Dining alone - Beauty for the eye and palate

Sometimes you just need to take yourself to lunch - alone.

I had a mid-morning meeting at an office in downtown Santa Monica, and I told my co-workers I'd take lunch before returning to work. And it was a good thing, too, because the meeting gave me a lot to think about. I wanted a quiet place to get my thoughts settled, and hide away for a moment.

Blue Stove is a restaurant in a department store, and if you think that's a throw-back to the era of ladies-who-lunch, you've got a surprise. Blue Stove is Nordstrom's new enterprise - fresh, sustainable, locally sourced food in a casual yet elegant setting.

The Santa Monica store's restaurant is tucked away in a little niche on the third floor. It feels very private - on a lunchtime Thursday, there were a few occupied tables, but I felt soothed and calmed by the quiet. The menu offers small plates at reasonable prices, but never skimps on flavor or artistry. Watermelon and feta salad with microgreens, above, cost only $5.95 - and it was beautiful, in the bargain.

A Paletography of Los Angeles - like a frozen pickle!

Much as I like the idea, I fail to be thrilled with the execution. Of cucumber-chile paletas, that is.

This one is from Cascada Refrescante, and it's a beautiful paleta - soft frosty green, and with a touch of the artistry this little South Central paleteria brings to all its products. Here, a slice of cucumber, with its dark green peel, adorns the base of the pop.

Cascada's pops are also generous - they are larger and thicker than pops from comparable paleterias.

But when I bit into it, I recoiled from the sensation. Salty, sour and hot all at the same time, it was like biting into a frozen dill pickle. Spiced with cayenne! It didn't seem to have the slightest bit of sweetness at all. It made my lips tingle!

Now, I like spicy dill pickles. But this didn't work for me. And it didn't work for [The Man I Love] who usually loves all things spicy, and almost all kinds of pickles.

What do you think? Would you try it? There are a lot of variations on this flavor, so perhaps it would be better with more sweetness, more citrus.  I'm willing to give it another try from another palateria - would you?

Wherein I shamelessly grovel for your favor

Claudia's Bridal shop in Huntington Park, CA

 I've got just a little more than 30 days before I have a major change in my life and routine. Oh, I won't go into some of the palace intrigue that's being rumored at work these days, but no matter which scenario plays out, I will have a major change in my life. I might be unemployed; I've enrolled in some summer classes; and there's even a remote possibility I might have a job offer to consider.

One thing I would like to do is use this change to explore more options. I'm going to try to get a wider audience for my writing. Whether I'm selling it or giving it away, I'm going to try to reach more audiences.

I need to put together a portfolio, and I'm asking for your help. If you've enjoyed the writing you've read in this blog, help me choose my best work. Several of you have liked my posts about travel. Can you tell me what blog posts are your favorites?

Tell me your top three favorite posts. You can write it in the comments. There's an archive on the right, organized by date, and there's also a list of topics, or labels, below that. Or if you don't have time to search, but you remember something you liked, tell me. Or email me directly, at my profile, if you'd prefer.

I want to put together a portfolio of maybe a dozen samples, and see if I can take it anywhere. Your help will be immensely valuable to me.

Thanks.

A Paletography of Los Angeles - Part Two

The Warner Theatre in Huntington Park, closed

 If a helicopter were to drop you down on the sidewalk of Pacific Avenue in Huntington Park, you'd think you were in some small town in America's Midwest. On a sunny summer Saturday afternoon, the sidewalks are full of families shopping in the stores that line the street with its old-fashioned buildings, some from the early years of the last century, some art deco. There's a J.C. Penney, discount clothing stores, jewelry stores, bakeries, coffee shops and mom-and-pop restaurants.

There's even a old art deco movie palace - closed up, as it probably would be in any small Midwestern town, but fabulous with its ziggurat tower, scroll-topped pilasters, and curved neon marquee.

And on a warm summer afternoon, it's nice to see an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, hand-painted sign, kids' bikes parked outside, cheerful flowers in pots.

Up, up and away!

 If you're looking for a special getaway, with wide open spaces and a view that's rare in Los Angeles, why not go to the airport?

Santa Monica Municipal Airport began as the home of Douglas Aircraft. Today, it accommodates small planes and private jets. 

A Paletography of Los Angeles - Part One

Display case of paletas de agua at Mateo's

 It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. The mission? A comprehensive survey of paletas, or Mexican ice-pops in Los Angeles. No simple popsicle, paletas are made in small shops with fresh fruit and exotic ingredients, and can be simple and sweet or complicated combinations of flavors that include chile, cucumber, dried fruits, and other seasonings.

I have a list of a dozen paleta shops, ranging from Culver City to Anaheim and El Monte, that are noted as great examples of the Mexican paleta tradition. It will take several excursions to explore them all, but today we made the first foray. We packed a cooler with ice so we could bring samples back to taste and compare.

Annual gloom

Click to "embiggen"

 This morning I awoke and looked outside and realized we are about to enter that annual Los Angeles weather phenomenon, June Gloom.

"Morning low clouds and fog," reads the weather report - a report that we'll see almost everyday for the next couple of weeks. Low altitude stratus clouds form over the ocean and beach - this is what Angelenos call the "marine layer."

This will burn off by the end of June, but each year it makes Memorial Day barbecues and school graduation ceremonies a little greyer, colder and gloomier than we would wish.

Even so, [The Man I Love] and I are up for a weekend adventure, and I'll have more to show you later.

Sunny blue

This is a California native wildflower. It's the large-flowered Phacelia, or Phacelia grandiflora. Here, it's growing on the steep, south-facing side of the hill just beside our roadway in Topanga.

Cheerfully blue, for a sunny spring day!

Rainbows everywhere you look

Such brilliant color, at the Palisades Farmers' Market.