DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - The signs outside the restaurant were still not completed, and the new kitchen had yet to cook a meal, but the buzz had already started.
After hearing from friends that The Original Texas Barbecue King, the popular restaurant that was forced to move out of City West in March to make way for developer G.H. Palmer Associates’ Orsini apartment project, was back Downtown, LAPD Officer Tim Nambu had to check for himself.
… ]]>DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Although summer officially ends in less than a month, the warm weather will likely carry us at least until October. That means there is still plenty of opportunity to take advantage of the weather and dine al fresco.
Downtown Los Angeles is flush with restaurants that offer lovely outdoor seating, quaint patios and even Parisian-inspired sidewalk tables. There is no shortage of options if you want to get out of the office and soak… ]]>
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Tim Presley’s ink on paper artwork (left to right: “Slang,” “Look” and “Running With Two Faces") inspired the name of Jail Gallery’s current exhibit, which ends Aug. 30. Curated by Emily Sills, Look also features work, including sculpture and installations, by young L.A. and Bay Area artists. 965 Vignes St., Suite 5A, (213) 621-9567 or thejailgallery.com.
]]>DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - The speed of those old-fashioned vinyl records (33 1/3 revolutions per minute) is also the name of a series of books (published by Continuum Books) about seminal record albums. Three authors turn up at Metropolis Books on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 6 p.m. to discuss their contributions to the series. Hayden Childs’ Shoot Out the Lights is about the last album Richard and Linda Thompson recorded together as husband and wife. David Smay’s… ]]>
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES -
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - If in 1979 you had told the 99 men at the Plummer Park Community Center they were beginning something that would lead to international acclaim, the room would have been filled with gales of incredulous laughter.
But no one made such a claim at that inauspicious first meeting, and no one was looking 30 years ahead. Instead, the original members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles simply started singing.
The singing… ]]>
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - There’s no doubt the Center Theatre Group, which stages Downtown Los Angeles productions at two Music Center stages, is the preeminent company on the city’s theater scene. The Ahmanson Theatre has received more than 50 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards and has the largest subscriber base of any West Coast theater with a year-round season. The Mark Taper Forum has earned more than 20 Tony Awards and three Pulitzer Prizes.… ]]>
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES -There are some words that in the name of good taste and just plain-old common sense should never be near each other. I’m talking of pairings such as “vegetarian” and “only,” “no” and “alcohol,” “sexy” and “McCain,” and “fast food” and “sushi.”
I stand by all those words that should never be united, especially “sexy”… ]]>
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES -Origami Bistro & Bar debuted with a soft opening July 28 at Third and Spring streets. The Asian fusion sushi bar and lounge sits on the ground floor of the Douglas Building condos and boasts a polished interior with dark wood tables, leather chairs, Japanese window hangings and iridescent mosaic walls.
The cozy space is split between a lounge and bar in the front and a small dining room and sushi bar in the back. This is owner… ]]>
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Those who live and work Downtown are always on the lookout for new places to eat lunch. Fortunately, a host of options have recently opened that will help you shake up your usual midday meal lineup.
From Jamaican jerk to Indian curry to a racy wine and tapas bar, there’s no shortage of newcomers. Here are a few that will help satisfy your appetite.
Located on Hill Street is SugaCane Lounge, which debuted its Jamaican… ]]>
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Next Generation Remix: Community Reborn is a free, all-ages concert spotlighting Asian Pacific Islander talent on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 6-10 p.m. in the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center plaza. The fifth annual event will feature music, dance, spoken word and taiko drumming, with performances by emerging acts such as hip-hop/rap artist Bambu (shown here), pop/rock singer Sue Jin and dance group NSU Modern. An after-party… ]]>
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - If the term art sounds out of place in a conversation about picture books, then perhaps you should check out a few children’s bookshelves.
Or better yet, stroll through the Getty Gallery at the Central Library. The exhibit Children Should Be Seen: The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art, which continues through Sept. 14, contains works by artists, some of whom can also be seen in the world’s most prestigious… ]]>
Bar entrepreneur Cedd Moses of 213 Ventures last Thursday said he has taken ownership of the historic Cole’s P.E. Buffet at Sixth and Main streets, a neighborhood haunt known to most as the home of the French dip sandwich. Moses, who is partnering with C.J. Goodyear, Mike Goodyear and designer Ricki Kline on the venture, said he plans to restore the charm of the 1908 restaurant.
“We are developing plans for a renovation of this beloved place, including… ]]>
Lowenbrau Keller
Lowenbrau Keller’s location isn’t the most auspicious. It’s a bit worn and tattered around the edges, but once inside, this German restaurant on Beverly Boulevard transforms into pure Black Forest magic - mounted antlers, hundreds of steins lining the walls and knights in full armor seated at banquet tables. From breaded veal to calorie-defying potato salad to every wurst imaginable the menu is laden with Germany’s greatest…
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Tucked into the South Park district across from Staples Center at the intersection of Flower Street and Olympic Boulevard, Liberty Grill is an anomaly in Los Angeles. The restaurant, which is set in a converted Mission-style adobe building with exposed brick and a spacious patio, is unapologetically American. In a city known for its fine international eateries and a more diverse international population, the stateside fare offered at Liberty Grill - from meatloaf on mashed… ]]>
If you’re committed, and your shoes are semi-comfortable, Thursday nights in Downtown Los Angeles can include endless combinations of the following: symphony, theater, live music, an art walk, sporting events, a speakeasy, and bars of the wine, dive, faux bordello, frat boy and velvet rope variety.
As if the list needs to get any more colorful, there is now a Texas-born crooner who channels Sinatra and cracks wise, Rat Pack-style, with an orchestra… ]]>
Los Angeles Lakers
Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St.,
(213) 742-7340 or lakers.com.
Friday, March 2, 7:30 p.m.: After a jaunt to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Jazz, the Lakers return to Staples Center and host the Sacramento Kings. The teams’ bad blood could boil with Ron Artest in town, but the Lakers just need to beat the last-place team in the Pacific Division.
Los Angeles Clippers
Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa…
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Last week, slashfood.com broke the news that first season “Top Chef” competitor Stephen Asprinio, that dapperly dressed eccentric who earned his props as one of the youngest sommeliers in the country, is heading into these parts.
Though Asprinio didn’t make the Bravo network show’s final cut, the savvy wine expert-turned-businessman/restaurateur is looking to make his mark on the booming Downtown Los Angeles market. The 20-something told… ]]>
Despite having a terrific meal at Blue Velvet shortly after it opened in November, I left feeing nervous. Here you had a cool, modern space, overlooking a turquoise pool and beyond that, a panorama of Downtown Los Angeles. And then came the delicious, exciting fare from chef Kris Morningstar.
The problem was the location, just west of the 110 Freeway on a street I suspect few Downtown residents or workers have ever heard of, let alone traveled. Not to… ]]>
When the audience erupts with 20 seconds of applause before the actors speak, you know it’s more than a simple production.
In this case, the applause was for Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin - and for Edward Albee’s 1962 groundbreaker Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woof? The play opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles on Feb. 9 and continues through March 18.
The applause, by the way, is well deserved.
The hype… ]]>
The status of opera diva Maria Callas, who died in 1977, was already the stuff of legend when Terrence McNally penned Master Class. But through the strength of his writing, and thanks to memorable Broadway turns as Callas by Zoe Caldwell (who also appeared at the Mark Taper Forum in the play) and Patti LuPone, Callas’ reputation as a fiery, controversial and gifted singer continues to grow.
And just as it takes a wealth of experience to teach a master… ]]>
Bertolt Brecht never wanted to supply the drugs generally available to audiences in dark auditoriums. Not the endorphins of comedy or the catharsis of tragedy. Not the romance of story or the joy of pretty scenery. Not the thrill of identification with a hero or the quiver of titillation from sex.
Just when we begin to sympathize with some Brechtian hero suffering the slings and arrows of modern society, or just when a comely prostitute begins to undress,… ]]>