Jennifer Swann

Credit: Koren Shadmi

Why Is It So Hard to Catch Drink-Drugging Assholes?

Jennifer Swann
Monica Kenyon noticed something disturbing during Friday happy hour last May at Fig, the farm-to-table restaurant inside Santa Monica's Fairmont Miramar Hotel. Over a cheese and charcuterie plate at her table, she watched as a man seated across the way awkwardly pulled out a small black vial and emptied its......
Credit: Photo by Mandee Johnson - www.mandeejohnson.com - © 2014 MJP | CleftClips

Comedian Candy Lawrence Is Trying Stand-Up Without Lubrication

Jennifer Swann
Candy Lawrence is a show pony. At least that’s what she insists repeatedly throughout her stand-up set at the Lyric Hyperion, yelling and trotting in circles around the perimeter of a rug like a deranged horse on amphetamines. Like many of her jokes, this one is physical and it originated......
Marnie and her monsters; Credit: LeeAnn Nickel/courtesy of the artist and GAVLAK Los Angeles

Is There Room in the Fine Art World for Marnie Weber's Monsters?

Jennifer Swann
Marnie Weber is haunted by the ghosts of her past creations. The gaggle of perverse characters she’s invented over the last three decades always seem to creep back into her work, appearing first in performances and photographs and reemerging, sometimes years later, in films and collages. “In a Jungian sense,......
Mama Shelter; Credit: Jennifer Swann

Best Rooftop Bar

Jennifer Swann
With foosball tables and a nightly DJ, the lobby bar of Mama Shelter is easily a place you could spend all night and never get bored. But stay on the ground floor of the year-old Hollywood hotel and you'd be missing out on one of the city's most spectacular views,......
Credit: Screengrab via YouTube/Halal Guys

Halal Guys, a New York Treasure, Opens in Koreatown This Friday

Jennifer Swann
Five years ago, a hungry L.A. Weekly reader turned to the paper's then restaurant critic for help. His burning question was more of a desperate plea, really. "New York City has the legendary halal carts on 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue. Please tell me Los Angeles has something similar," Joseph Saranglo......
Phillip Frankland Lee; Credit: Courtesy Scratch Restaurants

Vegan Restaurant the Gadarene Swine Is Calling it Quits

Jennifer Swann
The Gadarene Swine in Studio City might be the only place in town where you can find imaginative, veggie-driven creations like lemon and pistachio kale chips and roasted garlic and thyme popcorn — and it turns out this weekend will be your last chance to order them. The vegan restaurant from......
Leg of lamb from Belcampo Meat Co.; Credit: Anne Fishbein

Turn Up Your Fourth of July Grilling Game at These Local Butchers

Jennifer Swann
Hot dogs, hamburgers and beer. Just add fireworks and you've got yourself an all-American Fourth of July party. But before you crank up the grill, you may want to consider ditching the store-bought patties and bratwurst this year. With two new butcheries having opened in L.A. in the last six weeks alone,......
Ozu East Kitchen; Credit: Photo by Anne Fishbein

L.A. Is Home to Some of the World's Most Stylish Restaurants

Jennifer Swann
Since opening six months ago, Ozu East Kitchen has attracted steady crowds hungry for its pork ramen bowls, bone marrow noodles, Bento boxes and Jidori chicken. But there's another reason to visit the Atwater Village hot spot, and it has nothing to do with its Japanese and Korean-inspired menu and everything......