It is a rare occasion when I ever have fun at neighborhood council meetings or events.  Granted, I didnt join the neighborhood council for its fun appeal and there have been some good times in the past.  Lately however it seems its been an epic drag.  I’ve taken to making pop culture references in my arguments at the risk of sounding unprofessional and silly but the purpose is to see how many of my colleagues actually get the reference or if they are as dull as I suspect.  Don’t hate me if I’m still not 30.

Two weeks ago for example, we were discussing a post office that falls withing the Little Armenia neighborhood.  When the question was brought up to possibly rededicate it several great suggestions were made for example, William Saroyan and Charles Bukowski.  Both have there merit and both deserve to have their name immortalized on a Post Office wall but when you consider the content Charles Bukowski is the most logical choice.  He wrote a novel called ‘Post Office’ for crying out loud and he lived in that very neighborhood when he penned it.  For all I know he may have actually worked there.  Of course, I had another idea and wanted to lighten the mood a little and test my colleagues knowledge of pop culture.  I suggested we rededicate it as the Armen Tamzarian Post Office.  I got one chuckle (Thank you Silent Android).  Armen Tamzarian is of course a world famous Vietnam War Veteran of Armenian descent.  If you do not know his place in pop culture then maybe you shouldn’t be reading this entry since he has graced our television screens for 22 years now in the longest American prime-time entertainment series.

Today while chairing a committee meeting we heard from a great developer that is creating low income housing in a neighborhood that is slowly gentrifying beyond the communities means.  In short, yes the developer is asking for four code variances which if you don’t know, are exceptions to the law which of course means this could take forever especially when you have professional NIMBY’s holding projects hostage and will no doubt continue to held them hostage through appeals and lawsuits and litigation which in the end only hurt the community we are trying to help by leaving either a blighted lot or a rundown property in the middle of an otherwise thriving community.  During this 105 minute hearing that oh-by-the-way was tabled I made yet another pop culture reference only this time it went unnoticed.  Excellent. OMG I just wrote a pop culture reference into this blog entry without even thinking about it and most of you are probably wondering “wtf?”.  Anyways, near the end of the hearing I made my feelings regarding the project known, since as the chair my primary objective is to make the meeting move smoothly rather than flood it with my thoughts.  I said:

LA is a major city that needs to start acting like it. Transit oriented development is a must and affordable housing is a vital component of it. “These people cook our meals, haul our trash, connect our calls, drive our ambulances and guard us while we sleep”.

Of course that last sentence is a quote from Tyler Durden. 

]]> http://lanative.net/2010/10/259/feed/ 21 http://lanative.net/2010/02/dc-next-month/ http://lanative.net/2010/02/dc-next-month/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:42:33 +0000 Alfredo http://lanative.net/?p=243

So I finally bit the bullet and booked my passage to Washington DC.  I wish I could say this was a pleasurable vacation trip but most likely I’ll be working my butt off advocating for a new park in Hollywood.  A park so special that my dream is for Hollywood residents to call it “The Park”.

This park will be 44 acres of never before used land.  Never before because until we build it, there is no land.  What? Yeah.  The plan is to build over the 101 freeway between Santa Monica Blvd in East Hollywood where the freeway runs below city grade and extend it roughly one mile to Bronson Ave in Central Hollywood.  Essentially making that part of the 101 a tunnel.  I’m crazy you say?  I’d have to agree with you except this isn’t the first time something like this has been built.  There are ‘cap’ parks in San Diego, Seattle, Chicago and Boston.  Right now the only major hurdles we have are economic.  What else is new in this town.  Thats what this trip is for.  Asking the Federal Government to fund this project much like they funded our High-Speed Rail to San Francisco last month.

How can you help?  You can write a letter of support.  You can email them to me at Alfredo@LAnative.net or get them to me in person.  I leave Saturday March 13th so get those in to me before then. Thanks. For more details on what this project is please visit: http://hollywoodfreewaycentralpark.org/

Seeing as this is my first ever trip to DC I plan on visiting a few museums and monuments and maybe some friends. 

So I guess this really will be a pleasurable trip after all.

I don’t write food reviews often and by no means do I consider myself an authority on food but after being recommended to eat at “Street” by Council President Eric Garcetti last week and actually eating there, I feel like this deserves a review because you all need to try this place. Once again Hollywood shows us why its the most diverse neighborhood in Los Angeles.

After a thorough viewing and then a reviewing of www.eatatstreet.com I came to two conclusions; 1. Street is not a restaurant, its a culture and 2. I needed reservations.  I made online reservations for 8:15pm… good thing too because I was hoping to get reservations for 7:30pm but was denied.  I assumed it was because there was no room.  Turns out I was right.  As The Demon Kitten and I walked in to Street at 8:10pm, located at 742 N. Highland just North of Melrose, we noticed the place was packed.  “Good thing you made reservations.” said The Demon Kitten, or so she thought.

I immediately went to the hostess and gave her my name and reservation time.  She apologized for not having a table ready and said it would take about 15 minutes.  Okay, this didn’t make me too happy but it didn’t put me off either considering it would only be 10 minutes after the actual reservation time was made… totally understandable.  She invited us to go to the bar, which was also packed and had people waiting to get their drinks so we passed and decided to wait patiently.  Not five minutes passed when the hostess approached me to say that a table had just opened up and we would be seated as soon as it was cleaned.  Ten minutes later we’re still standing at the bar waiting to be seated and the hostess is totally avoiding eye contact with me.  I approached her again to find out how long it takes to clean a table, she apologized again saying the table was given to other people.  I remained calm and just walked away.  I told The Demon Kitten if we didn’t get a table in two minutes we would leave and get dinner at The Hollywood Corner a few blocks North on Sunset where I could guarantee the service would be impeccable; she agreed.  Seconds after making that statement a waiter asked if we would like a drink while we waited and brought is a drink menu.  We decided to order drinks.  The Demon Kitten ordered a Cantaloupe and Beet Agua Fresca which was very tasty and I ordered a Julep which seemed to be the beverage of choice at the bar and I was not disappointed.  It was very minty and had just the right amount of sweetness to mask the alcohol but still leaving the bite a good adult beverage should have.  Minutes later we were seated.

Upon being seated any and all feelings of sketchy service disappeared.  Our waiter, John,  was very knowledgeable about the menu; he was very thorough and informative even telling us about a couple of items that were not on the menu.  Upon reviewing the menu and highlighting a few items that sounded amazing John returned. We had a few questions regarding the “Globe Trot” which was a series of selections chosen by the Chef.  John knew exactly what the selections of that day were and even pointed out that one item was made with beef after The Demon Kitten explained she only ate vegetables and seafood.  We settled on the following four dishes.

The Chinese Sesame Cakes which are rice floured cakes filled with a homemade red bean paste, rolled in toasted sesame served with a peanut sauce.  The only thing we both could say was that the sesame was very overwhelming.

The Ukrainian Dumplings stuffed with spinach served over a yummy cheese and a citrusy sauce were absolutely amazing.  My mouth started watering as I typed this.  If and when I go back I will definitely be having those again.  In fact we asked John what he thought of them and he said “Probably my favorite dish.” We liked John.

The Japanese Shizo Shrimp rolled with nori seaweed and a light crispy dough served with ponzu, grated radish and wasabi was good but it was served at the same time as the Malaysian Black Pepper Clams which drowned out the taste of the shrimp.

The Malaysian Black Pepper Clams came in a medium sized bowl with about 25 clams.  They are simmered in oyster sauce with cracked pepper, palm sugar, soy and lime.  D-Licous!  It also came with a piece of rye bread that goes very well when dipped in the remaining sauce at the bottom of the bowl.

I totally recommend trying the Ukrainian Dumplings and the Malaysian Black Pepper Clams.  I would be willing to give the Shizo Shrimp another chance if served with a different dish and would only suggest trying the Chinese Sesame Cakes if you really like the taste of sesame.

For desert we shared an Egyptian Basbousa Cake which is a lime soaked semolina cake with macerated blueberries, lime curd and whipped cream.  Very delicious especially with one of the many varied types of teas “Street” has to offer.  We had the Argentinian Yerba Mate and the South African Chocolate Mint Tea.

The ambiance is a little loud but not so much that you cant have a conversation about how delicious your food is with a friend.  Street offers indoor as well as patio seating with heaters on chilly nights.  Good music adds to an already cool atmosphere giving you a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

Looking past the foul up with the reservations which I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to, this place is definitely a place I would like to return to soon, perhaps during a lunch break to see how they handle business at other times of day and to try some other items on the menu.

I hope you find this review helpful and will eat at Street.  Don’t forget your reservations.  323.203.0500

Bon apetit.

A couple of days ago I was hanging out with my friend Malik Diamond when we decided we wanted some Vitos Pizza.  Always the philosopher Malik pointed out that he had never really been to the heart of Hollywood, the heart being the residential neighbrhoods that house the people we depend on.  These are the poeple that flip our burgers, drive our busses, cook our meals, haul our trash, connect our calls and drive our ambulances. They guard us while we sleep.  He pointed out some psychodelic mural the corner of Willoughby and Gower saying this is where the beauty of Hollywood lies.

This reminded me of the Hollywood Shadow Project.

Completed in October 2001, the Hollywood Shadow Project was a series of seven installations dispersed throughout production areas of Hollywood. The designs were derived from stills of familiar and iconic movie scenes. At sunset, the sun passes through these sculptures and casts shadows on adjacent buildings. The intention was to evoke memory, as it is constituted through pictures and movies, and re-present this memory on the site of its invention: Hollywood. All of the sites incorporate buildings and businesses involved in making movies. It is also significant that the sculpture silhouettes were captured via optical means and are then reprojected here via the sun, which offers both light and motion.  Solar powered public art if you will. The movie scenes included The Wild Bunch, Warlock, North by Northwest, The Magnificent Seven, 1 Million Years B.C., Easy Rider and “The End” credit from Casa Blanca.

Sadly, only two remain.  I don’t know why they have been removed but its really a shame.  We visited both sculptures

Santa Monica at Wilcox

Cahuenga at Waring

Citrus at Melrose (no longer exists)