hollywood

Taco Mesa. Good stuff.

Find out where the nearest Trader Joe's is and check it out. You'll be glad you did.

For coffee, tea, breakfast or snacks, check the Rose Cafe on Rose Avenue in Venice. Sort of a pleasant throwback to the 70s.

Just once you should line up at Tito's Tacos at Sepulveda & Washington Place. Get a couple of tacos with cheese and either red or green (hotter) salsa and something to wash it down with. Dress down. Check the crowd. Then for comparison, go to La Cabana at Lincoln & Rose in Venice and try their food especially the homemade tortillas. Drive a little further to Yabu on Pico in West LA for Japanese with Green Tea and Green Tea Ice Cream. Head over to Westwood Blvd. for really good Indian at Ambala Dhaba. Recommend the Ludhiana chicken. Pick up some wine at the Wine House on Cotner in the same vicinity.

26 Beach Cafe, 26 Washington Street, Marina del Rey for the 26 Special--a double cheese burger at $12. A lotta food. With fries or salad.

The Border Grill has gone downhill since the days when it was an edgy little store front place with good wine margaritas on Melrose. The Tamales best place now is Ciudad downtown.

Did it? Where? What's the new location/name? Bruce I think it's the same name. Supposed to be on Columbus Circle. Apparently in the AOL-Time Warner building. The same building where Keller's place is going to be. Gee, I wonder who has the dough to afford these restaurants?

Oddly, I've had several very good meals at Sparks Woodfire in Studio City.

steak, steak, steak, steak, steak steak, steak, steak, steak, steak, steak, steak steak, steak, steak, steak, steak [that's bone-in]

You may have noticed that the fine dining establishments in LA are almost always French based. Well, putting aside Nobu's places. There's also the possibility of Italian, specifically, Valentino in Santa Monica. Good food and a very extensive wine list. Genereally, there are two schools of thought here. First, unless you are known at the restaurant, you are treated cooly and left unsatisfied, what's the big deal, etc. Contrarily, throwing caution (and your credit card) to the wind, you advise the waitstaff that you want the kitchen to put together a memorable meal for you, hang the cost. Ditto with the sommelier. This has produced amazing results.

Let's be candid about this. The City is full of New Yorkers who've come to LA looking for fine dining experiences and been disappointed. Only 2 places have generally pleased New Yorkers: Ginza SushiKo (which has moved to Manhattan) and The French Laundry (which is in Napa Valley and is opening up a related store in Manhattan). So, in that regard, why bother? But if you must, here are some recent thoughts. http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/01/dining-huneven.php On the other hand, you could get the idea that LA's strength is a bounty of Asian and Pan Latin dining experiences sans white, pink, salmon table cloths. Pick up Gold's Counter Intelligence and check out the variety of Chinese in the San Gabriel Valley, the multitude of Thai in Hollywood (and North Hollywood), the Japanese in Little Tokyo, Sawtelle, etc., the Mexican/Oaxacan/Salvadorean/Cuban all around the place. It's your choice: be disappointed, or be informed.

All things considered, I'd recommend Josie in Santa Monica, sort of French, sort of American, with some but not sole emphasis on game. If you want something hip, it's the little plates at A.O.C. in West Hollywood. If you want an upscale steakhouse, there's a slew of them now.

Where are you coming from and what are you looking for? Does your definition of fine dining include ambience or just the actual food? Fine dining along these lines frequently includes mentions of Spago, Sona, Bastide, Grace, Josie, L'Orangerie, La Cachette, Bel Air Hotel, Lucques, etc.

From my limited knowledge, I see that both Melitta and Soliloquy (?) are making quick brew, single cup coffee makers using pods and a steam bar. Is the end product any good? Any better than just the traditional Melitta filter process?

Any Cafe Brulot? Photos?

Where is this grocery store?

After a class like that I imagine you need a beer. Hell, before a class like that....

A baby in every bottle? http://www.beerchurch.com/

Plus... snake that tastes just like chicken

Ironically, when it was just a little shack with a view of the street, the Lobster was real cheap, but that was long ago.

Rick Bayless tortilla chips salsa margarita mix half baked rolls processed chicken breasts onions peppers salt BBQ sauce National Enquirer cash back, please

Marie Antoinette Champagne cake

Frank Zappa rutabaga prunes sugar plum creamcheese baby octopus creamed corn Yoo Hoo Dr. Brown's Cel-Rey Rancid Budweiser Latex Solar Beef Mud Shark an enchilada wrapped with pickle sauce shook up and down in between a donkey's legs until he can't it stand anymore plaster

Damn. I put on 2 pounds just reading about this meal.