The former Cafe Metropole on 3rd Street in downtown L.A.'s increasingly bustling Arts District has received a new lease on life in the form of a new gastropub named Eat.Drink.Americano. (The periods are theirs, not ours.) The place is decked out downtown-industrial style with lots of exposed brick, rustic wooden chairs and tables, candles in Mason jars, a chandelier made of wine bottles, and a giant chalkboard wall with all kinds of tasty foodie things written on it including, "Duck & Pickles." Speaking of duck and pickles, that savory duo is on the menu. Duck terrine comes in a jar, coated with a satisfying layer of fat and accompanied by chunks of housemade pickled cucumbers, carrots and onions alongside small rounds of toasted bread. Other ... Continue reading →
What's up with the new Señor Fish in Echo Park? Seriously. Have you walked or driven by it? (It's located on the corner of Logan and Sunset Boulevard in what was once a depressing fluorescent-lighted Pescado Mojado.) Anyway, the restaurant looks like it was opened in the middle of the night by two rambunctious 9-year-olds equipped with poster board and crayons. Don't get me wrong, most people are thrilled to have a Señor Fish on the block. In fact, many people I know have a devotion to Señor Fish that borders on fanatical. My best friend swears by the shrimp and scallop burrito and has a musician friend who will meet her only at a Señor Fish when they decide to go out to lunch. ... Continue reading →
Consummate cool guy John Terzian (of the buzzy nightlife-producing h.wood group) will soft-open a new lounge in Santa Monica on Saturday called SHOREbar. Located on Channel Road, between the Hungry Cat and Giorgio Di Baldi, in the former Hideout bar space, SHOREbar touts a cocktail list by mixologist Vincenzo Marianella of the esteemed craft cocktail haven Copa D' Oro. The redesign, featuring a nautical theme and an ivory-and-brass color scheme, was done by Rosetta Getty and is being referred to as "Nantucket chic," which immediately conjures images of Vampire Weekend. I like the idea of a bunch of sun-soaked preppies in pastel Lacoste shirts and boat shoes reclining in this beach-adjacent hang. It's very summer-like. There is a second, smaller upstairs bar that is reserved ... Continue reading →
This is going to be hard to believe, but before Saturday afternoon I had never been to Chez Jay, the famous little sea-side steakhouse with a 53-year history of serving the stars. I had heard about it, of course, but I don't think I'd ever noticed it in all the years I rolled around the Westside. That changed Saturday when my friend Emily and I went to pick up an out-of-town friend at the Viceroy in Santa Monica. We were looking for a place to stop for a cocktail when we drove by it. It's a little shack of a building with a vintage cocktail sign. As soon as I saw it I made an elaborate U-turn to enter its lot. I'm a sucker for ... Continue reading →
It was like a dream come true. The day was Sunday and my band mates Charlie, Emily and I had retired to the Red Lion Tavern in Silver Lake for a beer and burger after a hard day of lying by the pool. When we sat down at a table on the patio we spied a placard for a new mobile app called Slingr that described itself as "a hot new technology that allows your friends to remotely send drinks and food directly to your table through Facebook and Twitter." What? We could check in to the Red Lion on Facebook via Slingr and request a drink, and our friends could buy it for us on their phones or computers and have it delivered to ... Continue reading →
