Lately, most of my adventures have been in food.  A great deal of it has centered around my proximity to Ricardo Zarate and Stephane Bombet of Mo-Chica, Picca and now Paiche fame.  They are my bosses.  (Amazing bosses, by the way.)  So, I’ve had the chance to eat some of the best food being created in LA.

Part of what happens when you are in the nexus of awesome energy is you meet a vast array of amazing people.  DTLA people are quickly becoming my favorite sorts.  They are artsy, creative, edgy, a little dangerous and full of life.  One of those people is Jean Francoise Valcarcel.

Read the rest of this entry →

You may think I’m a little obsessed with the 626 Night Market that shared this video.  I am.  Can’t help it as its one of the biggest cultural events out here in the SGV and its fun too!

Evacuation orders have been lifted for most neighborhoods in my area, with only 2 streets still under them.  According to the city web, which has done a bang up job of keep us updated, the command for the fire will shift back to the Emergency Operations Center at City Hall this morning.

Where I sit right now there is no visible flames or smoke, with luck the hot spots will be done with and containment will happen sooner.

Isn’t this an early start to the “fire season”?

Fabulous Fords Forever Poster

The absolute biggest single make auto show on the west coast is the Fabulous Fords Forever show. It got started here at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center at Griffith Park in 1984. It has grown so big its since been moved to Knott’s Berry Farm. It is one of my all time favorite shows. Its about a lot of cars, fun people and celebrities. I had the chance to meet the legendary racer/builder Carroll Shelby two years ago, Henry Ford III last year.  Hell, I even absent-minded walked right into Jack Nicholson while I was all agog over the cars.

Every year there is a new theme to the show with new guests as well.  This year among the 2000+ cars, it will be celebrating 110 years of Ford Motor Company with a display of milestone cars. Additional features are 85 years of the Ford Model A, 45 years of the Torino and 20 years of SVT. They have cars registered from 13 states and Canada, covering 55 classes of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks, plus several displays of the latest from Ford and Ford Racing.

The guest of honor is the celebrated Formula Drift Champion, Vaughn Gittin, Jr., who will have his latest drifting Mustang on display along with his RTR Mustang stable.  Linda Vaughn will be in attendance with a team of legendary 1960’s drag racers of California fame. Meet and greets will be available with them.

Deets: Sunday April 21, 2013 from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Knott’s Berry Farm,8039 Beach Boulevard, Buena Park, CA 90620  MAP HERE 

Mayan Bar and Grill rating sheet

I recently got to participate in a Chef’s Tasting at the soon to be opened Mayan Bar and Grill here in Monrovia.  The Mayan will be in the historic Aztec Hotel in the space formerly occupied by the Brass Elephant.  It was a fun experience.  Tasting and rating menu items for a new restaurant before it goes public.  The Mayan will focus on Central American cooking a first for my little corner of L.A.

The food was simply pretty terrific.  First up was Ensalada Esmeralda which was a simple mix of roasted chilis and greens tossed with a bright avocado and cilantro dressing.  Next up was a Puerco Mole Verde, or pork medallions in a somewhat spice, but deeply flavored mole sauce.  The last course they gave us was the Tequila Lime Shrimp…with a spicy sweet mango salsa.  All in all I rated them all very highly, made comments where appropriate but really enjoyed the experience.  The new Chef at the Mayan did not disappoint.

Do you want to get in on the tastings too?  Simply friend the Aztec Hotel on FB and watch for their notices and instructions on what to do for the next event.  Its really as simple as noting date, time and emailing the hotels General Manager Art Desaultels that you want to attend.  This Thursday is nearly full and they just added in Friday for another tasting.  They fill fast so act fast. Read the rest of this entry →

From the ladies  that brought us “shit girls say in L.A.” now comes a quick riff on Coachella which most of the music lovers in L.A. will be heading out to the desert for shortly.  If you have the time to check out their entire channel on youtube do check out the Trashy Girls.

Thanks to the folks at 626 Night Market I now have the answer on how to eat these delicious little bites.  After all these years I’ve learned they aren’t finger foods and double dipped.

More on the 626 Night Market can be found on their web.  Count on hearing more from me about the arrival of this event closer to the first one in June.

pic courtesy of Shed Media

You can read the full news release I got in my email after the jump.  But the short version is if you had a reno or remodel done to your home and got screwed by your contractor an LA casting producer from Shed Media is looking to talk to you.  The Casting Producer is Ben Selle and he is looking for a homeowner willing to spare a few hours filming with a hopeful host for a soon to launch major cable network reality show about contractor horrors.

I’ve tossed my hat into the ring for this one. We did an addition for a studio/game room and a patio redo.  The job should have taken 2 months, but took 10 as the contractor kept disappearing and dodging phone calls.  Worse after going over budget the work has aged very poorly…drywall seams showing and cracking, slate tiles popping up or disintegrating.  Sigh.  Eventually we fired him and hired someone else to finish the job.  Now we are finding out how shoddy his work was and we have no recourse.

To make things uber easy write Ben directly at BSelle@Shedmediaus.com with your story of woe.  Include pictures of the problem, yourself since you will be on camera, and your location in L.A.

The press release after the jump… Read the rest of this entry →

click to embiggen

Do you write a blog?  Like to read blogs? Like to meet the folks behind a blog?  Well then this annual event is made for you.  There are usually a few dozen local bloggers there and their groupies (not including each other).

This is the 5th annual held at this park, but if you have followed me on blogging.la for a while you will know that we, a large diverse group of us bloggers in the SGV, have been getting together since ’07.  This picnic got going when it was determined we needed to do it annually in one location and blogger Timothy Rutt of the Altadenablog got it all rolling for us.

This is a pot luck affair so bring a tasty bit to share with the group.  Don’t be surprised if it gets blogged too.

Deets: March 30, 2013, 11AM – ???, Farnsworth Park,568 Mt Curve Ave, Altadena, CA 91001  MAP HERE

click to embiggen, there are 2 whales in this picture

The whales are making their migration north from Mexico.  We are rapidly approaching the zenith of their numbers.  The fam and I made the trek to Dana Point to take advantage of the season as we “heard” that area tends to have the best whale watching.  We were not disappointed.  Our 2 hour cruise left us with memories that will last a life time.

We used the services of the Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching and rode out on the “Dana Pride” at noon yesterday.  We saw many sights as we cruised out past the sea lions on the break water and out to sea.  There were several pods of dolphins feeding out at sea.  What was really amazing was watching them follow our boat and play in the wake as we moved around them.

The captains on the boat are real experts at whale watching.  The offer up a narrative of what to look for as well as what you are watching.  They stay in touch with other Whale Watching boats to expedite the finding of whales by sharing information via radio where they can be found.  (Spoiler alert…we saw something that is rarely witnessed by us land dwellers and you need to make the jump to read about it).  Read the rest of this entry →

No matter how cute and romantic it is DON’T POST IT ON YOUTUBE if its illegal

The full details of the arrests is on the KTLA website.  For the life of me I can’t imagine why they posted it on youtube and bragged about it on other social media.  It was just dropping clues as to where they can be found for the arrests.  I give these guys an “A” for creativity, a “C” for the idea to do it on a Sunday morning where traffic is light, and an “F” for getting caught.

Update: Starting today, Bahooka is cash only. Let us know if you’ll be joining us via our Facebook event page. 

Sadly, L.A.’s famous tiki-themed restaurant since 1967, Bahooka, will be closing forever on Sunday, March 10, 2013. If you’ve never been to the establishment with over one hundred fish tanks, or you just want to say goodbye, please join us for a farewell gathering this coming Saturday, March 9th at 5pm.

As the closing is imminent, I have not been able to get in touch and reserve any sort of table. Please expect a leisurely wait, which will allow us to hang out and admire Rufus, the restaurant’s mascot fish who is over 30 years old.

I hope to see many of you at Bahooka on Saturday. Come out for one last hurrah, one last order of crab puffs, and one last flaming cocktail (they will even make soft drinks with fire, if you wish!)

Bahooka is located at: 4501 N. Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead, CA 91770

If you do plan to attend, please join the event on our Facebook page.

Yes, I know that this post for a  charity event is early, but registration is now open and there is a discounted admission if you enroll to help by March 15, 2013.  Walk in No Shoes is a charity walk run event to benefit the poor and persecuted in  South Sudan.  The event funds will go to the Sudan Relief Fund to help them raise awareness, generate funds and support relief efforts that provide food, safe drinking water, clothing, shelter, medical attention, education and hope to the people of the region regardless of nationality, religion, ethnicity or what tribe they belong to.  You can get more information on the Sudan Relief Fund HERE.

The event will take place in Woodley Park.  The event will have 3 different categories of  running/walking.  There will be a 10K walk/run, a 5K walk/run and a 1K barefoot walk.  The latter is a sort of kinship exercise as the Sudanese often walk miles barefoot for water, food and medical attention.  There is a fee to enter these raises that will generate the funds.  The fees range from $25-45, and go up after 3/15 to $25-55.    There are also opportunities to volunteer to help them that day.  All the information you could want on the event can be found on their web site HERE.  These donations are tax deductible as the fund is a 501 c(3) charitable organization.

Deets: Sunday, April 7, 2013 8:00am to 1:00PM, Woodley Park / Lake Balboa 6350 Woodley Ave., Van Nuys CA MAP HERE

Yup, it was such a success last time around at Santa Anita Park they are returning this summer.  If you made it to the Pasadena locations last year you were probably put off by the density of the crowds and difficulties with parking and stuff.  The move to Santa Anita Park alleviated those obstacles and made the event really fun.  Of course, if you made the ones after the move to Santa Anita you are well aware of how much fun the place was.

The folks at 626 Night Market are so happy with the change of venue they are looking to increase their crowds.  They are having a contest on facebook and are giving away 5 passes to each of the 10 winners.  To enter all you gotta do is like their page and share it with your friends.

626 Night Market is also looking for artists, food trucks and other vendors to pack the place with and add to the fun and enjoyment.  If you are interested visit their web page HERE.  Yes, the prices seem steep, but it includes your canopy, lights, outlets and most importantly your permits.

I’ll post more on the dates as we get closer to the event.  If you want more deets visit the main 626 Night Market site when you have time.

Congratulations go out to Kristina Reed, also known as wife of long-time blogging.LA’s Mack Reed not (just) for producing the Academy Award-winning Animated Short Paperman, but for getting kicked out of (and getting let back into) the 2013 Oscars.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

After Disney’s Paperman won the Academy Award for best animated short Sunday, producer Kristina Reed began throwing paper airplanes, about three or four — with kisses on them, like the ones seen in the film — from her seat in the mezzanine.

The paper planes were nowhere near the stage, instead shooting straight down from the balcony. It went largely unnoticed by the crowd, but security didn’t think the act was very sweet, kicking her out of the Dolby Theatre auditorium.

It would turn out to be temporary. After a short protest, security brought her back to her seat about five to 10 minutes later.

The story has been picked up by Gawker, HuffPo, ABC, MSN, and more.

(Photo lifted from Mack’s Facebook feed… thanks, Mack!)