More than anything else on their menu, the Gobi Manchurian is what keeps me coming back time and time again. The first time I visited, it was described to me as “sort of like a vegetarian fried chicken.” From the first bite, I was hooked. It’s actually cauliflower marinated in garlic, ginger, chilies, and soy sauce, but the fried chicken comparison does seem quite apt, provided you marinate the fried chicken in ten gallons of awesome before serving it up hot.

According to the Woodlands website, Jonathan Gold is a fan as well:

Still uncommon is the ALL-VEGETARIAN Indian restaurant serving the intriguing foods of India’s southern region. . . . If you’re looking for value and tasty food, you will certainly find it here.

If you’re ever up in that corner of the Valley, you should do yourself a favor and check this stuff out. You won’t be disappointed. Unless you come on a Monday, that is; they’re closed on Mondays.

But on a trip to Burbank and back by bike this week, I have nothing to say but “Bravo!” to that burg after I chanced to discover an unheralded and entirely unmarked bike/pedestrian path that was so brand-spanking new it had to have only been recently completed. Paralleling the Burbank Western Channel between Alameda Avenue and Victory Boulevard, it’s short and sweet at barely a quarter-mile in length, but it provides a serene off-street shortcut connection between the two busy thoroughfares that not only serves cyclists passing through but also the residents of the neighborhood to the north of the channel.

Here’s hoping it’s the first of more to come.

UPDATE (1.24): I received an email from Cory Wilkerson, an assistant transportation planner for Burbank, who confirmed that more indeed is to come. He wrote, “We are planning to extend the pathway to the Burbank Metrolink Station, Top Priority Project #8 in our Bike Plan. The project was funded through Metro’s Call for Project and constrcution is schedule for FY 2015.”

After the jump you can find an annotated and embiggenable Google Map screengrab of the path’s location along with two timelapse clips of rides on the segment, the first traveling from Victory to Alameda and the second coming back from Alameda to Victory.

Was a brand spanking new Laemmle theater with seven screens. Santa delivered! Wednesday night the NoHo 7 theater, newest addition to LA’s awesome “we’re not afraid of subtitles” Laemmle chain.

Wednesday just so happened to be the last night of a friend-of-a-friend’s visit to LA, and so when we tried to narrow our options for how to best entertain him, breaking in our new neighborhood theater seemed like a clear front-runner.
The theater was quite nice, and it still has the new construction smell. The film selection, for anyone who is not familiar with the Laemmle chain, is probably precisely what you would imagine from a theater chain that prides itself on not being “afraid of subtitles.” The overall feel of the place, for those who are familiar with the Laemmle, is not quite what we’ve grown accustomed to at the Encino and Fallbrook locations, but can best be described in comparison to those other locations as simply “clean.” But don’t fret; thanks to the staff, the place seems to retain some sense of character in spite its cleanliness.
So next time you’re in the East Valley and looking for a reason not to kill yourself movie to entertain yourself, check out Laemmle’s NoHo 7. I think you won’t regret it.

I ain't afraida no ghosts

Spotted this Chrysler 300 with license plates “ECTO 300″ and ghost-catching gear attached heading down Ventura Boulevard Sunday afternoon, but this was the only decent pic I was able to snap. I saw another Ghostbusters logo on the side of the vehicle as I passed, but no phone number to call when there’s somethin strange in your neighborhood. No indication as to whether this might be part of a rumored third installment in the Ghostbusters series, but I doubt it.

For old time’s sake:

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.

I’ve been living in the southeast part of the Valley for a little over a year now, and while I have been a big fan of M Street Coffee for weekend afternoon writing sessions (they close early), or Aroma Cafe as the obligatory location for first dates arranged through online dating sites (they seem to busy to be a good place to write), more often than not when I’m looking for a good place to write on a weekday evening I end up at some greasy-spoon location drinking diner coffee and trying to talk myself out of apple pie a la mode. Blogging.LA’s Travis Koplow mentioned the Coffee Fix to me at least once or twice, but it took me until just this afternoon to finally check it out. While I would agree with some of the Yelpers who seem to suggest that the place is a little dingy and unpolished, I actually find that quality a bit endearing.

Here are a few things I liked about Coffee Fix:

• Ample seating, with a few outlets interspersed.
• Open ’til 10pm daily.
• Iced americano tasted better than Starbucks and Coffee Bean. (Low bar, I know.)
• Free Wi-Fi.
• Fair amount of parking.
• Standard coffee-shop type food menu.

Okay, so I guess this isn’t entirely a ringing endorsement for the place, but I’m excited to have an alternative to the diners. And the Coffee Fix offers a brownie a la mode that might help me stop eating so damned much apple pie.

Cathy Cole's photo used through Creative Commons license

One of the things I love about LA is the way bad weather is regarded as such a bizarre, unforeseen anomaly. (Insert lyrics to “Camelot.”) It’s chilly by LA standards in Chatsworth today (66) and grey. I walked outside to second-hand smoke with my boss this morning, and she looked up at the dreary sky and said “What weird weather,” this being a fairly common response to 66 and overcast here in the Valley. When I first moved to LA years ago, after an extended stint in the upper midwest, it used to crack me up when people would say that. Cloudy sky? “What weird weather.” Drizzle? “What weird weather.” June gloom in September? You got it: “What weird weather.” I used to think of these exclamations as symptomatic of Angelinos’ hot house flower-ish inability to withstand anything but a narrow, precipitation-free  temperature band. This dismayed surprise, like the hats and scarves that get put out on the shelves when the temperature drops below 70, made me smile the vague smile of superiority that anyone who has lived ten Midwestern winters can’t help but feel when an Angelino complains that it’s cold.

Well, it took about two and half years for my blood to thin sufficiently that I am now compelled to bust out my wool beanie and flannel sheets when it’s in the 50s. And not only has my standard for what constitutes “cold” changed radically, but I now understand that weather-induced bewilderment totally differently. I no longer see it as a sign of weakness, but more like a synecdoche for a pervasive culture of optimism–like “How strange that it should not be a nice day!” And what’s so wrong with believing it’s going to be beautiful? Raised on the east coast, I was brought up to be suspect of too much optimism. I come from a family of sardonic, leftist Jews who regarded unadulterated  cheer as some sort of borderline retardation. But LA has changed me. I’ve lived here long enough that I find myself surprised on a day like today when the sun doesn’t come out. Weird.

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!

Unlike the candy store I posted about recently, which appropriated a popular phrase wholesale for its business name, this local business exercises a bit of creativity and added a minor twist to a different popular (and also PG-rated) phrase. The result is a barber shop that makes me chuckle every time I drive past. Deez Cutz is located near the intersection of Roscoe and Sepulveda in Panorama City.

I’ll try to be on the lookout for clever names on small local businesses and post more here as I spot them. What are some of your favorites?

And he has a Van Nuys tourism video. Hurrah! Check it out after the jump.

818 represent!

Admittedly, though I only just discovered them, these aren’t new installments to DrJedly‘s oevre. In fact, it seems  DrJedly lives in Vegas now. And here I was really looking forward to the Pacoima installment.

You Should Like This

Before The Event That Never Was, I wrote about the need for a rail line along the 405 corridor. I exchanged a few emails with Bart Reed of the Transit Coalition, who shared some insight as to how to get such an important piece of the transit puzzle off the ground (or rather, under.) He said they have been in talks with Los Angeles Council Districts 6 and 11, and that they would begin promoting through social media sites.

The Valley-Westside Rail project is now up on Facebook. You should like it.

I asked Bart how people could get more involved. He said that we need to start by garnering support from neighborhood councils. So, that’s where I began, with a few emails of my own:

This past weekend, the closure of the 405 and the media attention it received resulted in a ripple effect on the entire freeway system. Drivers got lucky. Businesses did not. This further illustrates the need for viable transportation alternatives. Specifically, a more comprehensive regional rail network.

As a contributing author for Blogging.LA, I wanted to get your input on a newly envisioned Metro rail line from the Valley to the Westside, by way of the 405 corridor.

Current proposals by the Transit Coalition would have the first phase of the North-South line connect the Expo and Purple lines on the Westside to the Orange Line, Van Nuys Metrolink/Amtrak, and Sylmar Metrolink/HSR in the Valley. Phase 2 would connect with LAX and onto Long Beach.

What is your council’s position on such a line? What would your constituents stand to gain/lose from it?

I think we can agree that comprehensive transit system is vital to the future of our city. I would like any feedback you could give, as we begin an open, honest dialogue on how to better connect our communities.

Judy Price of the Valley Glen Neighborhood Association was the first to respond:

Personally, I think we must start working toward a transit solution in Los Angeles. I was an early proponent for the Orange Line, although many in Valley Glen fought it. It is a poor substitute for rail or subway but is better than nothing and has been a great success. Thank you for the nudge on this important issue.

Then there was the response from Tony Braswell of Neighborhood Council Valley Village:

We have repeatedly gone on record in favor of more public transportation options to link SFV to the rest of the city.  I  believe our Board will  look favorably on this “newly envisioned Metro rail line”, and will share it with our City Services Committee at their next meeting.  Anything that links SFV to the west side and eventually to LAX would benefit our stakeholders.

Maybe things do start with a Facebook page. Or an email. Have you written your neighborhood council lately? Find yours by entering your address here at EmpowerLA.org.