evening was just the thing to fill me up..

I would definitely order this again.. no meat Friday or Art Walk Thursday, it was a good option! Oh and it was spicy!

**still owe a review of THE MUST** which I've yet to sit down and do.. soon!

D-Town Burger Bar

2009-03-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

The history of the American hamburger goes back over a century, in the US it can be ancient history so that one can spend evenings debating who exactly created the first hamburger..whether on toasted bread or bun. The hamburger was a working man's sandwich, that for a nickel or two you could fill up and move on. It had a disreputable past, having been associated with meat that was cheap and questionable and ground to not waste a part of the cuts of meat the butcher couldn't sell as prime, or so it's once been rumored.

My personal history of the hamburger comes out of Chicago, where the mainstreaming of meat and bun was brought together in places called White Castle and Steak N Shake. The fresh meat was cooked on a grill right in front of you, so you knew what sort of meat you were getting and you got to see it from start to finish as it was presented on the plate in front of you.

While I'm not going to recite the entire history of burger and the burger joint.. There were many: whether it was Steak N Shake (the special sit down steakburger place my mom would take my brothers and myself to on special occasion) or the White Castle, or the ubiquitous McDonalds.. or the classic Mel's and the modern quick serve In N Out of California, I could go on. Instead, I'll move on to what this review is actually about, The Downtown Burger Bar.

D-TOWN BURGER BAR
Dtown Burger Bar
6th & Spring
(Hayward Hotel)

D-Town is playing off those memories we all have of our youth and hamburger experience. It's got a simple menu that has been likened to In-N-Out, and other than the menu, that's about where it stops. The decor of the place shouts out to Mel's with it's 50s style jukebox and over-zealous Coca Cola decor (one can't help noticing it since it's all over the chairs, walls and counters) as if there was a special at the World of Coke store. We're not here to check out the decorations though, we're here to eat.

D-Town Menu

Burgers, fries & a coke.. or a hotdog. Shakes are also on the menu, but other than the pristine multi-mixer on the counter, we didn't note anyone ordering or drinking any shakes.

The grill is so new, it shines.. and they've got their system down to a well-organized easy going pace. Place order at the counter, pay for your order and sit down and wait for the magic to begin..

Burgers come out from a cooler drawer placed below the grill, and cooked to a med/well perfection, fries are cooked in small batches and are a mix of sweet potato and "regular" fries. If you sit at one of the many counter seats, you can watch the process.

SeanYoda's double cheeseburger..

Once we got our order it was served hot and fresh. The cheeseburger itself was a simple affair of lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo.. ketchup and mustard are on the counter if you need it. While not the best burger in town, it's simplicity is what makes it a winner.

The fries for me were a bit of a frustration.. I love sweet potato fries and wish there was an option to just have those and skip those long and skinny McDonald type fries. When I go to McDonald's I know what I'll get. these weren't quite that. they were long and bendy and a little underdone in some cases.. and in others, just so. They had little to no salt (thank you!) and so SeanYoda who was dining with me, added salt to his, but personally I think that is how it should be.. over salted food takes away from the taste..

While we ate, music of the fifties (and dare I say sixties?) played continuously, which helped with the feel of the place. When you get down to it, the 'feel' of the fifties is what it's actually going for, as it's nothing like Mel's or Steak N Shake or In N Out, but more a modern 'hats off' to the fifties and the concept of clean, quick and edible diner.

single cheeseburger with a hint of those yummy sweet potato fries.

For a single combo and a double combo plus tax and tip came to just under $20, so while not a recession special, still very affordable for a night out, or a lunch. I would definitely go back when I wanted something quick and convenient, or if it was Sunday (Weeneez is closed Sundays). It doesn't come close in comparison to Weeneez cheeseburger, but then Julie doesn't have fries.. but if you wanted good fries you don't want DTown you want the shoestring fries at the Nickel with the Bacon Burger.. or the Belgian fries at WurstKuche or the sweet potato fries at... You get the picture.

That's the dilemma here.. if you want better tasting than McDonalds, that's affordable and convenient with fries, this is the place. It's hard to find a place that has not only affordable food, but delicious affordable food that serves it with good fries.

Pacific Dining Car

2009-03-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

**disclaimer** I don't eat fish. Please keep this in mind when reading this review. Thanks!

Restaurant: Pacific Dining Car
Location: 1310 West 6th Street (City West)
Type of restaurant: Steakhouse

We stipulated: When Mike and Maria of Franklin Avenue announced they were hosting a lunch for bloggers and fans at Pacific Dining Car in honor of their 200th Rate-A-Restaurant review, I of course RSVP'd at the opportunity to try the place. I've never eaten here, and had heard some good things about the place but that it was a little upscale, so it wasn't on the top of my list of places to run & check out. This would make the trek worthwhile.

They stipulated: That we order from the set menu and hopefully write a review in the style of Mike's Rate-A-Restaurant blog. Since the restaurant was located in City West,we decided to drive over and find parking. Parking was hard to come by, so we opted for the Valet. As it turns out we got little "half off" stickers which brought the $5.50 parking price down.

What we ordered: The one-time $40 Rate-A-Restaurant prix fixe included:

Appetizer
Grilled Jumbo Shrimp with Spring Mix Salad & Mango Beet Dressing;
Entree
Petit Filet Mignon and Monkfish with Lobster Sauce with Vegetable Medley;
Dessert
Strawberry and Vanilla Vacherin / Compote of Seasonal Berries.

High Point The high point was the company. I was fortunate to finally get to "officially" meet Mr. Atwater Village Newbie (despite having gone on the Great LA Walk with him on the Pico & Santa Monica walks).. so meeting him & Mrs AVN was very nice.. and downtown neighbors Jim & Celia, and Scott Lowe of "Tropico Station" was very good company (I knew Scott from the previous Great LA Walks as well).

Having lunch at Pacific Dining Car was a great opportunity that I'm not sure when I would have had.

Regarding the food: I knew that since there was to be a prix fixe menu, there was a good chance I would be served fish of some kind. The service and the food presentation (plating) was lovely.

The salad: I 'donated' my jumbo shrimp to SeanYoda and so the salad was excellent without the shrimp. It was a fresh sweet summery salad, that does not lose anything from not having the shrimp.

The entree: You can see pix of the entree elsewhere. I completely forgot to take a photo as when the servers were going around the room, they initially seemed to think that it was a fish or filet mignon option... so when the plate came and had both. I was a little disappointed, but again, I was well aware this might be the case.

Getting over it, I gently moved my piece of monkfish over to SeanYoda's plate, and he in turn passed me his filet mignon. The blue cheese & herb butter was excellent and the steak was served medium rare, so I was able to eat all of it but the very center. Again, SeanYoda had no problem helping me make that disappear. =)

The vegetables had a considerable amoount of lobster sauce drizzled on it and so I ate a little around the edges but left most of my veggies.. I love veggies, so this was probably the saddest part.

Dessert: the Strawberry and Vanilla Vacherin was served with a compote of berries: blackberries and blueberries, etc.. was most excellent. I would gladly order this again given the opportunity.

The Low Point: I'd have to say the low point was the jacked up (and sub-par IMHO) Bloody Marys. SeanYoda seemed to have started a trend with the bloody marys. He ordered one, and I ordered one thinking "hey yeah.. when will I have the opportunity to try this anytime soon??" and a few other folks ordered one as well. I'm not sure if they liked theirs, but at $9 a pop, Sean made a point of pondering aloud to me, "wondering what sort of vodka they are using?" I can't say I'm a Bloody Mary aficionado but I have had much better. I guess the plus of this is that I doubt I'll be going back anytime soon to make the mistake again.

Overall Impression: The waitstaff was amazingly good! Highly efficient and attentive. The atmosphere of the place is high end but not pretentious. I didn't feel like I was at Arnaud's (which I've eaten at along with other New Orleans old line restaurants) and had to worry about which fork to use, or worry about how I was dressed. Putting people at ease is a big part of the dining experience for me, and so having a meal that I couldn't necessarily enjoy 100% was made a lesser issue.

Chance I'll go Back: Honestly, it's very doubtful we'd make it back other than on a rare occasion due to the pricepoint of the place. It seems like it's a special place for special times, which this indeed qualified. Perhaps one day (maybe for a birthday or special anniversary event) I'd like to go and try something off the menu for dinner like the Grilled half chicken.. It's more likely I'd want to try breakfast as I hear they do an excellent breakfast. Better yet, afternoon tea would be more my style.

**Big Thanks** to Mike & Maria for all your great reviews, your time and effort in putting the event together and to the staff & management of the Pacific Dining Car. I do hope I'll get to come & enjoy breakfast there one day.. someday.

Weeneez new hours.. again!

2009-03-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

If you've been wanting to try those new sandwiches over at Weeneez but haven't been able to get over there during the week.. new hours are in play:

Monday thru Saturday: 9am-9pm.

so get over there for dinner while it's still going on..

New Famima!

2009-03-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

The new Famima!! store expansion puts the phrase "super convenient!" to good use, opening its 5th location at the corner of Wilshire & Hope.

Famima, 700 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles.

With a location just 2 blocks up the street, and another location on its way around the corner next week at the Roosevelt Lofts, this location may be pushing saturation. I guess it depends on your point of view. If you are any one of the thousands of downtown workers in the area or live in nearby South Park, your Famima!! options must seem limitless.. In some cases, a quick cup of coffee or a "whole lotta banana" fix may be as simple as an elevator ride down to street level, or a walk around the corner.

In comparing Famima!! options, this particular location is a bit smaller than its 6th & Grand counterpart (or the location at 8th & Fig). However, it does have a floating coffee counter in the middle of the store, and a seperate checkout along the wall. The cold food is in the cooler to the left of the checkout and you'll find your beverage choices are in the coolers along the back wall. The same product lineup is there, just in a different location than you may be used to at another location.

some of the fun to be had at the Grand Opening:

Super Famima! with face cutouts for posing.

There was a raffle to win various prizes:

various prizes could be won from the little 'bingo' type spinner, anything from a Famima! tshirt, beverage, or snacks like the very popular Pocky or an individual Famima! branded packet of tissue.

If you missed out on the fun today, be sure and check the Downtown News for your free frozen Famima!! Freeze (page 3) and head over there tomorrow.

They're open daily:
6am-Midnight Mon-Friday
7am-Midnight Saturday
7am-11pm Sunday

Now if they want to be really "Super Convenient" maybe they should put a Famima!! on Spring or Main in the Historic Core. Just an idea..

Sunday at the Sausage Kitchen

2009-03-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

Wurstküche

pros: great sausage selection, fries are omg! good
cons: price point on the sausages are a little much if you are on a recession budget, no diet coke, limited topping selection
overall: good for a treat now & again. the fries are the winner here.

Wurstküche is one of those places that I've seen developing in the Arts District over the past year & was looking forward to its grand opening. The owners are restaurateurs from San Francisco that wanted to bring their idea for a gourmet sausage restaurant to LA. They've worked hard on refurbishing this location in the Arts District over this last year. When their November opening arrived, I was happy to hear about it, but I wasn't spending as much time meandering around the Arts District and put off going there.

I kept hearing good things about it though, and so while trying to figure out where to try something 'new' Sunday, it was decided Wurstküche would be the place.

First thing I want to say is that I'm not a hotdog fan. These aren't hotdogs though, these are gourmet sausages. It's not Pink's (thank goodness) but it's not Jerry's Dogs either.. In some ways that's better and in some ways, it's not.

For those not familiar with Jerry's they have a limited choice of sausages (and regular hotdogs too) and a gazillion topping choices.. their gourmet coupling is the homemade potato chips. Good stuff and filling.. So they have a limited number of items and do it well. They're also in Orange County which is like.. far away if you don't have a car.

Getting back to Wurstküche, their niche is the gourmet sausage. You can exercise your curious palette with some 20 different sausages from standard Italian to the more exotic rattlesnake & rabbit, or a duck & bacon sausage.

you can see what your meat options are before you order..

The price point on your sausage varies on creativity.. While the Italian will run about $6, a mango jalapeno will run $6.75 and the more adventurous "exotics" are $7.75 and regardless what you order, you get a 2 topping option. That's it. If you're going for the more exotic, you may not want to cover up the flavor with onions and peppers though. If you want mustard, they have at least 5 kinds.

I've heard the best thing to do when you want to see how someone does it, is to go with what you know is good.. In other words, I like brats and are familiar with them, and so comparing apples to apples I think is good for a first visit. I chose grilled onions and 'spicy peppers' for my 2 toppings. They do have sauerkraut as an option but I wasn't craving it for whatever reason.

SeanYoda had the Louisiana Hot with grilled onions and sweet peppers. Along with the sausages, a large order of Belgian Fries and a couple sodas rounded out the order. The lunch total with tax (not including tip) came to about $30.

Reed's Spiced Apple Brew and the Fentimans Ginger Beer

Louisiana Hot and the Classic Bratwurst with aforementioned toppings.

You get a number and take your drink to your table & wait for them to grill your food and bring it out fresh & hot. There's a small counter in the order area, but if you go down the hall the larger dining room has abundant seating available.

We noted someone working on their laptop, and so when our food was delivered I inquired about wifi. While wifi is not available, if you happen to pick up Little Tokyo Unplugged.. well, you're lucky.

Along with ample seating in the back is a bar where they have several bottled and draft options. The non-alcohalic drinks run familiar to classic soda drinks like Moxie and Fentimans. There is no Diet Coke or diet anything. They do, however, have bottled water. I opted for the Reed's Spiced Apple Brew, and Sean got the Fentiman's Ginger Beer.

I hadn't tried the Reeds before.. it was super sweet and had a fresh super crisp apple flavor that made me think of chunky applesauce. Sean said it made him think of apple pie. I highly recommend the Reeds. The Fentiman's was your classic ginger beer. Either way good choices. You may want to drink slowly though as each bottled beverage runs from $2 for bottled water to an average of $3.50 to $5 for bottled sodas.

As for the sausages, they were both good. $6 each for a couple of classic sausages I thought was a bit much. They tasted on par with my favorite place,Top Dog (in Berkeley,CA) but while Top Dog is also grilled & served straight off the grill the price point is a little more palatable. We were also a little disappointed they don't offer much in the way of toppings, the ones they do have are ok. I found 'spicy peppers' on my bratwurst to not be spicy, but rather mundane. It was still good, just not what I was expecting. The brat was hot and fresh and had good flavor.

As for Sean's Louisiana Hot, it was a nice spice blend but not what I'd call hot, unless they meant it was served piping hot off the grill (which it was). Still good stuff, just not "OMG! best sausage ever!" For classics, though, I can't complain.

While we weren't bowled over with the sausages, we did agree that the Belgian fries are what would bring us back.

Belgian fries are made fresh, sprinkled with kosher salt, and served in a paper bag. You get a choice of one dipping sauce for a small order, or 2 dipping sauces for a large. The next problem is choosing what two of the 10 different flavors do you want.

We chose the pesto mayo and the chipotle ketchup. While I had a little trouble making my mind up which of the two I liked better, I think the pesto mayo won out.

As for the fries they are good on their own, crispy golden on the outside and soft potato goodness on the inside. Not mushy at all, (but one would hope not with these thick cut fries). I don't salt my food, so the sea salt was almost a little too salty for me, but I think that most fries aficionados will find the salt just enough.

I've heard folks come here regular, and I can see why but I don't see myself doing it. I definitely want to come back and have the mango jalepino which was my first choice before deciding to do with something simple & familiar. I like aligator and I'd like to see how they do it.. but that'll be for another day as well. The price point doesn't endear me to sneaking off to eat here on my own. The fries however, could. =)

Wurstküche
800 E 3rd Street
(@ Traction)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213-687-4444

EDIT: the rest of my flickr set is HERE

L&L I love you!

2009-03-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

Glendale, CA

Yesterday, while hunting down a copy of Animal Crossing City Folk @ Circuit City (no luck), we instead spotted this great sign. I snapped it with the celphone on our way to Starbucks for some coffee.

If we hadn't had lunch at Wurstkuche (that's German for 'sausage kitchen' btw!) I don't think I would have been able to pass up a L&L opportunity! Aloha!

Full on Breakfast @ Weeneez

2009-02-28T13:07:00.001-08:00

If it looks like all I do is go around the corner and stuff my pie hole then you could be right. Except that's not the case. I haven't gone out to eat since I had those great sandwiches at Weeneez earlier this week on Monday. Before that I think there was a trip to Rubios while at the AMC 30 on Sunday the day before that.. and at some point.. maybe a trip to L&L. These last two are chains and you can go there pretty much anywhere.. you don't need me giving reviews of McDonalds do you?? (L&L is definitely not McDonalds.. you get the idea though, right?).

So yeah, breakfast.. full on breakfast is served at Weeneez on Saturday from 9-noon. As I'm typing this it's a couple hours later & I'm still stuffed. SeanYoda ordered the body builder special which is: 2 eggs, 2 sausages (or slices of bacon or ham), home fries, toast & 2 pancakes.

forgot the camera so you get this poor quality celphone shot.

As for me, Julie was saying they were making some really good pancakes from scratch (and I was all set to have the "earlybird special" which is similar to the bodybuilder minus the pancakes).. Twist my arm!! (heh heh) I ordered the pancakes and a side of bacon.

omg these pancakes were huge! (the bodybuilder pancakes were normal sized) With two of the slices of bacon (I 'shared' one of my slices with Sean) I was stuffed. Actually I ended up having Sean eat like a 1/6th of my pancake. It was too good to not eat, but I was so full from what I already had.

I'm glad I ordered the pancakes, but they are indeed filling. Total for breakfast with 2 sodas not including tip was around 17 bucks.

Weeneez new sandwiches & new hours!

2009-02-23T12:59:00.000-08:00

Remember Weeneez? Of course you do!

One would think I have forgotten about them since I haven't talked about them for a while. I admit I have a problem with mornings, I'm not so good at them. I'm good if I know I need to be somewhere, but without structure, I seem to slow down quite a bit.

Suffice to say this post is benefiting in a way by my not getting my act together in time for breakfast. ;P So instead, it's an early lunch today at Weeneez. It's been long enough that there were a few changes:

NEW HOURS
Weeneez is now open Monday through Saturday 9am to 4pm. Breakfast is served 9am to 11am and is limited to egg sandwiches. Full Breakfast is served Saturdays from 9am to Noon.

NEW DELI SANDWICHES
Julie is now featuring fresh made Italian Sub and Roast Beef sandwiches..

Sound good?? YES!

So good in fact that we ordered one of each.

Roast Beef with Cheddar cheese and the mayo and horseradish mustard.

The Italian Sub.. lots of meat, a savory Italian flavor.

Speaking for myself, I had to take a "halftime" between the two halves as it was a very satisfying, filling sandwich. The sandwich served me well for both my breakfast and lunch.

Suffice to say I fell off the Weight Watcher wagon a few weeks ago, but this is easily a sandwich I would want to order yet again... I could have one half for lunch and save the other half for my dinner. It is quite filling.

Julie noted that she may be getting some fresh baked La Brea bread in the future. I found the sandwich fine regardless, but fresh La Brea Bakery bread would make an excellent sandwich even better I would think.

The total for 2 sandwiches and drinks came to about 17bucks, so still very affordable and very delicious.

Vegetarians need not worry.. there's a soy dog and a tofurky dog available on the hotdog menu.. and the breakfast has some non-meat offerings. With Ash Wednesday coming up it might be something to consider to stop by and I may try one of the soy dogs finally.

Time for the Oscars!

2009-02-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

It's Oscar time.. have you seen any of the films? So are you ready for your Oscar picks?

Saturday we headed to one of the local AMC theatres that was hosting an all=day Oscar Movie Showcase. We probably got the best deal because we hadn't seen any of the five films nominated for Best Picture.

For $30 we got a refillable bag of popcorn and a lanyard which allowed us In and Out privileges so we could stretch our legs between films, (or in the case of the couple sitting next to us, leave to have a relaxing lunch while Benjamin Button was shown as they'd seen it before).

We ended up taking our dinner break before Slumdog Millionaire and were able to go back, settle in and enjoy the movie. My Favorite Films were MILK and Slumdog Millionaire. Benjamin Button was good but not as great as I was led to believe it would be.. Again any time someone over-hypes something for me I just end up getting disappointed. Still, it was nice seeing New Orleans if just from my movie seat.. and noting continuity errors in location. =)

Having seen all the Best Picture films... I'm pretty ready to settle in tonight with my low-fat bag o Kettle Corn and Cherry Coke Zero and watch the awards be given.

Do you have any plans for watching the Oscars broadcast?? Do you care or think it's just a waste of time (well it's definitely a time sink!) How do you (or don't) spend the night of the Oscars??

Have fun whether you watch at an Oscar Party or camped on the couch.. or whether you skip it altogether. I don't take these shows very seriously.. After all, it's just entertainment.

Onion Rings for Joe..

2009-02-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Bacon burger w/ onion rings from the Nickel Diner..