WHY Quality burgers and good drinks, right next door to the ArcLight. WHAT This isn’t the cheapest burger in town, but as long as you avoid the prime steakhouse burger, it’s a good deal for this happening neighborhood. The meat is a mix of sirloin, short rib, chuck and brisket, and it’s properly cooked and [...]
November 4, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY The same excellent, expensive rustic-elegant food as at neighboring Gjelina, ready to take out in ten minutes. WHAT It can take six weeks to score a dinner reservation at Venice’s hottest restaurant, Gjelina, but now with GTA (Gjelina Take Away) next door, you can take the food back to work or home or even [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Luxe breakfast and lunch on the beach. WHAT Is $17 too much to pay for bacon ‘n eggs? Not with a setting like this—a white-washed California dream of a café at sand level in this beachfront hotel, with windows open to the ocean air and the cyclists a few feet away on the bike [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Dulce de leche frozen yogurt, free WiFi and delivery. WHAT Want to see a cool, subtly tattooed, wedge-wearing junior studio exec leap up and down like a kindergartener? Invite her to Froyo Life, which has developed a rabid cult following in Los Feliz. The yogurts, both of the sweet-and-creamy and tart varieties, are well [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY To enjoy an architectural ice cream sandwich without having to chase a truck around town. WHAT After a couple of years of success with its modern-day ice cream truck, this vendor of insanely thick ice cream sandwiches named (and designed) in honor of Frank Gehry, Richard Meier and other architects now has its own [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Beautiful salads, Stumptown coffee and the best chocolate-chip cookie in town. WHAT A little bit of San Francisco and Portland in Old Pasadena, the Market on Holly is the creation of two longtime locals, composer Marty Davich and caterer Mary Pat Brandmeyer. There’s a small market (fancy pastas, oils, local organic milk), a swell [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY To people-watch, graze, write your novel and experience L.A.’s great cultural stew pot. WHAT It’s not easy to describe our love for this mostly covered outdoor market and collection of eateries. Our love affair began in childhood, when begging our mothers for English toffee from Littlejohn’s; continued through high school, when we could hang [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY The gorgeous old hotel, the fabulous setting, the appetizers and the beautiful people. WHAT Atmosphere oozes out of this new dining room in the historic Roosevelt: tufted leather banquettes, burnished woods, marble tables, painted ceilings and aproned waiters who really know what they’re doing. Everyone gets the squishy Parker House rolls and samples the [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY For a ‘real’ restaurant with good modern American cooking and a worthy happy hour, smack in the middle of the USC campus. WHAT For proof that college campuses are now luxury resorts, check out this sleek place in the lavish new student center at USC. With a cozy bar, a chic dining room, a [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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WHAT Devoutly organic, this truck (an offshoot of a catering company) brings a farm-to-plate aesthetic to the mobile cuisine scene, serving classy California fare—with prices to match: market-fresh green peas atop a brisket hash, waffles in real blueberry sauce. They’re famous for their lasagne cupcake, sheets of pasta that are dexterously layered in a cupcake [...]
October 28, 2011 | Posted in
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