Melrose (Bronx)

Q & A with Eric Greenspan, Part 1: Chef-as-Owner, The Grilled Cheesery Humanizing Fine Dining

Photo by Felicia Friesema.Eric Greenspan in his open kitchen at The Foundry on Melrose.​It's noon on Wednesday at The Foundry on Melrose and the phones are ringing off the hook. The house line is buzzing relentlessly, as is chef/owner Eric Greenspan's cell. Mostly it's staff calling with quest ... More >>

Porn Star Stencils Spotted on Melrose

​After spending a couple hours at Adultcon on Saturday, we'd swore off adult entertainment for a while, but this tidbit from AfterDark LA was a bit too intriguing to pass up. Spreading her spray-painted message along with all the other hip vandals on Melrose and Fairfax is a genuine porn star ... More >>

Fig & Olive Starts Lunch Service, Outdoor Cafe-Bakery, Jazz Brunch

Courtesy of Fig & Olive​Fig & Olive, which recently opened in the former Republic (or Bliss) space at La Cienega and Melrose, kicks off its lunch service today. Weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., the mega-Mediterranean olive oil haven now offers a menu of "French Riviera-inspired items" (we ... More >>

The Foundry Hosts Top Chef Casting Call

Photo by Felicia FriesemaChef Eric Greenspan​The Foundry on Melrose will be ground zero for celebrity chef wannabes as the restaurant hosts a casting call for Top Chef on Monday, March 14th between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The casting call is double duty. Producers will be looking both for season 9 ... More >>

How To Drink Your Thanksgiving Dinner 2 Cocktail Recipes

Caroline on CrackDrago Centro's Golden Goose cocktail.​ Thanksgiving celebrations take on a whole new meaning in an age when we're more concerned with Black Friday sales shopping strategies than seating placements. But that doesn't mean you have to forgo your favorite fall flavors just becaus ... More >>

First Bite: Gastropub Sans the Pub, or Xiomara Reconsidered

Jonagold apple, portions missing​Before it became a reconstructionist Cuban restaurant, before it moved to Melrose from Pasadena, Xiomara began as a sleekly modern California bistro, firmly grounded in modern French cooking. Now that Nuevo Latino cuisine has transformed into whatever John Sedl ... More >>

Melgard Public House: Your Home for Subsidized Beer and Free Pizza

N. GalutenA $6 beer at Melgard Public House​ We didn't used to care much whether the person next to us at the bar ordered a Coors Light on draft instead of, say, a Craftsman Fireworks Saison. Now? We're very glad they do. Thanks to Melgard Public House, which opened on Melrose (and Gardner -- ... More >>

Restaurant Turned Wine Bar: Goodfellas on Melrose Becomes Cellar 55

N. GalutenCellar 55 back patio, now with fire​ Earlier this month, Goodfellas, the Italian eatery on Melrose, changed concepts and became a wine bar called Cellar 55. The wine bar and restaurant now features live piano music inside, and a spacious outdoor back patio. It is run by chef/owner Su ... More >>

Restaurant Musical Chairs, Mexican Edition: Frida's Tacos in, Santito's Tortas out

E. Courtland​ In restaurant musical chairs, as in life and in the CBS show Survivor, there are those who seem to know how to play the game inherently. Such is the case with Frida's Tacos, which opened last week on Melrose, in the spot recently occupied by lucha libre-themed eatery, Santito's M ... More >>

Commissary on Fairfax: A Café for Customers & Out-of-Town Coffee Beans

J. Ritz​ Commissary has been pouring coffee near Fairfax and Melrose in West Hollywood, a location co-owner Tyler King describes as an "area that's under-served for coffee," since April. And while they've been using excellent beans from local roaster New Frontier for the house blend, over t ... More >>

Q & A With Village Idiot Chef/Co-Owner Lindsay Kennedy: Cooking, Styling, Baseball, and the World Cup

The Village Idiot opened on Melrose in 2007, and has enjoyed a steady stream of loyal customers ever since. Chef Lindsay Kennedy is part owner of the bar and restaurant, building an eclectic menu that ranges everywhere from British pub food, to bánh mì, to Southern-inspired American food. He certa ... More >>

Free Maluca Mix Tape Give Away Before the Mad Decent Block Party

Free Maluca Mix Tape Give Away Before the Mad Decent Block Party

Ask Mr. Gold: Burrito On the Rocks, Salt

Anne FishbeinMr. Gold, with dim sum menu​Dear Mr. Gold: Great Mexican food and yummy, salty margaritas: I find, in L.A., it is very hard to reconcile these two seemingly well-matched priorities. Either the food stinks and the drinks rock, or vice versa. Tons of great Mexican restaurants conten ... More >>

Staff Meals Today: From Duck Confit to Steak and Rice

It's time for another installment of Staff Meals Today, where we find out what 10 of our local restaurants are feeding their employees. Let us know which of these meals sound best to you in the comments below. Picasa user KeithChefs eat too​

MADLIBERATION

The Price of Shooting Stars

Brick's Picks: Holiday in Blue

60 Seconds of Video Terror by 60 Watt Kid (MP3)

Long Beach's 60 Watt Kid is a band on the rise. Since moving to Southern California from San Francisco, the trio has become a regular fixture at art-oriented, all-ages venues like The Smell and Echo Curio. Both live and on record, the group maintains an odd but enticing duality, vacillating between ... More >>

Eric Greenspan Dishes on The Next Iron Chef: No Spoilers, No Grasshoppers, Part 2

When last we checked in with Eric Greenspan, chef-owner of The Foundry on Melrose and the first chef (and only Los Angeles contestant) to be eliminated in The Next Iron Chef, there were seven contestants. Now there are four (imagine an Agatha Christie story, in a locked kitchen). Last week, Dominiqu ... More >>

Top 10 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches: A Loaf of Bread, A Pound of Cheese...

Not just your plain-Jane American cheese on toast anymore, the grilled cheese sandwich is both comfort food and cultural icon. Proving that you can do an awful lot with a few slices of bread and a hunk of cheese. From a lavish raisin bread with shortribs and tallegio to a simple aged Cheddar and tom ... More >>

Brick's Picks: Saxophone Operators

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Eric Greenspan's 95 Theses: A Hamburger Challenge, Nailed to the Father's Office Doors, in Ketchup

The FoundryBattle of the burgersEarly this morning, 2 a.m. to be precise, Eric Greenspan issued a hamburger challenge to LA's reigning hamburger king, Sang Yoon of Father's Office. Greenspan, chef-owner of The Foundry on Melrose, staged what can only be called a covert food op, nailing his challenge ... More >>

Kim Fowley's Lipstick Orgy, Banana Split Sundaes and more

Brick's Picks: Amir ElSaffar, Kyle Eastwood, Dot Org at Eagle Rock Center

Last Night: Principal Belding MCs "Idiot Box" at Gallery 1988

Haskins beams with pride beside Jude Buffum's "Saved By the Bell"... Gallery 1988, the tiny room on Melrose with the big vision, has emerged as a legit mecca of popular culture as fine art. Their artists are of a generation less restricted about ideas of what art can and should be, and dammit, if ... More >>

Visual Artists Salute the Beastie Boys (and Biz Markie) at Gallery 1988 in Hollywood

When they burst onto the charts after serving as the opening act on Madonna's 1985 "Virgin" tour, the Beastie Boys were armed with a fully formed style, an unapologetic, in-yer-face mish mash of B-Boy sportiness and Jewish golf-iness, mixing gold chains, plaid slacks, and cop shades, sporting Kan ... More >>

Tonight at the Silent Movie Theatre: Rare Footage from the Delicious Vinyl Vaults

Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre has been on fire this month, each week delivering films from the birth and golden era of hip hop. This is the final week of the month-long series. Tonight they're turning over the reigns to the estimable Delicious Vinyl crew, who will be screening rare foot ... More >>

Cache Bicycle Mural Destroyed

I'm predicting a lot of stupid boneheaded moves that are going to destroy a lot of beautiful street art in our city in a misguided effort to "stamp out graffiti." They'll paint over beautiful pieces that have graced neighborhood walls for years, and once those pieces are gone, ugly tags will show up ... More >>

CBS Dragon

Some beautiful Asian-inspired green and orange work in an alley south of Melrose that's filled with CBS crew work. These pieces are tucked into a narrow area, so I couldn't find a way to get a large full-size shot of the three pieces together. The dragon is on the outside part of the alley. ... More >>

Murakami Revoked

By Shelley Leopold n the early morning hours in mid-December, an amazing masterpiece of epic pink proportions appeared above the Melrose strip. Not MOCA's Murakami billboard itself, but rather a young curator's fantasy art show: "Murakami/AUGER/REVOK." The spectacle lasted two days, and then it was ... More >>

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