In the spirit of the season of things coming back to life, I thought it was time to bring back Classic Eats and continue our enjoyment of L.A. restaurants and bars that have been around longer than most of us have lived here. From my calculations, this will be Classic Eats #15 and it’s going to be a fast and simple one. By that, I mean it’s happening later this week and there’s no voting because I already decided on the location.

The Red Lion Tavern in Silver Lake is a German Gasthaus and Beer Garden that was established in 1959 as an English pub. When the ownership changed in 1963, it took on its German theme. There’s food, lots of beer, and atmosphere at the Red Lion. Come out this Friday, November 4th at 7pm to have a bite to eat, a drink, and hang out with writers and readers of Blogging.la. If you missed a chance to celebrate Oktoberfest, now you can!

Classic Eats #15
Friday, November 4th at 7pm

Red Lion Tavern
2366 Glendale Blvd 
Los Angeles, CA 90039-3209

The Red Lion Tavern is about 5 miles north of downtown L.A. It’s located just south of Silver Lake Boulevard. Limited parking is available in lots on either side of the building. There is also plenty of street parking in the vicinity. Leave a comment or drop me a line if you plan to attend.

Here at Blogging.LA, we’ve always got an eye out for a good cafe to #occupy while we bang out our freelance writing, novels, screenplays, and even an occasional blog entry. We Valley-dwellers don’t have much to choose from, and the list gets even shorter when you knock off the places that lock up for the night when it’s still early evening. Sure, there’s the mandatory minimum 1.0 Starbucks/square mile ratio, but we all know that doesn’t really count. Studio City’s Coffee Fix, on the other hand, does qualify. Read the rest of this entry →

Don’t get me wrong the other stuff one expects at the LA County Fair is a lot of fun, but there’s other stuff too one doesn’t really expect to find that turns out to be quite entertaining.  People watching during the week is interesting and different than weekends.  Yesterday it was hordes of school children being shepherded by harried teachers and chaperones along with quite a large contingent of Seniors.

One of the big finds that I found to be a lot of fun was over in the Home and Garden center.  There’s a wine, beer and olive oil tasting room!  Of the hundreds of wines submitted for judging in the LA County Fair 436 are available for tasting.  Tasting fee for a flight?  A very reasonable $11 for 5 tastings.  They have a list sorted by suggested tasting order and number your glass to match what you select which also happens to be the order you taste.  Loved it.

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Photo courtesy of KCRW

If you draw a Venn diagram between donut lovers and pie lovers among blogging.la readers, I suspect that the overlap would be considerable. That’s why I’m excited that KCRW’s 3rd Annual Good Food Pie Contest will be held at LACMA on Sunday, September 18.

The Pie Contest will take place from 2-4 p.m. on the lawns behind the museum, and will be judged by notable Los Angeles area chefs and food writers, including LA Weekly‘s Jonathan Gold and Zoe Nathan, chef/owner of Huckleberry Cafe.  KCRW’s “Good Food” program host Evan Kleiman will emcee, which is appropriate since Kleiman’s blog about baking a pie a day was the inspiration for the contest. Additionally, LACMA’s Family Days in September will be dedicated to the theme of pie.

KCRW is also holding an essay contest in connection with the event: “Tell us the story of the pie that changed your life, in 500 words or less”. The winner gets to be a judge in the pie contest. But hurry, just two more days to submit your essay.

To enter a pie in the contest, click on the second link above. The entry cost is $10. For non-contestants, admission is free, including a taste once the judging is complete. And this year,  to tie in with LACMA’s Tim Burton exhibition, the contest will include a category for “Tim Burton-inspired pie”. Now that’s something a Donut Summiteer could love.

Deep Fried Kool-Aid

If something deep fried that shouldn’t be isn’t a big enough hint its time for the LA County Fair I don’t know what is. This years outrageous deep fried thingy is Kool-aid, and it isn’t as bad as you think it might be. Maybe it was coming off of this years Donut Summit that made it all the more palatable but those Kool-aid flavored donut holes are something to behold. Imagine if you will a cherry flavored donut hole that is dusted with a blend of powdered sugar and cherry Kool-aid and you get the flavor profile of this deep fried treat invented by Chicken Charlie.

Last night was the LA County fair hosted local media types to come and get a tasting of the fare offerings this year. We got to graze through a sampling grazing of the biggies at the fair starting with Bubba’s and Chicken Charlies and into food trucks such as Piaggio’s and Crepes Bonapartes. You have to make the jump to get the deets on what I grazed upon as well as on the fair itself.  Read the rest of this entry →

How can you not trust a hot dog with a halo??

Since 1949, Papoo’s Hot Dog Show has been filling the tummies of Toluca Lake residents and visitors with tasty hamburgers, sandwiches, fries and of course….hot dogs. Countless movie and TV stars have been regulars over the years. Though the owners and recipes have changed, it has always remained a great hole-in-the-wall place for some really good grub. Well today, Sunday August 28, 2011 marks the end of 62 years of Papoo’s Hot Dog Show.

Hot Dog Show holds a special place in my heart as I’ve been going there since….well before I was born! My mom worked there when she was 16, her initials STILL carved into the counter. In fact, I only just found out that my parents met there. If it weren’t for the Hot Dog Show, I wouldn’t exist! Having lived only 1 block away for most of my life, I can remember riding my scooter or bicycle up there on a regular basis. I always ordered 2 plain dogs with ketchup, fries and a Dr. Pepper. While I would wait for my food I would play either Galaga or Ms. Pac Man with the “WOOZ” (upside down “ZOOM”) button. With that “WOOZ” button I could fly through to the banana stage in about 4 minutes flat.

I’ll miss you Hot Dog Show and I’m not looking forward to the rumored Italian restaurant taking your place. At least we still have Dale’s Jr. Money Tree Hampton’s IHOP Copper Penny Bob’s!

Tent City at Venice Beach

Yesterday was my annual pilgrimage to Venice Beach with the kids for their end o’ summer/back to school field trip.  (I celebrate the latter).

It is so sad to see the changes going on in Venice right now.  Where the sidewalk was once lined with artists and musicians it is now packed with EZ-up tents selling mostly swap meet type crap.  To even get to the tent city one has to wade through a gauntlet of a dozen or so “independent musicians” hawking their latest CD in a very aggressive in your face manner.

I can count on my hand the number artists left on the sidewalk of Venice Beach.  It was sad to see so few of them left.  It was even sadder to see the number musicians has dwindled to less than a handful.  I miss them all, they were the heart and soul of the Venice Beach that I have come to love over my years here. Read the rest of this entry →

Albano's Sign by Jodi 8/19/2011

For years, my absolute favorite pizza place in L.A. was Albano’s on Melrose, just west of La Brea. Having done my fair share of time in the Northeast, I am a bit partial to New York style, thin crust pizza. Albano’s was not close to where I live and the parking was often less than convenient , but the pies made it worth any hassle. For a short time, they opened a second location in The Valley (twice), which was easier to get to, but I still preferred visiting the Melrose location. However, by the end of 2007, Albano’s was no more. While the owner was briefly involved with Robano’s when it initially opened in Toluca Lake in 2008, he ended up leaving and their pizza hasn’t been the same since.

I was driving to an appointment last Friday and as I drove by the former Albano’s location, I looked over as I usually do. I was shocked to see the old sign instead of that of one of the pizza joints that took over the spot after Albano’s closed. I didn’t quite believe what I saw and was running early, so I drove around the block for confirmation. OMG! Later that night, we went for slices and were hugged and kissed by Anthony Albano, who knew us as regular customers before and appreciated us coming back over the hill for Albano’s, the Best Pizza in L.A. It’s delicious. Try it for yourself.

pic by me. click to explode.

On the heels of Fraz’s post the other day about Five Guys, today I spotted another one opening up very close to where I work. I have still not eaten at Five Guys, so I can’t make any claims about how they measure up to In-N-Out. I can tell you without measuring, though, that this new Five Guys is laying down the gauntlet Read the rest of this entry →

5 Guys Burger and Fries

The arrival of 5 Guys burger joint is beginning in the LA area.  The 5 Guys is a big deal back east and I don’t get the draw.  Are they that lacking in burger joints that this place really does that well?  I’m a bigger fan of the original Fat Burger and Tommy’s with the well seasoned and aged grills than even the famed In and Out Burger so when the chance to try one came up I did so this week.

So what to you get for your money?  A burger that is actually pretty decent, not quite an In and Out or the other locals I just enumerated, but decent enough.  They are pricey though.  For our family of 4…2 large burgers, 2 singles, large fries (which is big enough for all 4 to have left overs) and 3 drinks the tab came to $32 which is just a bit much for just a decent burger.  Let’s face it times are tough and the same meal from In and Out would have been around $20 and I can’t justify the difference in price by taste alone.

Anyone else tried them out?  What did you think?  Do the established locals like In and Out have anything to worry about?

Intelligentsia Coffee in Venice

Although I work mostly from home, a large residential construction project next door this summer has pile-driven me out of the house. Therefore, I’ve been searching for the perfect West Side coffee shop in which to work. While this subject has been picked before, and others have their own considerations, I have a challenging qualification to add to the  basic requirements of tasty coffee and free WiFi: the place has to be kind of quiet.

Before you ask, I’ll answer: (1) Yes, I’ve tried local libraries. Have you  been to one lately? Loud talking and even cell phone chatting is now standard practice. (2) Yes, I own noise-cancelling headphones, and use them frequently. (3) Yes, I realize that coffee houses have a long history as places of lively conversation. (4) A real office or shared workspace? Yes, I’ve thought about it. But how’s their coffee?

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
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pic by me. click to enlargify

I was recently walking down the street in my new Studio City neighborhood (with a Walk Score of about 82, more than 16 points higher than the overall score for our walkable city), and I saw the storefront pictured here.

Suck It.

In terms of visual appeal, I’m a bit torn on whether the suggestive lips dotting the ‘i’ make up for the comic sans used in the taped up signs below. But then, I don’t claim to have any sense of authority on visual aesthetics, so take that comment with a grain of salt.

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The 99 Cent Chef, one of our celebrity judges, videoed the whole thing and crunched down a few hours into a nice documentary of the day.  Fun crowd, fun times.

More picks of the day in my flickr set.  If you have images of the day you want folks to see sound off in the comments with a link to them.

The sign outside Mohawk Bend on Sunset and Alvarado in Echo Park has promised “Opening soon.  Very soon” for a few weeks now, and I’m very, very excited that it will finally open at 5pm today.  Mohawk Bend comes courtesy Tony Yanow, so if you’ve been to his excellent Tony’s Darts Away bar in Burbank, you’ll know what we can expect here: vegan-friendly eats and a damn great craft beer selection.

The bar is located in an old movie theater, completely rehabbed so what was once the lobby now houses a long bar, communal and non-communal tables, and an open kitchen.  Tony is vegan, so the menu is too (“60 percent vegan, 20-percent lacto/ovo vegetaria, and 20 percent meat” is how the press release describes it).  It’s dinner service only for now, but they hope (as do I) that they’ll start a brunch and lunch service soon.

Most important, though, is that beer.  There are 65 California craft beers on tap, 5 from out of state breweries, and a two-firkin cask system for those of you who are uber-serious about your ales.  And sweet, kind people behind the bar who can patiently explain the differences between an IPA and non-IPA and help you decide which pint(s) to try.

I was lucky enough to attend a preview event of the space two weeks ago and, believe you me, the space and the beer selection is fantastic.  See their photos of the space here, and see you there, soon.

Mohawk Bend, 2141 W. Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park; (213) 483-2337.

Joker Beethoven, Jesus, and Justin Bieber all showed up

How awesome was yesterday’s Blogging.la 2nd Annual Donut Summit? A picture is worth a thousand words, so you can look at the pics after the jump and judge for yourself.

We had enthusiastic attendees (I estimate at least 100). We had the creative Blogging.la crew, especially Alexandra and Lucinda whose production and organization were off the charts. We had expert celebrity judges. And we washed it all down with stellar Intelligentsia Coffee. Yeah, it was something special.
More pics after the jump