Restaurants »Umami Burger

4655 Hollywood Blvd

It was a couple days into my LA trip before I had a truly notable meal. After a long and impossible wait among underage drinkers at Alegria, we left in defeat and moseyed on over to Umami Burger, the home of burgers with a unique flavor that’s a little hard to describe but wildly yummy and memorable. Not surprisingly, I’ve learned that flavor is called “umami”.

Umami is the fifth basic taste that was discovered by the premiere chef in France of the late 1800’s Auguste Escoffier. Here is an NPR story all about it.

But back to the burger joint in Los Feliz: it’s delicious. My Socal was perfect with its lettuce, oven dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, “spread” and cheese and my tempura onion rings were crispy and addictive. The meal was filling and the spot boasts an excellent beer menu and a heated outdoor dining area. The only problem? the hostess was a complete eye-rolling witch. Really weird and uncalled for, right? Good thing there was great food to make up for it.

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Posted on February 28, 2010

Drinks »Galco’s Soda Pop Stop

5702 York Blvd, Los Angeles

In a town rife with nondescript strip malls, Galco’s Soda Pop Stop is amongst the most nondescript and strip mally. Its bare bones appearance would never necessarily compel a visitor or local to stop by unless they had inside knowledge that this place is completely awesome (I owe this insight to my friend Shaun and this week’s book pick, LA Bizarro). The soda pop super store has been family owned and operated for over a hundred years: a wild achievement in our world of chain super-stores.

Inside you can find almost every kind of soda pop known to man. Jim guzzled a molasses Root Beer from Rhode Island while Laura and I found bliss in a cucumber soda that the owner told us would change our lives. Not surprisingly, the beer selection is also impressive and they boast quite an array of olde timey candies. Jim dared the Idaho Spud (a coconut and chocolate covered grayish marshmallow that tastes better than I just described it). I was thrilled by a plastic-wrapped tube of just the innards of my beloved Butterfinger as well as the famed (at least in my home) Cup of Gold, a coconut/chocolate cup filled with gooey marshmallow creme: the one thing my mom craved while pregnant with me.

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Posted on February 28, 2010

Spend a Couple Hours »Jon Brion at The Largo

366 N La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

Our good friend Matthew  made sure that one LA experience we had was a Jon Brion show, so I felt absolutely horrible when Jim, Laura and I began dozing off early in the performance!! In our defense: we were totally jet lagged, it was warm and dark, and Brion was playing soft, Aimee Mannish piano tinkles that could easily be released on a collection of lullabies.

But things got wildly entertaining and even the most tired of us perked up when Brion began a mind-bending and mind-blowing cover of Tomorrow Never Knows complete with a Maria Callas video loop, his own looped drumming and guitar, and video of a great looking George Harrison. The rest of the evening consisted of more audience-requested covers (though none of mine took: Sex in the Kitchen, Pony, Thunder Road…) including a xylophone and audience participation version of Don’t Stop Believing, a trippy Wish You Were Here and a straight forward acoustic rendition Gigantic. It was invigorating and amazing to watch: every element of the songs he performs is created right in front of you. He’ll start on the piano, then drums, loop them then add guitar, loop that, they play around with video and voice… it’s totally amazing.

I had no idea what I was in for: admittedly a dunce when it comes to the modern soundtrack scene of Paul Thomas Anderson, I figured Brion was a comedian or something, but in fact he’s the highly respected genius behind not only the (PT) Anderson soundtracks, but the production of Aimee Mann, Rufus Wainwright, Elliott Smith, Kanye West, and Fiona Apple records!

At the new Largo location, the show seems to be almost monthly and sells out quickly; be sure to arrive on the early side to get pick up your tickets if you desire up close seats.

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Posted on February 28, 2010

Places to Visit »The Museum of Jurassic Technology

9341 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is by far the strangest museum I’ve ever been to and was the top thing on my to-do list after missing out on it on my last visit to LA. It’s so unusual that I can’t really explain it to you but I can tell you that it’s got nothing to do with dinosaur machines. Dark and winding, the quiet two floor space contains everything from Hagop Sandaldjian‘s Goofy sculpture the size of a needle head to a collection of Decaying Dice from Ricky Jay.

My favorite section may have been the one about various old wives tales and superstitions complete with dioramas of mice on toast, children’s hand growing hair and a man kissing a goose. I was also pretty taken with Athanasius Kircher‘s confounding but beautiful creations and where else can you walk into a velvet room and be confronted with large oil portraits of Soviet Space Dogs. There are trailer park models, more art that needs to be viewed through a microscope (the pretty but pretty insane work of Henry Dalton) and a myriad of other things that I could barely even wrap my head around. It was tough to get too many photos with the low light, but there’s enough below/after the jump to intrigue you to make your own visit.

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Posted on February 28, 2010