Willy Blackmore

LA Weekly Web Awards 2012: The Winners!

So the center of the tech universe is still in Northern California. Big deal. Facebook's in freefall; the iPhone 5 is a snooze. Yes, innovation continues to matter, but these days, it's less about the platform and more about the content. On that front, L.A. is king. The top YouTube stars live here. ... More >>

L.A. Weekly Web Awards 2012: We've Got Some Finalists!

We asked for your help finding the best and brightest online in Los Angeles, and you delivered. After combing through thousands of nominations for the L.A. Weekly Web Awards 2012, we're happy to announce our finalists. But we can't do all of this ourselves. We've got a panel of judges to help us pi ... More >>

BEST PICKLED MEMORY

The Tower of Torta: ampm's Secret Menu

Willy BlackmoreAdvertising ampm's Secret Menu​ We're used to finding our Mexican food in less-than-normal places: sold out of grocery carts, cooked in fly-by-night outdoor kitchens, served out of bicycle-mounted freezers. But the lexicon of this cuisine--tamales, huaraches, sopes, paletas, ra ... More >>

Top 10 Ways to Forage in Los Angeles

Willy BlackmoreWhat's there to eat?​ Spring means many things in Southern California--the end of citrus season, the beginning of masses of bright green reappearing in local farmers' markets--but it is not associated with the food-gathering traditions long upheld elsewhere in the country. The ... More >>

Playing With Food: FungiFest at Machine Project

There are many things capable of filling an Echo Park art gallery on a Saturday night, namely the promise of free booze, which makes any art opening a draw for the young and perennially broke. But usually there is at least some promise of pop culture-infused paintings or gender bending performance a ... More >>

Saving the Season: Canning at Surfas

The test kitchen at Surfas in Culver City was filled with a standing room-only crowd on Saturday morning for their weekly free cooking demo. Behind the range was local food blogger Kevin West as well as Bettina Birch of BeeGreenFarm in the Three Rivers, California--a regular vendor at both Surfas an ... More >>

Top 10 Metro Stop Eats: Eating On the Blue Line

In comparison to the intricate net of freeways gridding the Los Angeles basin--cutting through the mountains and running through the valleys, peppered with intricate overpasses, interchanges and clover-shaped off ramps--the LA subway/rail metro map is a simple one. With its nexus in downtown, three ... More >>

Not Sleeping With the Fishes: The San Pedro Fish Market

Waking up at five o'clock is not the greatest way to start a Saturday morning. And as impressive as the hills of Palos Verdes may be in the light of day, in the pre-dawn hours they are obscured by the fog that often stays socked in their shadow, blurring the edges of the docks, buildings, ships and ... More >>

Squid Ink Food Fight: Oysters, High and Low

There are few things to eat that are better tasting and simpler than an oyster. Complete with its own sauce, seasoning and serving dish, an oyster on the half shell is a nature-ready bite of food; any dash of lemon, mignonette or other sauce is arguably unnecessary. Once plentiful and cheap, oysters ... More >>