Since my friend Courtney rightfully chastised me for not updating this in awhile, I decided that I should check back in.
The time I would normally spend sharing my thoughts on policy items (and posting mixtapes) has been spent writing for the LA news site LAist. For now, I am only a guest writer, but my plan is to contribute frequently and become a regular contributor fairly soon. I’m currently trying to find my niche as a news and political contributor, but will soon be branching out to features such as a series on coffee roasters and little-known LA museums. You can check out my first LAist articles here:
I’ve also been slow to update this blog because I’ve been spending quite a bit of energy planning a new LA-centric blog. The idea is to encourage Angelenos to explore every inch of this city and all that it has to offer. I will cover hidden gems as well as do restaurant reviews and discuss upcoming events. The only reason it hasn’t launched yet is that I haven’t come up with a name yet! Most sites have names that either incorporate the writers name (Diana Takes a Bite, theMinty, Mattatouille, etc…) or is more descriptive (Happy Hour Tour, Midtown Lunch, Thirsty in LA).
I’d love any suggestions you may have for a name!
Names in my rejected pile include:
LA for Locals
Explore LA
Nick’s Hidden Los Angeles
LA According to Nick
It’s finally time for me to unveil my list for the Top 20 albums of the year. Mumford and Sons just blew me away this year. How was the best Americana album of the year made by 23-year-old Brits? I was tempted to write in-depth about each of these albums, but instead I opted to make a mix so you can experience each artist for yourself.
1. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
2. Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
3. Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
4. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
5. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
6. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
7. Chemical Brothers – Further
8. Anais Mitchell – Hadestown
9. Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
10. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
11. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
12. Jonsi – Go
13. Kid Cudi – Man On the Moon, Vol. II; The Legend of Mr. Rager
14. Beach House – Teen Dream
15. Angus and Julia Stone – Down the Way
16. She & Him – Volume Two
17. Vampire Weekend – Contra
18. Los Campesinos – Romance is Boring
19. Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
20. Hot Chip – One Life Stand
Best EPs:
1. Cold War Kids – Behave Yourself
2. Girls – Broken Dreams Club
Best Non-Album Single:
Japandroids – “Younger Us”
Best Mixtape:
Das Racist – Sit Down, Man
Best Cover:
Crystal Castles – “Not in Love” (featuring Robert Smith of The Cure)
Best Compilation:
Pavement – Quarantine the Past
Album Honorable Mentions:
Avi Buffalo – Avi Buffalo
Crystal Castles – II
David Dondero – # Zero with a Bullet
Drive-By Truckers – The Big To-Do
The Drums – Drums
Frightened Rabbit – The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
Robyn – Body Talk I
Sleigh Bells – Treats
Warpaint – The Fool
Yeasayer – Odd Blood
For someone without cable, I watch quite a bit of television. I don’t watch reality television (except for Top Chef Masters & Top Chef All-Stars) and I don’t waste my time with cable news channels (such an inefficient & poor way to get news).
There is something I find comforting about scripted television, returning each week to familiar characters and learning more about them. I will truly miss the three shows in my top ten that will not be returning. Most of these shows I watched on Hulu, but a few I watched on Netflix so I may be a season behind.
Top Ten TV Shows of 2010 (in alpha order)
Bored to Death
Breaking Bad
Californication
Community
Dexter
Lone Star (RIP, only two episodes, but they were among the best two hours of TV this year)
Mad Men
Modern Family
Party Down (RIP)
Terriers (RIP)
Watched Every Episode But Didn’t Make the Cut:
30 Rock
Better Off Ted
Chuck
Eastbound and Down
Glee
How I Met Your Mother
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Lost
Louie
The Office
Parks and Recreation
Rescue Me
Still Need to Watch:
Boardwalk Empire
Caprica
Children’s Hospital
Friday Night Lights (I’m four episodes in)
Fringe
The Good Wife
Treme
Walking Dead
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, I have compiled the rest of Pitchfork’s top tracks from 2010. Below you will find links to songs 100-49. These are a little more obscure than the last group, but you’ll still have your Lady GaGa, Rihanna, Drake, Usher, and Alicia Keys. You’ll also find a few bands that you can expect to see on next week’s mix featuring my favorite albums of the year (Surfer Blood, Vampire Weekend, etc…)
Ten more days until Christmas. Sixteen days until New Year’s Eve. 2010 is approaching the end of its run, which means it must be list season. If you are a fan of year-end lists, here are great lists of lists for the best music and books of the year.
Pitchfork recently released a list of the staff’s favorite tracks of 2010. I’ve taken the liberty to assemble the top 50 tracks into three convenient downloads. If there is interest, I’ll do the same for tracks 100-51.
The Los Angeles dining scene has never gotten the respect it deserves. From inexpensive and authentic ethnic cuisine to innovative fine dining, a great meal is only a few freeway exits away. Only recently has Los Angeles finally started receiving recognition as one of the great American food cities (Chicago and New York, watch your back).
While I see the rise of the LA dining scene as a slow and overdue, it feels like the cocktail scene in LA has only emerged in the past 5 or 6 years. Now, you can find sophisticated and well-crafted $14 cocktails all over town at places like the Tar Pit , Varnish, Edison, and my personal favorite, Copa D’Oro. While a masterfully crafted cocktail using unique ingredients can be as titillating as any amuse bouche, it is inevitable that one night you will catch yourself rolling your eyes at the whole self-important bowtie mixology scene. Enter Alie and Georgia…
Alie and Georgia met at Silverlake’s Cha Cha Lounge and realized that in addition to sharing a penchant for adorable outfits and colorful humor, they both saw that LA needed an injection of fun into their boozing habits. This prompted them to post a video of the now infamous, “McNuggetini,” an unholy alliance of Vanilla Vodka, McDonald’s Chocolate Shake, Chicken McNuggets, and BBQ sauce. Food2.com took notice, and starting this past September, they began posting videos to “shake up the cocktail scene.”
I first heard about Alie & Georgia when I stumbled upon their presentation at the LA Times Celebration of Food and Wine event on September 5, 2010. Whether it was their spirited rapport or the promise of taking a break from wine to taste some interesting cocktails, their demonstration was actually the only one that sustained my attention that day. At the end of the demonstration, I got to try the Umami Elixir (Garlic-infused vodka, vermouth, truffle oil, anchovies for garnish), Chocolate Cherry Bomb (Chocolate Liqueur, Pepper-Infused Vodka, Hot Sauce, Grenadine, Chocolate Syrup, Peppers & Cherries), and the Peanut Butter and Jealous. Later in the event, I bumped into Alie & Georgia and they were even more delightful and fun than their videos can hope to convey. Stories were shared and promises were made to become “online friends.”
Fast forward to this past weekend. I hosted a housewarming party on Saturday and wanted to do something exciting for the drinks. My first thought was making a few historically-accurate and interesting punches from Professor David Wondrich’s new book. Fancy punches are starting to creep their way onto restaurant menus and at cocktail bars. But I quickly reconsidered. I wanted something fun and grounded to go with some of my more unique appetizers (Goat Cheese Log with Cyprus Black Lava Salt and Organic Cacao Nibs anyone?). I turned to Alie and Georgia’s inventive, fun, and guaranteed crowd-pleasing recipes.
I ended up making three of their concoctions. The first was Drunken Donuts (my writer/comedian roommate Josh provided the illustrated cards). Drunken Donuts made a great first drink: excellent taste, provides a caffeine boost, and will get you buzzed without even knowing it. It is made of espresso vodka, chocolate liqueur, coffee liqueur, chilled coffee, and hazelnut coffee creamer. And don’t you dare forget the donut hole garnish!
Booze, Coffee, and Dessert all in one glass
The second drink I attempted was the Peanut Butter and Jealous. It involved muddled raspberries, raspberry vodka, cranberry juice, and raspberry liqueur. It is supposed to include a rim of honey and peanut butter, but I gave up after awhile because I mistakenly used creamy peanut butter and the glass became an ugly mess. Most of my friends were skeptical when the saw this fruity looking drink with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich garnish, but people LOVED it.
The third drink I made was Zombie Gut Punch. It included vodka, triple sec, bitters, blood orange juice, black cherry soda, and grenadine. I served it in a beautiful punch bowl with a ladle, but by the time I brought it out, I was too distracted (and tipsy) to remember to take pictures. This drink was definitely popular with people that wanted to get drunk quickly (pretty much all of my friends) with something that is still fun and tastes great.
I suggest everyone check out Alie & Georgia’s short videos, and consider doing something different than just setting out some bottles of Jack and Vodka with sodas and juices as mixers at your next party. A little extra effort can yield some tasty and boozy results.
To say that I’ve been listening to a lot of folk-influenced music lately would be accurate, but would give you an incomplete picture. While I devour a wide-variety of genres and enjoy the music immensely, the only music that I find myself CRAVING falls under the clunky term “Americana.” There is something I find so authentic, honest, and emotionally powerful about folk/alt.country music that just feeds my soul. I’ve put together a mix of artists that I’ve been enjoying recently, with another batch of artists to come in a few weeks.
The included photographs are some snapshots I took during a hike over Thanksgiving near Sacramento.
Tracklist:
1. Blitzen Trapper – Furr
2. Megafaun – Heretofore
3. M. Ward – Vincent O’Brien
4. Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
5. Wilco – Wilco (The Song)
6. The Avett Brothers – Matrimony
7. Son Volt – Drown
8. Drive by Truckers – Carl Perkins’ Cadillac
9. The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
10. Bon Iver – Blood Bank
11. Mountain Man – Animal
12. Ray LaMontagne – Let it Be Me
13. Uncle Tupelo – No Depression
14. Avi Buffalo – What’s In It For?
15. Colour Revolt – Mattresses Underwater
16. David Dondero – Rothko Chapel
17. Good Old War – Coney Island
18. Carolina Chocolate Drops – Cornbread and Butterbeans
19. The Mountain Goats – This Year
This week’s theme is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered musicians. There are many more LGBT musicians than the ones I have included, but I chose mostly bands that you might find at Coachella. Actually, Owen Pallett joked when playing at Coachella this past year, “It’s kind of like the gay ghetto stage with me and Bradford (Deerhunter) and Jonsi.”
1. Bloc Party – I Still Remember
2. Of Montreal – Gronlandic Edit
3. Jonsi (of Sigur Ros) – Go
4. Deerhunter – Helicopter
5. Owen Pallett (formerly Final Fantasy) – Lewis Takes Off His Shirt
6. Antony and the Johnsons – For Today I Am A Boy
7. Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
8. Vampire Weekend (Rostam Batmanglij) – White Sky
9. Goldfrapp – Ooh La La
10. Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position
11. The Gossip – Heavy Cross (RAC Mix)
12. Sam Sparro – Black and Gold
13. Scissor Sisters – Any Which Way
14. Tegan and Sara – The Con
15. Sleater-Kinney – I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone
16. Dusty Springfield – Breakfast in Bed
17. Rufus Wainwright – Vibrate
18. The Magnetic Fields – Absolutely Cuckoo
19. The Hidden Cameras – Ban Marriage
20. Savage Garden – Truly Madly Deeply
21. REM – Man on the Moon
22. Xiu Xiu – Gray Death
23. Queen – Somebody to Love
24. Electric Six – Gay Bar (Bonus track, Non-LGBT artist)
Recently, I had the following realization: I get the most out of friendships with people who ask themselves why they hold certain values, act in particular ways, or have unique interests.
For the past couple of years, I’ve spent considerable time and energy towards identifying my values so I can ensure that I spend my limited time and energy on what matters most to me. One thing I have discovered about myself is that if I like something, I want to learn as much as possible about that topic. One example is food and restaurants. When I go out to eat, I don’t want to eat something that I could easily reproduce at home. I gravitate towards innovative cooking that I wouldn’t have ever thought of attempting at home and that requires skills that far exceed my own. I also love exploring authentic regional cuisine that I am not familiar with.
My strong interest in cooking eventually made me curious about the restaurant industry (just as my passion for music lead me to spend a year researching and eventually teaching a class on the recording industry). I read many sites about food and the restaurant business, I frequently attend food-related panels, and jumped at the opportunity to accompany a successful chef around the Santa Monica’s farmers market to see how local chef’s acquire their produce. I’ve only recently become fascinated with the business-side of the food industry. I’m curious about the choices restaurant owners and chefs make in such a high-competition industry where the odds are against success.
All of this is a very long introduction to the topic that I’ve been thinking about for the past couple of months: are open kitchens in restaurants a good idea?
Open Kitchen at Waterloo & City
I personally love the idea of open kitchens. However imperfect of a view of the restaurant world, it does provide a glimpse of the culture of the particular kitchen. Some people might also like how you can see with your own eyes the degree to which everything is made fresh and in-house. I love reading books like Kitchen Confidential (and watching the short-lived show) about restaurant life. From the hyper-masculine kitchens filled with drug-use and excess described by Anthony Bourdain, to the strictly professional kitchens of Thomas Keller, each kitchen culture is different and equally fascinating in my view.
There are down-sides to open kitchens, however. Back in October, restaurant-focused website Eater LApublished an anonymous tip from a patron at the recently-opened restaurant Waterloo & City located in Culver City:
“The bar stands in front of an open kitchen so we were getting very excited when we saw all of the different meals being sent out. All of a sudden, we heard a man yelling. Startled, we look around and see its the head chef/co-owner screaming and cursing at one of the servers. And he didn’t stop. He literally went on yelling for 5 minutes.”
A typical response by readers to the article was : “In general I think having an open kitchen/food prep area is ALWAYS a bad idea. From the lowly fastfood joint to the high-end eatries, I really don’t want to see my food being made, it repulses me every single time. Keep it behind closed doors and just present the food to me, I want to enjoy my food without being repulsed.”
Chef Greenspan Plating Food (Photo Courtesy of DrinkEatTravel.com)
About a month ago, I had my own experience witnessing some open-kitchen drama. It was my third visit to the Foundry on Melrose in two weeks. My first visit I was seated on their patio, which is the main dining area. The second visit I sat outside, and the third visit I was seated at a table by the open kitchen. I had a great view of the very talented Chef Greenspan, a couple other chefs, and all the waiters waiting to pick up orders.
I enjoyed seeing the speed and precision in which food was plated and sent out and loved getting the insight to how the Foundry kitchen operated. However, it wasn’t long before I saw Chef Greenspan chew out servers and his line cooks. At one point, a waiter returned a plate of their award-winning grilled cheese, saying that the food was cold. Chef Greenspan put his hand on the sandwich, verified that it was indeed cold, and then started yelling something to the effect of, “Even a three-year old can cook a hot grilled cheese!! Maybe I should get a child in here to cook!” Unfortunately I missed what prompted the next display of anger, but later the chef yelled at a waiter saying, “You’re a salesman! Get out there and do your f*cking job and sell it.”
I enjoyed every minute of watching the kitchen, but the several profanity-filled outbursts made my dining companion quite anxious and uncomfortable. It almost ruined her dining experience. I understand her position. Many people go to fine-dining restaurants to have a relaxing, lovely evening where they are treated extremely well and can enjoy their companion’s company without worrying about grocery shopping, cooking, dishes, etc…
Personally, I like seeing how the machine works. I get asked frequently by coworkers why I don’t go to culinary school and become a chef if I love food and cooking so much. It is not the lifestyle for me, but I enjoy these rare glimpses into the life of a cook.
This reminds me of the adage, “There are two things you don’t want to see being made—sausage and legislation.” I guess I’m the kind of person that loves seeing how both are made. What are your thoughts on open kitchens?
1. Fang Island – Daisy
2. Matt and Kim – Cameras
3. Ariel Pink – Hood Internet Remix
4. Tokyo Police Club – What Up (Boots of Danger)
5. Tennis – Marathon
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – Simple Girl
7. Waves – Post Acid
8. Jake Troth – Material Things
9. Arcade Fire – We Used to Wait
10. Crystal Castles – Not in Love (ft. Robert Smith of the Cure)
11. Shout Out Louds – 1999
12. Glasser – Home
13. Owen Pallett – Lewis Takes Off His Shirt
14. The Drums – Down by the Water
15. La Plage – Coup de Boule
16. Straylight Run – The Miracle That Never Came
17. Junip – Rope and Summit
18. Otis Redding – Satisfaction (Live on the Sunset Strip)
19. Weezer – El Scorcho (Live at Reading Festival)
Policy Potluck 
