Santa Monica

What's In Season at the Farmers Market: Flying Saucer Summer Squash

Summer squash aren't a surprise at a June market; they're as ubiquitous as baseball and rattlesnake warnings for hikers. Worse -- or great, depending on your perspective -- they're easy to grow. Perhaps too easy given how many bags of them quietly appear on neighbors porches. Farmers know this, an ... More >>

Like Moths to a Microphone

The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck: Worth the Wait?

Last week, to much fanfare, New York City's Big Gay Ice Cream Truck rolled into Los Angeles for the first time ever, bringing its famous Strauss-creamery soft serve and dulce de leche with it. It was billed as a "pop-up truck," combining two of the most overused food trends in a way that might have ... More >>

How a Shabby Hollywood Intersection Became a Hot New Art District

David Ben Keyes, Suspect in L.A. Area Homeless Stabbings Where 'Death Warrant' Notes Left at Scene

Updated at the bottom with charges filed against Keyes, a.k.a. Courtney Anthony Robinson. First posted at 3:47 p.m. Thursday. Santa Monica police say the stabbing last week of a homeless man could be connected to two similar attacks in Los Angeles in which "death warrant" notes were left at the sce ... More >>

A Vanilla Bean Deal At The Gourmandise School Their Vanilla Extract Recipe

If you are a baker or have even the slightest of crème brûlée aspirations, you really need to get over to The Gourmandise School in Santa Monica. They are currently selling 4 ounces of vanilla beans -- about 35 whole pods -- for $6. No, that is not a typo. Nor are these your average anemic groce ... More >>

5 Picks for DineLA's Summer Restaurant Week

Next week kicks off DineLA's first ever summer-session Restaurant Week, which consists of discounted prix-fixe lunches and dinners at some of the city's most popular restaurants, available from July 16 to 27. For those who've never experienced Restaurant Week, over 300 restaurants from Santa Monica ... More >>

Redondo Beach May Ban Smoking on Pier: So Where Can You Still Smoke Along the L.A. County Coast?

Little by little, various government entities within L.A. County are forcing cigarette smokers off public property and quarantining them into their own nasty tobacco dens. The Department of Beaches and Harbors banned smoking on any beach within the county years ago. But the piers, because they're o ... More >>

2012 L.A. Father's Day Dining Guide

With Father's Day approaching this weekend, we bring you your Los Angeles dining guide for Dad's special day. From grilling classes to bottomless craft beer to dad-themed cupcakes to truffle agnolotti from one of the best pasta kitchens in town, turn the page.

After-Hours Farmers Market Opening on the Sunset Strip

If you're a fan of farmers markets -- and, heck, why wouldn't you be? -- it should come as exciting news that L.A. is gaining yet another market in the coming weeks, this one being an after-hours affair located on West Hollywood's Sunset Strip. Beginning June 14 and every Thursday night thereafter, ... More >>

A February Roundup of Restaurant Openings and Closings

The elderly browse the obits for long-lost friends; foodists check the blogs for restaurant passings. This week, sushi fiends flooded a Studio City strip mall for Nozawa's last days. After only two years, Elements Kitchen in Pasadena bid its patrons farewell. "Thank you all for the wonderful memorie ... More >>

Smog City Brewery: An Interview With the New L.A. Brewery You Probably Haven't Heard of the Unofficial Launch Party Next Week

Smog City. If it sounds like the perfect name for the next L.A.-area brewery, that's because it already is. With new local breweries making headlines months before they even open these days, we were caught off-guard when Smog City Brewery co-owner Laurie Porter contacted us after reading our homebre ... More >>

FMLY Fest Don't Need 
No Stinking Venues

Cameron Rath is a Charles Manson look-alike with a degree in urban sustainability. He's the mastermind behind FMLY, a gang of eco-conscious punk kids who put on bike rides and concerts in unlikely spaces. A typical FMLY ride, held once a month, features 300 folks on bikes tearing ass along a nebul ... More >>

Sandra Bernhard at REDCAT

Steven GuntherSandra Bernhard: I Love Being Me, Don't You?​Sandra Bernhard performs I Love Being Me, Don't You? this weekend, and through August 21. Check out Amy Lyons' review on Tuesday.(Here are the latest capsule NEW THEATER REVIEWS and this week's  Theater feature on Melissa James Gi ... More >>

Black Santa Monica High Student Says Wrestling Teammates Hung Noose, Chained Him to Locker, Shouted 'Slave for Sale!'

Is Samohi breeding bigots?​Updated after the jump: The L.A. County Sheriff is now investigating administrators who knew about the hate crime and didn't report it to police -- technically breaking the law. Looks like there's still some unabashed racism in paradise: The Los Angeles Times was ju ... More >>

Huge Subsidy for Stadium Architect

Villaraigosa quietly plans to hand Gensler $1 million meant for the poor

Food News Roundup: How To Beat Off a Tiger With a Soup Ladle, Eating Dog Food The Pleasures of Consommé

-- Woman fends off angry tiger with soup ladle. [BBC] -- What if Michael Pollan is wrong? [Zester Daily] -- Diabetic's discrimination lawsuit against restaurant is hard to swallow. [Los Angeles Times] -- Two New York women eat dog food for a month to promote their product. [CBS] -- The openin ... More >>

James Beard 2011 Semifinalists Announced: The L.A. Edition

​Award season is approaching again, and we don't just mean the Oscars. The nominations for Food & Wine's best new chef award opened yesterday, and now the James Beard Foundation has announced the semifinalists for their restaurant and chef awards. Here's the complete (very long) list. The Be ... More >>

Cows In Space: Scientists Working to Make Meat in Laboratories

Santa Monica farmers market​ Meat is more trendy than cupcakes these days, with all standard apologies to Morrissey. Consider the seemingly permanent bacon trend, the rising popularity of butchery, happy whole pig farm-to-table excursions, and local butchers who generate so much interest that ... More >>

25 Years of Border Grill

Revamped Ciudad carries on fine tradition

If Prop. 19 Passes in California, Will $1.50 Joints Destroy Marijuana Industry Jobs?

​It's a fair question: Will marijuana cheap-as-a-drugstore-cigar hurt the state's cannabis industry, a rare bright spot in California's dismal economy? A recent study by Santa Monica-based RAND Corporation states that pot prices could drop 80 percent -- as low as $1.50 for a joint -- if the ... More >>

Santa Monica Council Launches Inquiry Into Police Investigation Of Latino School Board Member Oscar De La Torre

Oscar de la Torre.​The Santa Monica City Council has agreed to look into possible police misconduct after authorities put a school board member under suspicion for child endangerment and then dropped the investigation. The Santa Monica Police Department opened an investigation into Oscar de la ... More >>

Lazy Ox Does Cart For A Cause: See What You Missed At Lunch Today

N. GalutenThe Lazy Ox Cart For A Cause in Santa Monica​ The Cart For A Cause truck rolled into Santa Monica today, featuring the food of Lazy Ox Canteen chef Josef Centeno. It proclaims itself as "the nation's first philanthropic meal truck," helping to feed home-bound senior citizens by provi ... More >>

Pregnant Westside Woman Fatally Shot Was Not Intended Target

Flickr photo by planetc1.​A 26-year-old woman fatally shot as she sat in a car parked in a Westside neighborhood was not the intended target, according to television news reports. More than one station stated that the victim's husband was a gang member or affiliate who was likely the target. ... More >>

$1 Rent for Billionaire Broad

So much for Villaraigosa's new era of transparency and shared sacrifice

12-Year-Old Dies Playing 'Choking Game' In Santa Monica

​Santa Monica police on Wednesday said they were investigating the "accidental death" of a 12-year-old boy who was believed to have been asphyxiated while playing "the choking game." The game sometimes played by pre-teens and teenagers has them explore how long they can go without air -- somet ... More >>

Stage Raw: Getting Our Fringe On

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWS This week's Theater Feature on Camelot and Baal. GETTING OUR FRINGE ON I've heard it said at numerous receptions and parties that the reason L.A. has so much bad theater is because it has so much bad theater - that less would be more. Fringe Fe ... More >>

Pinot Days: A Pinot Noir Fest Coming to the Santa Monica Airport (No Drinking & Flying, at Least Not Literally)

​Oh, the good old Pinot Noir days. When Sideways ruled the screen, Merlot was the bastard child, and hair gel was the residual left in the glass. You can re-live those toss-it-back days at Pinot Days at the Santa Monica airport hanger in two weeks. The festival, touting 70 Pinot Noir produc ... More >>

Now Open: The 3rd La Bottega Marino, in Beverly Hills

The third La Bottega Marino officially opened its doors Saturday morning, on a busy section of Santa Monica in Beverly Hills. The previous two Bottegas, from brothers Salvatore and Mario Marino, are in Santa Monica, next to Sal Marino's white-tablecloth restaurant Il Grano, and in Larchmont. This in ... More >>

Stage Raw: L.A. shows NYC-bound

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSLATEST THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Leonard Nimoy and Company of AngelsL.A. SHOWS HEADING EAST ​SoulArt Productions presentation of Alex Lyras' The Common Air - a nominee in last year's L.A. Weekly Theatre Awards solo performance award for its 2008 run at the Asylu ... More >>

Cask-Conditioned Ale: Sippin' It Old School At The Daily Pint

Great British Beer Festival 2009Even Hobgoblins Dig Cask Ale​When The Daily Pint tapped its first few firkins of cask-conditioned ale (naturally fermented beer) on Friday nights last year, owner Phillip McGovern advised aficionados to show up early if they wanted a full pint glass. The days of ... More >>

How Silver Lake Residents Can Obtain Sunset Junction Wristbands

​In accordance with recent negotiations between Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance, Los Angeles Council District 13 and various community groups, SJNA has expanded the boundaries for free entry to next weekend's Sunset Junction Street Fair. According to a news blast from Silver Lake Improve ... More >>

Riva: Stuzzichini This, Stuzzichini That

Post-Prop. 8 Ruling Rallies

While there will be media conferences aplenty following today's California State Supreme Court ruling on a trio of challenges to Proposition 8, at least three public rallies and/or marches are planned for the L.A. area:East L.A., 1-3 p.m.: The Latino Equality Alliance is organizing a news conference ... More >>

Ask Mr. Gold About ... Barbecue Suggestions Beyond Burgers and Overdone Chicken

I've probably been to a dozen barbecues at friends' houses in the last month, and the routine of burgers and overdone chicken is getting a little old. Any suggestions for my own barbecue? And please don't point me towards any of your beloved organ meats.

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Not in My Back Sky The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked Santa Monica's ban of fast private jets from its municipal airport -- until an FAA review of the proposed restrictions is finished. L.A. TimesPorts o' No Call L.A.'s twin harbors can expect a 13.5 percent drop in traffic this yea ... More >>

Many Tastes That Taste Great Together: Andrew Steiner's Cheese Dinner at Rustic Canyon

Flickr: andrewscheese Cheese maven Andrew Steiner, whose eponymous Santa Monica shop is conveniently close to Rustic Canyon restaurant, helps curate a Local Artisan Cheese Dinner there on Monday, April 20. Steiner's selections provide some interesting jumping off points from which chef Evan Funke an ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Chris Brown Deal in the Works? R&B singer Chris Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, may be close to making a plea deal with the District Attorney's office regarding the charges Brown faces in the alleged beating of singer-girlfriend Rihanna. Brown's arraignment has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday. ... More >>

Where to Eat Now: New to the List

Get Shorty

What to do in Los Angeles from January 12 – 18

One Hot Restaurant

An Untamable Voice

Iraqi blogger Faiza Al-Araji comes to America

The Impossible Dream

A map to the most buried of cinematic treasures

Cold Trail

In pursuit of L.A. terrorists

Sweet Surrender

Bump, Set, Spike

South Bay Volleyball with the Best of ’em

Tactical Embarrassment

The subversive cyber actions of ®™ark

White Space

The possibilities and pleasures of pasta

The Old Man and the Marlin

Buzz Killed