Hey Y’all!

I’m looking to move, likely somewhere that’s a 20-minute drive from Santa Monica, but I’ve lived in “Los Angeles” since 1982 and know that just a block or two in any direction can mean the difference between Just Fine and Oh No You Di-Int.

So, Peeps, anyone care to give a little info? Mar Vista? Culver City? Museum Row?

Elsewhere?

Looking for the Try Heres as well as the Stay The Hell Away Froms.

Need 2 bedrooms and secure parking.

Eager to hear ~

Yup, this one’s for SUPERCHUNK, VASELINES, and TELEKINISIS.

The show is at the Music Box on Tuesday, October 19th.

What, you wonder, do YOU have to do to score two free tickets?

The first person to comment with a sentence (in English) using all the letters of the alphabet wins.

The shorter the better – Oh and “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog” is out.

Ah, Key West, home of so many delicious foods. And so much rum….

Oh yeah. Los Angeles. Yes.

We may not be splashing distance from Cuba, but thank goodness we have people who used to be.

Seen that deep purple building on the corner of Sunset and Reservoir (where you turn to get to Silver Lake Blvd.)? That’s Café Tropical, and in addition to having a truly surprising array of pastries, they serve what are arguably the best Cuban sandwiches west of Miami.

Sure, you can order the Cuban Mix, and it’s done up right, but I’ve always considered those to be … well, just a sandwich.

OR –

You can order up the incomparable Midnight (we professionals say Medianoche) and get something really worth eating. I recommend you ask for it “all the way,” which is how they say “everything on it” in Key West. Now you look like a real bigshot.

Ingredients: roasted pork, ham, cheese, some slices of pickle, on a special sweet bread. The sandwich is heat-pressed but it ain’t no Panini.

Aaaarch, my eyes roll up in my head just thinking about it.

Bonus: Prices are Dirt Cheap. Medianoche is $6.50 and it comes with free wifi.

Café Tropical

2900 W Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90026

Open every day from 6am – 10pm

(yeah, go get your Con Leche on before work)

Am I cheating by including this link to Yelp? Maybe. But I’m putting it at the end, and only because I couldn’t find a website for them.

Tuna Tuna!

Okay I’ll come clean: this post was promised to feature the incomparable Pig Candy at LOU (on Vine just above Melrose).

Unfortunately my schedule just didn’t permit me to get in there and order any in time to fit the time slot, so I’m giving you another awesome dish that I order like a mental patient: The Tuna Tuna Bowl at TOT in Little Tokyo.

“Tuna and Tuna” refers to the generous number of slices of delicious seared ahi which surround a lovely lump of spicy tuna in the center. All this atop more than enough romaine lettuce, with a neat kind of teryaki mayo dressing. Comes with miso soup and a pre-salad salad.

Here’s their whole lunch menu.

All this for $10.75!

TOT stands for TEISHOKUYA OF TOKYO. They’re open seven days a week, 11:30am to 11pm.

345 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, California 90012
(213) 680-0344

The Holy Trinity: Grilled Cheese, Stewed ToMAAAHtoes, Old Fashioned Cocktail

Certainly this is far from my first post about the legendary Musso and Frank Grill, and it’s no secret that by this time I’ve likely eaten my weight in the Thursday night special: Chicken Pot Pie.

But what if you’re hungry, near Musso’s, and it’s just not Thursday?

Allow me to suggest the (hiding in plain sight) Grilled Cheese Sandwich. It’s right there on the menu, in the Sandwiches section, but if you’re not looking for it you might just miss it.

There are a couple of key elements to replicating the pictured result: the first is you need to have SERGIO as your waiter, and the second is you need to know that if Sergio likes you – and for the love of god be nice to him or I will personally have you killed – that you can ever so sweetly ask him to ADD things to the Grilled Cheese.

Things like bacon. And tomato. Or even (if you’re one Very Special Lady) a fried eggiweg.

Think you can’t afford to eat at Musso’s any more? While steaks and those delightful lamb chops (best in LA) may have slipped beyond your grasp, this little beauty is only about nine bucks. Oh yeah. The cat’s out of the bag now.

Remember that meager price tag when your bill comes – tip generously.

6667 Hollywood Blvd

Los Angeles, California 90028

(323) 467-7788
Open Tue-Thu 11am-11pm; Fri-Sat 11am-2am

Lindsay, we hardly knew ye

But I simply can’t resist -

I offer you – the publicity still for the new Lindsay Lohan comedy, “Three Hots and a Cot.”

Sweet Fancy Moses these are exceptional.

I like a nice plain regular pancake as much as the next guy, but this take on the ‘cake is just a tremendous treat.

Soaring high above the regular pancake-o-sphere, Little Dom manages to use the power of Portion Control (and quality ingredients) to make these nearly guilt-free.

Who could fault you for eating three tiny pancakes, loaded with antioxidant-happy blueberries? And just the tiniest ramekin of syrup – why it’s barely a thimbleful! (But it’s plenty, because the ‘cakes themselves are so delicious they hardly require any.) And don’t even look at the butter; why it melts right away!

Don’t wanna know calorie or fat content. Don’t care. But I honestly don’t consider this an unhealthy meal. In fact their whole breakfast menu is pretty mindblowing.

Honorable Mention also goes to the grilled house-made Italian Sausage. Better than the bacon here.

Oh and they’re Just Eight Bucks.

Wheeee!

Little Dom’s

2128 Hillhurst Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90027

323.661.0055 phone

323.661.0066 fax

Hours:

Breakfast, Lunch all day, 8am – 3pm

Sunday-Thursday 6pm – 11pm

Friday and Saturday 6pm – 12am

Just the few pairs that could make it to this morning's photo shoot. There are more....

I’m not sure if I saw “Blade Runner” first or went to LA Eyeworks first, but both left a profound impression on me.

My flesh crawling crowd loathing keeps me from witnessing what I’m certain can only be a Lucy-Show-esque spectacle (OUCH!) once or twice a year when they put Last Year’s Models on sale and let their mailing list have at them like a pack of ravenous wolves. Me, I prefer to shop in a much more civilized manner.

The price of such civilization? About $600 a pair, out the door with a progressive prescription installed and some ridiculous glasses case (one had a merkin, and another I continue to call “Elton John’s Coffin”).

Maybe you’re lucky and don’t need a prescription, so you get pretend glasses or sunglasses for just a few bucks over the frame price (which is still well over $300 most of the time). Worth every penny, says I, since I’m not the kind of person who loses or sits on glasses.

(Well there was that one time, and the LAE gods were smiling that day, because two years later They Had One Last Pair of the ones I lost – the red and pink sunglasses here.)

And although Mark Twain never shopped there, I’m sure he’d agree that any other optician vs. LAE might also be the difference between lightning and lightning bugs.

I’m a huge fan of their whole zipper tooth theme, and love the black sunglasses because they remind me of the top of Nancy’s head – not that anyone remembers Nancy any more, but still. And I do, dammit.

Will the stores still be standing when replicants come for their parents? Not sure. I’m loyal to the Beverly store, and I think Roy Batty shops on Melrose anyway.

All I know is I’m glad they’re here now.

Yes, it’s stupidly short notice, but if you’re available and so inclined, how about heading over to the Community Meeting on Medical Marijuana Dispensary Regulations and Enforcement?

It’s TODAY – Tuesday, September 14

6:30 – 7:30pm

Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock

2225 Colorado Blvd.

Los Angeles CA 90041

Sorry, no fancy pictures or links (beyond this kinda crummy one) for you – but your support is critical and I’m just seeing this.

First of all, this isn’t a duplicate of Travis’s post about Shaky Alibi on Beverly at Martel.

As Tenacious D would say it, “This is just a tribute.”

And tribute-worthy they both are: Shaky Alibi for what is arguably the best waffle I’ve ever had (and let’s be honest – Friends, I’ve had some waffles), and Travis – well, for just being Travis, goddammit.

… Yes, It’s been a long time between posts for me. Let’s just say I’ve been busy and move forward.

Fitting my return post is about food, and about how just when you think you already know everything great about the Wonderful Town of Ours, somebody turns you on to another way to eat a waffle.

At Shaky Alibi you can have them sweet OR savory, and both are pretty freaking orgasmic. And those globules of sugar nestled in the waffle ensure that syrup need not apply. Which for my mind makes this Health Food.

The place was packed today at 11am, but by the time Travis and I were on our second double espresso it was completely empty. Suddenly.

WTF? I had a shower – turns out they RAN OUT OF DOUGH. But they still have the shots of Drinking Chocolate – yeah I said it.

The bad news is there will be no waffles til tomorrow (the dough takes a day and a half to make; I know because I offered them my kitchen), but the good news is the chick is driving in a fresh load of sea salt caramel ice cream from Santa Barbara as of noon today….

Oh those sugar nodules....

Ruth666 again, to post this adorable video.

Live a little  – and Bring Some Damned Canned Goods To Canters Already!

Know that Daniel, our waiter, was a complete doll and super-competent — he’s NOT who I’m talking about in the video -

What a scoop!

We’re here blogging at Canters, where some dude has broken into song.

This ain’t Micheli’s pal –

Yes, the City Council is STILL (I won’t say “hashing out”) working on the Medical Marijuana ordinance, and there’s an important vote tomorrow.

If you care about making a good law that supports the good dispensaries and gets rid of the creepy drug fronts, how about checking out the sample letter you can send, and the list of all the Council contact info? It’s right here after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry →

Yet another example of (borrowing from the estimable Mr Jalopy) Going Out Of Business In LA:   The Santa Monica Food Truck Debacle of 2010.

It was only a matter of time before someone came up with the idea of “hosting” a few of the popular gourmet food trucks (PLEASE don’t call them Roach Coaches!), creating a rotating hub of deliciousness.

The corner of Santa Monica and 14^th was just such a hub, and the magic lasted all of about one day before the City showed up wanting their piece of the pie (or bite of a grilled cheese, or taco, or brisket, or whatever).   The location had its soft open on Monday (Yay, Pete, getting in there!) with India jones, Barbie Q’s, Fishlips, and the Grilled Cheese Truck, and was closed down on Tuesday.

Barely one whole day of operations.

Tuesday’s lineup was supposed to be FrySmith, Barbies Q, India Jones and Dainty Cakes.   The City claims the property owner doesn’t have the right food service paperwork on file. Nevermind all the individual trucks have it – Hey the whole state’s broke – Let’s tax the hell out of small businesses trying to get new ideas off the ground, even if it puts them out of business in the process.

I get it – local brick-and-mortar restaurants are feeling the threat from these trucks. To which I respond, “Free Market, Baby!”  Let the market be free already.

Pissed off? Hungry?

Email the Santa Monica City Council at council@smgov.net and codecompliance@smgov.net. Don’t forget to CC the food truck lot guy at smfoodtrucklot@gmail.com.

Follow the food truck lot guy via Twitter, all you Twitterers –

See you at Santa Monica and 14th — I hope!

Okay, so it’s not, “Milk, milk, lemonade,” but Really?

“Number One and Number Two?”

Pretty amazing.

(spotted at the Disney Concert Hall downtown)