hollywood

The area around Staples Center is in transition. We were going to hock our souls to the NFL and build a stadium but the city council came to its senses and declined. When are you going? During the week many attendees are likely to be business folk in suits having removed their ties, enjoying entertaining folks on their expense accounts. On the weekend, a more casual air prevails. As for local haunts, at 9th & Figueroa (very close) you'll find The Pantry, a 24 hour greasy spoon owned by a former mayor. The best meal here is breakfast. Further afield is the Grand Central Market at 3rd & Hill, a sort of poor man's food court with all sorts of ethnic specialties available. Particularly good are the gorditas, tortas, burritos, tacos, etc. at several vendors toward the center. Little Tokyo is a bit further away. There I would recommend the sushi at Mako, 123 S. Onizuka St. #307 (Weller Court). Also in Weller Court is a branch of Curry House which serves inexpensive curries of various intensities. Further afield is Chinatown, Union Station and nearby Phillipe's for beef dip sandwiches, Olvera Street (more Mexican). Have a good stay.

Check out Petit Logis Inn. You can walk to Bistro Jeanty from there. www.petitlogis.com/index.html

The Palm has opened a new branch a block from Staples. If you happen to be in one of the luxury boxes at Staples, there is actually decent and varied food available there, but at a price.

Sounds like it truly is a "lost weekend."

This is a wild guess. http://us.imdb.com/Title?0116485

Purportedly the best cheesecake is at Pastina on Westwood Blvd. Don't know if it has ricotta though.

Cheese.

Check this out. http://www.outlawcook.com/Page1505.html

I'm with you. Ale and cider (or cidre) are fine, but what about some vin rouge?

If you go to the Wherehouse on Sunset near La Brea, they are closing out and have anime DVDs for 20% or more off. Lots of anime.

My wife keeps a bottle of the fish sauce around all the time. We've survived.

If it's not French, it's for tourists.

Mako has great lunch deals. For about$10 you can pig out on chirashi sushi.

It looks like there's construction going on. Maybe folks think it's closed.

Back to Jason's point: if we follow the thesis that refined food follows wealth, what has the Onassis family been eating all these years? French food obviously. Was that a Jackie O. joke?

Back to Jason's point: if we follow the thesis that refined food follows wealth, what has the Onassis family been eating all these years?

Okay, but if the watchword is "contemporary," then how is that past wealth an influence?

So, 'brig, are you an American Idol?

Maybe not if they are doing it right.

Steve, Considering classic Greek writing, philosophy, sculpture and architecture, there would seem to be a flaw in your analysis about this being class based. If anything, you might expect Greek food to be finer.

Pretty much the same thing has happened in the NY/NJ metro area. After 9/11, virtually all Turkish restaurants billed themselves as "Mediterranean Cusine" and re-did their signs and awnings to reflect this. I saw this happen personally in the town I live in, where the local place changed its name from "Kervan II: Middle Eastern Cuisine" to "Sapphire: Fine Meditterranean Cusine" in a single weekend. This is because "Kervan II" was vandalized due to negative reaction from 9/11. Yes, I think you are right. In Los Angeles, Turks seem to keep a very low profile. Something about Armenians having long memories. Ironic in this context given the overlapping cuisines.

As a card carrying Seattleite (yes, it's a real word, check it out on m-w.com!), how come you don't bring your own bags? Shame on you! Be careful or the hippies will corner you in a dark alley, guilt you up and put their stink on you! Actually, doesn't TJ sell canvas bags?

Doesn't "mezze" simply translate to 'appetizer'? I apoligize for my linguistic ignorance, but if so I guess the answer is yes. Yeah, like platters of stuff--hummus, dolmades, feta, olives, keftah, etc.

Don't think TJ does papergoods but I believe they have had tooth paste and detergent. Things come and go depending on popularity (cha-ching).

Do Turks do mezze?