When I first heard about country line dancing at Oil Can Harry’s, a gay club in Studio City, I knew I had to go for the following reasons: 1) Even though I’m not a fan of country music (hate it), square dancing was one of my favorite classes during high school physical education, and 2)…
Category Archives: Los Angeles
Revisiting L.A. With Out-of-Town Guests
My sister Sizzler, a former Angeleno, and her husband David are visiting us from New York this week for only a week so I’ve taken it upon myself to think of places to take ’em in L.A. Of course, it’s an L.A. specific to their tastes (read: no tourist traps). So far, I’ve come up…
Cafe Ugo: Turn Down the Tiramisu
Back in the ’90s, I used to be a tiramisu reviewer. Not for any special publication or anything. Rather, my friend Bernadette and I would go from Italian restaurant to Italian restaurant just to sample this Tuscan trifle. It was our own unofficial quest for the best one out there. Having not found it yet,…
Bartender Crush Du Noir: Steve at Ford's Filling Station
Steve is a 20-something, tall, lanky guy with blonde hair and an easy, friendly smile who tends bar at Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City. He kinda reminds me of some actor in a romantic comedy I’ve seen before. Hmm, Josh Lucas? I walked up to the bar and asked for the cocktail list and…
La Bottega Marino: Summertime Sammiches
There are some foods I’m not crazy about, i.e. pickles, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, deli sandwiches. So when my friend recommended that we go to Italian deli, La Bottega Marino, for lunch, I was like, “Eh.” But Julie has a way of selling me on almost any food because she speaks with such enthusiasm that it…
Santa Monica Drive-In at the Pier: Those Summer Naaa-hiiiights…
Yay! It’s back! Another one of my favorite summer pastimes: Santa Monica Drive-In at the Pier. What’s summer without a night out at a “drive-in” movie theater? You’ve got your warm summer evening under the stars with your friends, a classic movie, and of course popcorn. But, here, instead of “drive in” you actually just “walk up,” instead of…
Soundtrack for L.A. Living: Running Through Sprinklers
Flickr Shot by Today is a good day What: Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summertime” Who: Those dying from the heat who have access to a grassy lawn and sprinklers. When/Where: The Valley, the Inland Empire, suburbia front lawns everywhere or city streets with an open fire hydrant during this scorcher…
Outlaw Dinner: 7-Course Meal of Forbidden Food
Did you know that New York banned sous vide preparation and that Chicago has an impending law against foie gras? Yeah, I didn’t either and I have to say that until this very second when I googled those food terms, I didn’t even know what any of that meant. But apparently foie gras involves the…
SinBaLa's Shaved Ice: For Relief From the Heat
Flickr Shot by Imtrendywendy The other day I ventured further into the oven by traveling east to Rowland Heights. It was 110 degrees out and hellishly dry. My friend Julie and I were driving around blasting on the A/C and trying to decide what to have for a snack. It felt too hot to ingest…
REPOST: Hot & Bothered: Ways to Stay Cool
OK, I’ve never done this before (repost something) but when I had originally posted this, the heat wave only lasted a couple of days. But now that it’s friggin’ hot out there with no end in sight, I figure it’s the best time to revisit how we, Angelenos, can stay cool. Take a Plunge: Don’t…
