Art Walk Patrol

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

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

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

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'

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

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

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

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!

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?

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

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 **