Santa Monica

Eat This Now: Romanesco Cauliflower

A. ScattergoodRomanesco cauliflower​Among the many cool things you can find right now at local farmers markets is cauliflower, not only the traditional pale orbs and the very pretty purple and orange variations, but Romanesco cauliflower. A number of Romanescos in formation, like these on Alex ... More >>

Holiday Food Drive Roundup

Bellmore Library​Did you stock up on too much food for the holidays? Any Thanksgiving non-perishable leftovers? Make the most out of it and donate to these local food drives. According to the L.A. Regional Food Bank, the most coveted food products are rice, beans, canned meat, canned vegetable ... More >>

Top 6 Weekend Food Events: Grilled Cheese, Pho Night, Santa Monica Pub Crawl, Food & Film, Fugly Sweater Contest, Salt's Cure Tasting Brunch

Colin Young-WolffA scene from SantaCon 2010.​Grilled Cheese & Soup For the final night of Breadbar's Food Truck Hatchi Series, the Grilled Cheese Truck stops by with a menu of eight grilled cheese sandwiches each paired with a different soups. There's the North African/Middle Eastern zaatar me ... More >>

Stout Brings Burgers to Studio City, Santa Monica

Courtesy of SpacecraftA rendering of Stout in Studio City.​Another day, another Spacecraft CG rendering. This time it's the new locations of upscale burger and beer bar Stout, which is set to open outposts in Studio City and Santa Monica. (Despite the nightmarish parking in the Cahuenga Corrid ... More >>

Santa Monica to Ban Late-Night Food Trucks on Main; City Council Apparently Unfamiliar With Drunk Munchies

curvewire.comSay your goodbyes, kiddos.​Wack! The seven City Councilmembers occupying that gorgeous beachside Hall over in Santa Monica seem to have little idea what keeps the party people going a few blocks south. They've tentatively approved an ordinance that will ban food trucks on Main St ... More >>

Best Foodie Raffle Ever: Win Dinner for a Year

Guzzle & NoshA trio of dishes from Picca, one of the restaurants in the Dinner For A Year raffle.​In terms of risk-to-reward ratio, the Virginia Avenue Project's annual raffle is tops. A $5 ticket enters you in a drawing to win 52 restaurant gift certificates. Yes, 52. That's one gift certific ... More >>

Plastic Bag Ban (And Paper Too) One Step Closer in City of Angels

Cristiano Betta​Los Angeles County did it. And so did Santa Monica. But normally enviro-crazed L.A. City Hall has been lagging when it comes to banning the bags. This week, however, the city came a little closer to just such a ban of plastic bags at markets and stores. The L.A. Board of Publi ... More >>

International Food Blogger Conference 2011: This Year, Blog on the Beach

​If you're a Los Angeles food blogger, you might want to plan on spending the weekend of November 11-13 scribbling on your iPad and uploading pictures of chocolate-dipped madeleines in Santa Monica, rather than in your kitchen somewhere else. No, Roy Choi is not holding a pop-up kimchi and tac ... More >>

Anna Bjorn, Miss Iceland 1974 and Hollywood B-Lister, Outed Whitey Bulger for $2 Million

Oh, Santa Monica -- where former Boston mobsters and Iceland beauty queens go to co-retire in the lovely sea breeze. The Boston Globe is reporting that Anna Bjornsdottir, Miss Iceland 1974 turned graphic designer and yoga instructor (so Santa Monica), was neighbors with most-wanted crime boss James ... More >>

Surf Contest For Costumed Wave Riders in Santa Monica Halloween Weekend

The scariest thing we usually see at the beach in Santa Monica is a Euro-tourist in a mankini, but ZJ Boarding House, the Santa Monica surf shop, has a far spookier happening planned: Haunted Heats III, a now-annual surf contest that requires entrants to shred in costume. Sort of gives new meaning ... More >>

Sunset Junction Building Demolished as Silver Lake Activists Tried to Preserve it

​Oops. A building at Sunset Junction that some local preservationists hoped they could, well, save, went under the bulldozer over the weekend. The Eastsider LA reports that the demo'd building once housed a beloved bookstore, A Different Light, that seemed to kick off Silver Lake's renaissanc ... More >>

Graffiti House Celebrating Heal The Bay Targeted by Santa Monica Officials

Shannon CottrellArt in the Santa Monica streets -- and country club-adjacent.​Update: We're told the artwork is coming down Monday. More deets at the bottom. First posted at 1:20 p.m. Friday. Shortly after the unveiling of pro-Heal the Bay graffiti art in front of a four-story Santa Monica ho ... More >>

[Updated:] What's Up With the Original Hot Dog On A Stick?

Guzzle and NoshThe 65-year-old Santa Monica location is scheduled to close. ​ Update: 9/12, 10:00 a.m. Laurie Sonia, executive vice president of Hot Dog On A Stick, says the plan for a demolition and rebuild is still in the works. HDOS still has to go through various city committees, including ... More >>

Elderly Santa Monica Woman Plows Through Crowd of Children at Fourth of July Parade

Perez HiltonThe Affleck children, just out of harm's way.​If you didn't hear about the near-disastrous car crash during Santa Monica's otherwise idyllic (bike traffic notwithstanding) Fourth of July parade last Monday, it's because the old woman behind the wheel, and the group of children she ... More >>

Host A Farmer: More Things To Do During Carmageddon

A. ScattergoodSanta Monica farmers market​ As you doubtless know, next weekend is Carmageddon, or the 2-day shutdown of the 405. Unlike many of us, the farmers who normally come to the Santa Monica farmers markets on the weekends will not be spending that time at home making Marcella Hazan's B ... More >>

Tender Greens: Pasadena & Santa Monica Openings

Checking in with Tender Greens, the locally-based salad chain continues to expand with two locations opening this summer. The first, in Pasadena, will open the week of July 7th, pending final inspections. The second, just around the corner from the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, should op ... More >>

Best Politics Blog: Digby

June at L.A. Farmers Markets: Your Virtual Grocery List

Apriums at Ken's ProduceA. Scattergood​ It's June at Los Angeles farmers markets, bringing the season's first stone fruit -- apriums, nectarines, peaches -- as well as more cherries, late spring greens, blood oranges, Gaviota and tiny, tart wild strawberries, and even mulberries. The mulberri ... More >>

Mini Sneak Peek Of L.A.'s Best Coffee App: 4 Coffee Bars

T. NguyenEspresso Cielo in Santa Monica​ If you read our interview with Mark Lamberton earlier today, you'd know that the London-based younger brother of Blue Crow Media's Derek Lamberton was recently dispatched to Los Angeles to swig untold cups of coffee as research for their upcoming L.A.'s ... More >>

[UPDATED] All Hail the Chicken Car!

Guzzle & NoshThe Chicken Car.​[Update: Even more advanced Google searches than the one we previously conducted reveal that the car was supposedly built by Steve Cantin of PetSitterVideos, who brought it to LA for use in a movie, where it was impounded, sold at auction and bought by race car dr ... More >>

Jeweler at Store Favored by Jessica Simpson, Sandra Bullock, Robbed of $1.5 Million in Jewels During Lunch Stop in Santa Monica

susanfosterjewelry.com​Update: Cops say the victim didn't work for Susan Foster Exquisite Fine Jewelry but might have made a sales call there before the robbery (more details after the jump). Suspect descriptions also after the jump. A man who works at a might have paid a sales visit to a Bre ... More >>

Santa Monica Seafood Acquires its Main Rival

First, Santa Monica seafood restaurant I. Cugini announced it will close in June after over 20 years in business. Now, two of the oldest seafood companies in Los Angeles will become one. 72-year-old Santa Monica Seafood has bought its chief rival, acquiring the customer base, corporate name, inve ... More >>

Santa Monica Police Shoot, Kill Suspect Said to Be in The Act of Stabbing His Ex

Santa Monica police opened fire on a man who was stabbing his ex, they say.​Update: Santa Monica police tell the Weekly the woman's condition has been upgraded to "stable." More details after the jump. In a scene straight out of a crime thriller, Santa Monica police shot and killed a man they ... More >>

Ron Hirsch, Synagogue Explosion Suspect, on a Greyhound to New York

Santa Monica Police DepartmentRon Hirsch is suspected of trying to blow a hole in the Chabad House​Update: Santa Monica police say they nabbed the suspect last night in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where he was lurking near another synagogue. More after the jump. The homeless man suspected of pla ... More >>

Possible Pipe-Bomb Explosion at Santa Monica Synagogue Prompts Mass Evacuation

Santa Monica Patch​Urgent update: The explosion WAS CAUSED BY GUN POWDER, police say. Details after the jump. Update, April 7, 11 a.m.: Santa Monica police and the FBI confirm that this was not a bomb, but some sort of mechanical issue within the building. The evacuation will soon be lifted. ... More >>

Brazen Santa Monica Carjack-Turned-Sex Assault Reported: Two Masked Men Described

Steve LyonThe crimes were reported in the area around the Santa Monica Water Garden.​A scary sex crime is being reported out of Santa Monica. A woman says two men who covered their faces with bandanas carjacked and sexually assaulted her over the weekend in the neighborhoods south of the San ... More >>

Hey, L.A.: If You Want Your Future Kid to Have the Best Birthday Ever, Have Sex. Right Now.

​There's about to be a pretty sweet-lookin' day on the calendar, if you hadn't noticed: November 11, 2011, or 11-11-11. Adorable, right?! It's like a nice little row of golf flags, or a line of Santa Monica palm trees on a windy day, or wilty grass, or something. It is, in fact, so sweet-look ... More >>

Fig Garcia Organic Farm Team Up For Farm Dinner

Flickt/madid#​ While the rest of the country is stuck under three free of snow and ice, an L.A. "winter" means we're still able to get up early, throw on our stylish (if completely unnecessary) Uggs, beanies and gloves and head to the Santa Monica farmer's market for sweet peaches, corn, straw ... More >>

Eat and Drink Well for Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve 2011

So, it's time to plan New Year's Eve if you haven't already. Avoid the amateur's night problem by putting your 2011 celebration in the hands of restaurant pros who will handle the fine food and drink part. And save you clean-up troubles. Merriment, cheer, reflecting on the past year (which may or ma ... More >>

SKATE YOUR WAY TO HAPPINESS

Broadway Deli in Santa Monica Closes

Star ForemanBroadway Deli​ Broadway Deli, which Bruce Marder and Marvin Zeidler opened in 1990 on the Santa Monica promenade, closed its doors for the last time on Monday. Santa Monica Daily Press reports that the lease had expired, the rent had tripled, and Marder and Zeidler were threatened ... More >>

L.A. Marathon Changes 'Stadium To The Sea' Route To Include Chinatown, Little Tokyo

Ghost TheoryBack in the day, hardcore L.A. Marathoners took to the 6th Street Bridge​The ever-glammer L.A. Marathon just keeps on picking up new tourist-friendly detours. Last year, it snubbed the downtown-centric route it had modified only slightly over many years, instead directing runners t ... More >>

Santa Monica Police Search For Two Suspects Who Kidnapped, Raped Woman In Broad Daylight

Google MapsPolice said a woman was abducted in Santa Monica before being attacked.​One of the scariest crimes to rock the Westside in several months happened late last month but wasn't publicized by Santa Monica police until last week. It appeared to involve the kidnapping, rape and robbery o ... More >>

From Rated G to Around R: 2010 Food Halloween Happenings

Photo: Andy ReaserSome good, morbid Día de los Muertos creative fun.​ We've all been getting into the groove of fall foods and pumpkins and such. And in case you haven't stepped foot in a drug or grocery store since September, it's also that time of year when high fructose corn syrup gets shi ... More >>

Santa Monica Farmers Market All-You-Can-Carry Pumpkin Patch

LA Weekly Flickr pool/Lucyrk in LApumpkins​ As you can doubtless tell by all the paraphernalia up in peoples' yards, Halloween is this weekend. Get out your candy baskets, shrink your apples, whatever. Perhaps the best holiday accouterments are pumpkins, especially since you can actually cook ... More >>

Santa Monica Police Kill Man After He Allegedly Shot A Woman

SMPDSanta Monica police fatally shot a man Friday night.​Updated throughout with details. First posted at 10:34 p.m. A man was killed by police in Santa Monica Friday night in a rare pair of shootings in the coastal, Westside city. According to reports it started about 6:15 p.m. when the sus ... More >>

"VIP" Brunch at Pier Del Sol this Sunday

mountainnightdotcom/FlickrSandwiches at last year's event​ Regular tickets to this Sunday's Pier del Sol in Santa Monica cost $45. However, VIP tickets run a cool $150. As we always ask ourselves in these situations, what are the VIPs getting that the regular folks aren't?

Hang Out With Farmers (& Rain-soaked Chefs): Volunteer At The Santa Monica Farmers Market

A. Scattergoodrain at the Wednesday Santa Monica farmers market​ If you've always wanted to be a part of the farmers market, here's your chance. Hang out with farmers, learn about where your food comes from, shop early for your Meyer lemons and fresh garbanzos and tuber roses while the marine ... More >>

Paradise Park

THE WAY WE STEP

New Santa Monica Farmers Market Food Vendors: The Selection Process Who's In, Who's Out? (Valerie Confections Is In)

J. GarbeeBreadMan Co-Owner Nick Zuvic At Saturday's Market, One Of His Last in Santa Monica​Beginning on Saturday, October 2, you'll notice some changes among the prepared food vendors at the Santa Monica Farmers' markets. A lot of changes. Earlier this year, the city offered an open recruitme ... More >>

Santa Monica To Install Solar Power Systems At Nine Elementary Schools

david.nikonvscanon via Flickr​The Santa Monica-Malibu School District announced Friday their plans to install solar power systems at nine elementary schools, a move that is expected to save the school district $4 million in electricity costs during the next 25 years. Virginia Hyatt, a purchas ... More >>

Santa Monica Outlaws Smoking On Balconies

​ If you're a smoker, you're not welcome in Santa Monica. That's pretty much the message the city of Santa Monica sent to smokers Thursday as a new law went into effect making it illegal for people to light up within 25 feet of any apartment building, window or vent., the Santa Monica Daily ... More >>

Memorial for The Call's Michael Been Tonight in Santa Monica

Memorial for The Call's Michael Been Tonight in Santa Monica

September Chile Roasts at the Santa Monica Farmers Market

Bill JohnsonMarket managers Ted Galvan and Laura Avery roasting peppers​It's the season of chile roasts, even if you don't live in New Mexico, and if you didn't make it to any of the Hatch chile roasts at Bristol Farms, you can head on over to the Santa Monica farmers market, where they're hav ... More >>

Original 'Dogtown And Z-Boys' Surf Shop, A Santa Monica Landmark, Quietly Closes

Google Maps​The surf shop that was the epicenter of the noted surfing and skateboarding community known as Dogtown has quietly closed as a result of the economy, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported Thursday. Horizons West surf shop shut down last month, with owner and famed surfer Randy Wri ... More >>

Santa Monica Approves Food Truck Lots on Temporary Basis

LA Weekly Flickr pool/ricardodiaz11Food truck caravan​ While L.A. City Council continues to look for a solution to their food truck regulation problems, the city of Santa Monica is trying out an idea of its own. Late last week, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported that the city has approved ... More >>

Santa Monica Bans Smoking On Patios and Balconies

​The Santa Monica City Council voted this week to ban smokers from lighting up 25-feet of a door or window in any multi-unit residential building, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. The 4-1 vote was aimed specifically at those who smoke on balconies and patios. "One of the concerns w ... More >>

WELCOME TO SANTA MONICA

Today In WTF: Santa Monica Police Searching For Bike-By Groper

​Santa Monica police were searching for a man they allege has been riding his bicycle by females and grabbing their bums, crotches and breasts, according to a statement from the department. They say the bike-by groper struck Tuesday at 4:09 p.m. near 14th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard and ... More >>