Unhipster's Hangout: Johnnie's French Dip Pastrami

Are you sometimes tired of all those hipster locale's such as Abbott Kinney Blvd., Highland and York Blvd.? Silverlake and Echo Park . . . .? Do you sometimes feel like you don't belong in those places because you are not dressed hip enough to be seen there? Do you get sick of the $5 lattes, and cappucinos, $15 glasses of wine, $18 small plates and $45 entrees in those oh so chic places? And do you sometimes notice that when you go to those places, the clientele are the white folks and Asian folks and wonder where does the rest of Los Angeles go? Well I do. Sometimes it's just nice to walk into an unpretentious place with good food, reasonable prices, a diverse clientele, and friendly staff, and walk out feeling like you've just been to some place real good.

For those of you who feel "unhip" occasionally, or all the time, I'm going to write about some down home places I like called Unhipster's Hangout. The first of these places I'm going to talk about is Johnnie's Patrami Restaurant in Culver City which has been around since 1952. Situated on the corner of Washington Blvd. and Sepulveda, Johnnie's is a throwback to the Americana of the olden days. (Not that I know exactly what the olden days look like since I didn't come to the US until 1978). It's a diner that serves fried chicken, hamburgers, pickles, coleslaw and the world's best pastrami sandwich. There are three kinds of seating: stools around the counter,  booth with high back bench seating, or outdoors on picnic style tables around a fire pit. On the counter and tables, there are little juke boxes where you can queue up songs from selections such as "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "Monday Monday", "Gloria", and many more oldies and not so oldies but goodies.

The wait staffs seem to be from another era: Surly and no nonsense elderly ladies who look kind of unfriendly, although our waitress tonight was a young woman who is awfully nice and polite. (I just checked their website and what do you know? Some of the waitresses are originals! How cool is that!) When you look around, you don't see any hipsters, just downright unhip older folks like me who've probably been coming here forever for the famous pastrami sandwich and chili fries. There tonight were older African Americans couples,  older white folks, an old Asian/caucasian couple, and some African American young men. The pastrami sandwich isn't exactly cheap at $12.75, but it's huge and enough for two people. I like mine with melted Swiss cheese. The cup of joe is not espresso, but has unlimited refill. By the time I walked out of Johnnie's, I felt as if I've rediscovered a treasure, and hoped that hipsters don't swarm here any time soon.

A Sunday at the Los Angeles Central Library With free Street Parking

The Los Angeles Central Library is an architectural gem and the pride of Los Angeles. I hardly ever go there because I usually go to my neighborhood branch library which has ample parking while I can never find parking at the Central Library. You can park at its garage with validation, but it still costs money. I have a thing against having to pay for an experience that should be free, like going to the public library!

After years of budget cuts, Through some bond measure that we all had to pay for, Los Angeles finally restored the weekend hours at the library. I was downtown this weekend and decided to drop by the library to walk about. I circled the library a couple of times and found a parking spot right in front of the side entrance. Street parking was free on a Sunday in Los Angeles, so that suited me very well.

My destination was the map room in the history section and the Chinese books section, so I was in the newer part of the library and taking the escalator up and down. The atrium in this part of the library is so grand with hanging sculptures everywhere.The book collection here is also so much better than the local branches. I borrowed some books that I wouldn't have been able to find in my local branch, so that was good. 

WARNING: While walking through the 4th level history section of the library, I smelled stale urine. Someone must have peed on the carpet. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE in a public space that belongs to all of us. Library staff, please clean it up thoroughly. If it's the homeless peeing in the library, they should be directed to the restrooms! I guess homeless people using the library for not just book browsing happens everywhere. I remember when we went to visit what was a brand new Seattle Public Library a few years ago, we were told that the restrooms were painted a horrible puke green to discourage the homeless from loitering there. Libraries should be for book browsing and reading. However, I guess one cannot prevent the homeless from using this beautiful facility as well since it is public space. This is an urban problem that probably cannot be avoided. But still we must try. Otherwise who will visit the library?

A taste of Egg Slut... Finally

Heard about Egg Slut for quite some time. Been to the Grand Central Market several times but the line for Egg Slut was always so long that I've always opted for the other food stands there rather than wait in line. By the way, the soft tacos stand giving out free samples of its carnitas tacos is delicious, and its jamaica (hibiscus) drink for a dollar is the best I've had.

This past weekend, my daughter and I braved the long line and waited to finally get a taste of the Egg Slut. Wow! It is good. An egg on a bed of buttery mashed potatoes, slowly poached, or "coddled" to perfection in a small glass jar was absolutely heavenly. But at $9.00 a pop, it's a bit expensive considering the ingredients probably cost no more than 50 cents. Now I'm going to try making it at home and save a few bucks.