LOS ANGELES

Okay, Los Angeles! My first time in “La La Land” at that.
On a musical note rather than a food one, first... It troubled me so very much that Marika and I had that bloody Sheryl Crow song (All I Wanna Do) in our heads for most of the duration of our stay… The one that goes "ain't no country club either... this is L....A!". Don't pretend you don't know it! But gawd, couldn’t we think of any better LA songs?! I had actually been muttering Arlo Guthrie’s Coming Into Los Angeles as we came through the airport, but thought it wise not to sing lines like “bringin’ in a coupla keys” too loudly through customs.

Righto, get on with the food, sister…


CANTALOOP
7095 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles
http://www.cantaloopyogurt.com/
On a boiling hot day, after a Tour of the Stars Homes and a waltz up the Hollywood Blvd Walk of Fame, we were relieved to find a frozen yoghurt shop, that stood like a dripping mirage in front of us. We sat out in Cantaloop’s brightly coloured plastic habitat where I had Natural Frozen Yoghurt with Raspberries and Marika tried Pomegranate Yoghurt with Lychees. My advice – Share one. They’re fucking huge!





CALIFORNIA VEGAN
7300 W. Sunset Blvd, Hollywood
http://www.californiavegan.com
This was our first dinner as a threesome. Alex had just arrived to kick off the Ladies Road Trip portion of the holiday. Poor bitch had to contend with bullshit delays, missing two flights on the way, so after a quick rest on her part, we walked down to California Vegan to get some veggies into the seriously-knackered gal. This place came on recommendation for its faux meats, and was met with mixed reviews.

Marika was less than impressed with her introduction to faux meats. She ordered “Steak” and it came out as follows.



I was ecstatic to order Pad Thai with Soy Shrimp (If you’ve read this thing enough, you’re aware of my begrudging allergy to shellfish). Sure it was just prawn shaped and coloured soy product, and wasn’t much like real prawns, but to me it was an awesome treat!


Pad Thai with Soy Shrimp served with Spring Roll, Miso Soup, Salad and Fried Brown Rice (US$10.95)


Excited about “Prawns” (I haven’t figured out how to photoshop that shine off my brow just yet!)


Alex gets some much-needed greens



It was the 3rd Birthday of my business, Number One Chicken, that night and I forget if I even made mention of it. A lovely chilled out night, we returned to Motel 6 Hollywood and sat outside on the back stairs drinking Pacifico beers and chatting before retiring rather early.


EL CHAVO (& SUNSET JUNCTION FESTIVAL)
4441 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles
We spent a Sunday afternoon at Sunset Junction, a community street festival at the junction of Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards. We met up with the Nation Blue boys, drank a bunch of margaritas in the scorching heat, and watched some bands. Arriving pretty late in the day, we only really caught a snippet of Hot Hot Heat, most of The Bronx and of course… the headliners… who we wouldn’t have missed for the world… the fucking BUZZCOCKS!! They played an awesome set, but as they exited the stage, we looked at eachother thinking “Whatthefuck? Are they gonna play the classics?!” Durr.. of course. They came back for an encore and busted out “What Do I Get?”, “Orgasm Addict”, and everyone’s favourite, “Ever Fallen In Love?”. Pretty fucking idyllic to hear that song live with a gorgeous sunset and the tall LA palms in the background…


Nation Blue sucking down Margarita's.


The Buzzcocks playing at sunset on Sunset

Between bands, we snuck away just up the road to El Chavo, a Mexican bar/restaurant for nice strong margarita’s on their back patio. We ended up back there again for dinner after the Buzzcocks.


Veggie Enchiladas, Beers & Margaritas


El Chavo back patio - poor Tom was struck down with an evil South American flu, and felt obliged to sit far away from us.


THE ECHO
1154 Glendale Blvd, Echo Park, Los Angeles
http://www.attheecho.com/
We spent two consecutive nights at The Echo in Echo Park. Firstly for a Nation Blue gig, and the second simply for drinking and dancing all night at the Sunset Junction afterparty. The drinks were extortionately priced (like US$8 for spirits!?) but the Echo was fun. I especially liked the back courtyard where we met lots of fun Californian kidlets, and which was divine on these hot LA summer nights.


Tom & Marika out the back at the Echo


YONNI’S
1714 N. Wilcox Avenue, Hollywood
http://www.yonnis.com
Still adjusting to the challenge of eating well in America - a particularly hard feat in our touristy stretch of Hollywood Boulevard - it was nice to stumble across Yonni's around the corner from our motel. Halleliuah, a Euro-style café! Something we certainly take so much for granted in Melbourne.

I had a lovely Panini there one morning, and we all got hooked on their delicious Soymilk Shakes... Banana/Peanut Butter/Chocolate Shakes! Mmmm! A genius combination that i have since been copying at home and may blog about at some stage.





Geneva Panini – Smoked Ham, Swiss Cheese, Organic Baby Greens, Red Onions, Mayonnaise, and French Mustard on Ciabatta Bread (US$7.00).


MEL’S DRIVE-IN
1660 North Highland, Hollywood
http://www.melsdrive-in.com
We picked up some wheels on our last day in LA and hit the beach, followed by a Drive-In Diner. After soaking up some sun at Venice Beach, we drove our just-hired car back Hollywood way to Mel’s Drive-Inn.




Root Beer Float! Perhaps better known to Aussies as a "Spider", for what reason I'm not sure... Anyone??





Avocado Burger: all that's in The Famous Melburger plus sliced avocado, onion, Jack cheese, and crisp bacon.

Y’know... I think this might have been the only burger I ate on the whole trip... How the hell did I manage that in America?! Nice one!


DUKE’S COFFEE SHOP
8909 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood
http://www.dukescoffeeshop.com/

"Inside Duke's Coffee Shop on a warm Tuesday morning in February 1967, I told Jim Morrison the story of my life, concentrating on the last year. I couldn't seem to stay out of trouble, I told him." - from Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugerman.

Well, it was actually a warm Tuesday morning some 40 years later that the three of us sat down to breakfast at Duke's, before embarking on our road trip to Las Vegas. We were looking forward to getting into some trouble!

Having both, myself and Marika, read Wonderland Avenue, and knowing it to be a frequent haunt of Jim Morrison and the Doors, among others, we thought we should add our infamous selves to their patron list. It was a pretty shabby old diner sort of joint. Very basic, but cute. Alex tried to order a latte. Dream on! It was black drip-coffee or nuthin. I, myself, made the never-to-be-repeated mistake of ordering an Iced Coffee which came out as brown water with ice in it. Revolting.


French Toast with Bacon and an Iced Coffee like none other I've experienced..



French Toast - Thick sliced egg bread, dipped in beaten eggs, covered with powdered sugar (US$7.95)

It's funny how the above menu description doesn't mention that heart-attack sized scoop of whipped butter right there in the middle! Whoa dude, you wouldn't wanna have high cholesterol or anything..