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November 8, 2007
Happy Hour at The Well in Hollywood
Filed under: Eat, Midtown, Play — StyleGuide @ 9:37 am
When it comes to bars, I rely on a key bellwether: a happy hour that never ends.
I was shocked to find my dream bar in Hollywood — right off Sunset and Vine, no less! The Well has one crazy long happy hour, running daily from 5-9 p.m.
That’s right: Happy Hour. Five to 9 p.m. Every day. And “every day” means Friday and Saturday nights, too.
Flavored martinis, well drinks and house beer come in at a paltry $3 to $4 apiece. Appetizers (available during happy hour only) range from two-buck edamame to an $8 half-pound cheeseburger.
The Well tops it off with a well-stocked jukebox played low enough you can actually have a conversation, a sleek decor with comfortable banquettes, and a crowd that won’t look askance whether you’re wearing jeans or hipster gear.
Happy, happy, happy hour!
Price: $
When: Open daily 5 p.m.-2 a.m., happy hour from 5 p.m.-9 p.m.
Where: 6255 W Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, Ca 90028 (find the door on Argyle just north of Sunset)
Call: 323-467-9355
October 31, 2007
Stylish Six: Great Doughnuts in Los Angeles
Filed under: Best Of, Eat, Midtown, San Gabriel Valley, Westside — StyleGuide @ 8:21 pm
“Doughnuts?” The term doesn’t seem to do these “fine American pastries” justice. Here are six of my favorites (including an homage to JFK’s favorite German doughnut):
1. Donut Man: Don’t think about it, just drive. Glendora’s crown jewels are strawberry- or peach-stuffed, fluffy glazed wonders (in season), weighing in at nearly a pound each. See the video here.
2. Rockenwagner Bakery: The famed chef turns out Berliners Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays from his Culver City shop. Mmmm, jam filling….
3. Primo’s Westdale Doughnuts: This old-school shop is in the shadow of the 10 and the 405. Their butterfly doughnut nearly brought me to tears. You need more reason than that?
4. The Gumbo Pot: Beignets are doughnuts, New Orleans-style. Click here for more about these deep fried, powdered sugar-loaded, airy sweet treats from the L.A. Farmer’s Market at Third and Fairfax.
5. Frittelli’s Doughnuts & Coffee: Doughnuts in the 90210 – without the expected attitude or prices. Friendly staff can guide you through their vast selection with prime ingredients like Tahitian vanilla and Meyer lemon zest.
6. Bob’s Coffee and Doughnuts: Plain cake goodness, daily at the L.A. Farmer’s Market. Neat kitty- and dinosaur-shaped doughnuts, too.
Where are your favorite doughnuts?
September 4, 2007
Larchmont’s Village Pizzeria and its Veggie II
Filed under: Eat, Midtown — StyleGuide @ 6:33 am
Village Pizzeria’s Veggie II pizza always leaves me considering the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.
Normally I’m all for ordering up the city’s rich offerings of carnivorous delights, whether a hefty brisket, slow cooked carnitas, or a juicy link — and this tiny Larchmont pizza parlor even tops their pizzas with homemade sausage. But their Veggie II, smeared with pesto and dotted with fresh spinach, mushrooms, little Lincoln logs of breaded eggplant, and garlic, is an eye-opener.
Did I mention it has garlic? Lots and lots of garlic. Aromatic mountain ranges of minced garlic. It’s the kind of dish you’d want to eat before you slay vampires.
Village Pizzeria serves pitchers of beer (think Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada), so pass your carnivore friends a frosty one before trying to make converts out of them.
Price: $$ (whole pies start around $16)
Where: 131 N. Larchmont, Los Angeles, CA 90004
Call: 323-465-5566
Any other amazing vegetarian pizzas out there? Tell us.
August 13, 2007
Mao’s Kitchen’s Home-Made Ginger Ale
Filed under: Eat, Midtown, Westside — StyleGuide @ 5:51 pm
If your experience in ginger ale was limited, as mine was, to the two liter bottles with the brown and green labels from the soda aisle at the grocery, then ginger ale from Mao’s will seem like more than a different country, but a different world.
First the slightly carbonated, slightly lemon-scented sensation. But look out! The ginger quickly explodes from a taste to a physical mass, commandering your entire sinus cavity, but ending with a fresh and clean feeling.
It seems an elixir from the gods for the nauseous, and a palliative for a hot sunny day for the rest of us.
Mao’s Kitchen “serves the people” from locations on Melrose (with that rarest of Melrose amenities — a huge free parking lot) and in Venice on Pacific Avenue.
Price: $ ($2.50 for ginger ale, entrees from $7)
Where: In Hollywood at 7315 Melrose Avenue or in Venice at 1512 Pacific Avenue
Where do you get great ginger-ale?
August 2, 2007
Best Fried Chicken in L.A. – Golden Bird Fried Chicken
Filed under: Eat, Midtown, South — StyleGuide @ 3:13 am
A bold statement, I know, to declare the best fried chicken in a city full of strong birds, whether Dinah’s, Roscoe’s or Honey’s.
But I have to say, there’s something about Golden Bird.
First, the name. “Golden Bird” is the perfect appellation for a chicken that, fitting for Los Angeles, is the color of a deep, dark suntan glistening with oil. The tender meat sports a batter coating that is smooth, crispy and light.
Served with the ubiquitous (but odd) side of crinkle cut sweet pickles in a tiny paper cup, the chicken is consistently good. Sides, however, can be hit or miss, but heaven can’t be much better than those days you strike upon a buttery, flaky biscuit with its salty top baked a rich brown, creamy mac and cheese or greens spiked with tender chunks of pork and a sprinkling of crushed red pepper.
There’s a lot of nostalgia for Golden Bird chicken, an L.A. institution since 1953, as locations have diminished over the years. Expect a resurgence with 14 new locations soon to be added to their five existing L.A. stores.
I hit the one at 4725 West Venice, just west of La Brea near the OSH.
Price: $ (under $10)
Where: Check www.goldenbirdchicken.com/contactus.html for locations
Call: 323-525-0488
Do you love Golden Bird? Or does your heart belong to another poultry shop? Tell me about it….
Beignets outside New Orleans: The Gumbo Pot at the L.A. Farmer’s Market
Filed under: Eat, Midtown — StyleGuide @ 3:06 am
I like the L.A. Farmer’s Market at Third and Fairfax best on sunny afternoons. We set up on the west side of the market to enjoy a perfect pair — cold pitchers of beer from the bar and hot beignets from The Gumbo Pot.
Discovering The Gumbo Pot’s beignets capped a long search for decent New Orleans-style beignets in Los Angeles. For the uninitiated, the famous doughnut-like confections are airy rectangular pillows served adrift in a snowstorm of powdered sugar. The truly decadant can choose chocolate beignets.
Beignets, beer and the sounds of the market — close your eyes and fool yourself, just for a moment, that you’re 1,900 miles away, basking in that Big Easy sun.
Price: $ (under $10)
Where: Farmer’s Market, 6333 W 3rd St., #312
Call: 323-933-0358
Have you found good beignets in Los Angeles? Give us the 411.