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.

Restaurant Review: HOME in Los Feliz. Could Have Been Better.

I hope this was just a one off experience. 

We went to Home for the first time on a Sunday evening to pick up my daughter from a play date in Los Feliz. Los Feliz is in a charming part of Los Angeles, but we don't usually go there only because living on the Westside, it's a bit hard to get to on a regular basis. Not knowing what to eat around there, I searched on Open Table for restaurants in Los Feliz, and Home was one of the choices. I checked out the website for the restaurant and it looked beautiful. There was an image of its Lemon Chicken Piccata that just looked mouth watering. I then booked through Open Table to get 100 dining points. 

Chicken Piccata Promo picture on Home Website.

 When we got there, the restaurant was expecting us. They have a nice corner table on the outdoor patio waiting for us. Beautiful lanterns hung from the arching trees in the patio. We were charmed. I ordered the chicken piccata from the photo. My husband ordered the chicken Tuscany.My daughter just wanted fried calamari. My chicken piccata tasted good, but a few pieces of the accompanying roasted vegetables were still frozen. That was a bit sloppy in execution, but I didn't ask them to take it back or anything. My husband's chicken Tuscany arrived with the bed of pasta and no chicken. When he asked the waitress if he was supposed to get chicken with his dish, she goes "whoops, looks like you got the Tuscany without the chicken!" That was kind of humorous, and we laughed. She apologized and had the kitchen later bring a side plate of the chopped chicken breast for my husband to toss into his by now cold bed of Tuscany penne pasta, and offered to give us a free dessert. That was nice. 

Well, when it was time to order the dessert, we ordered the cheesecake. Our waitress said it was her favorite. But when she came back, she informed us that they were out of the cheesecake. This was around 8:15 pm. Okay, so we ordered the flan. When the bill came, they charged us for the dessert anyway. Forget about the offer of complimentary dessert. Despite the chicken dishes mishap, my husband was too chicken to point this out and paid the bill in full. I didn't want to leave much of a tip, but he didn't like to make a point the way I felt he should, and decided to tip 12% as a compromise as opposed to his normal 20%. 

The location and ambience of Home with dining under the trees was really nice and magical. It's just that the shoddy execution of the chicken dishes left a fowl taste in my mouth.

Mien Nghia, a Great Noodle Restaurant

There was this place, Mien Nghia, in Chinatown, that served the best Southeast Asian/ Cantonese noodles. A friend of mine from Vietnam introduced me to it a few years back and I would go there every time I'm in Chinatown. However, a couple of years ago, much to my disappointment, when I went back to that hole in the wall, it was closed. I mentioned this to that friend of mine and was told that Mien Nghia actually has another restaurant in Rosemead, on Garvey. So I went there with my daughter last week.

Mien Nghia San Gabriel Valley is not a hole in the wall, but a full on restaurant with ample parking. There is no ambience to speak of, but the food still has the same deliciousness: Noodle in different broths with different kind of toppings. You can choose to have the egg noodles, or the rice noodles, thick noodles, or thin, or a combination. I chose a combo thin egg and rice noodles with fish slices and pork kidney. It was quite satisfying.

I found out from the manager there that Mien Nghia has been around for 30 years, first in Chinatown, and then they opened a second restaurant here in Rosemead around 15 years ago. The one in Chinatown closed due to increased rent there.

I like all kinds of soup noodles: Chinese style beef noodle soup, Japanese ramen, Vietnamese Pho or Hu Thieu, and Cambodian glass noodles. I'm not sure what  kind of cuisine Mien Nghia is, but probably something inspired by southern Asian cuisine. Another kind of taste, but delicious.

Try it!

Mien Nghia Noodle Express
7755 E. Garvey Blvd.
Rosemead, CA 91770

Grow Native Nursery in the Veterans Garden

Ever since I got rid of my lawn, I've been looking into various drought tolerant plants to grow in my front yard instead. I've fallen in love with the Ceonothus, or the California lilac, which can grow up to a majestic 20 feet tall, depending on the species.The tree bears beautiful purple blooms which, when rubbed in water, generates suds and hence are also called soap flowers.

Not many commercial nurseries carry the ceonothus, but I found that Grow Native Nursery in the Veterans Garden in Westwood has them. This nursery is a branch of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens in Claremont, a wonderful garden that features native flora in all its glorious manifestations.  It's branch nursery in the Westwood Veterans Garden sells California native plants from the RSA Botanica Gardens. Bryce, the young man who works at the nursery is the most helpful and knowledgeable person who can give you great ideas on how to grow native plants in your garden.

So far, I've purchased several ceonothus plants over the summer, but they've all died on me, I think because of the unseasonably hot southern California summer this year. (It's imcomprehensible since these plants are supposedly native to California, drought tolerant, and should be used to this weather, but whatever). I just bought two more ($9.50 for a one gallon plant) because I'm determined to have a ceonothus tree survive in my yard. Wish me luck.

By the way, Grow Native Nursery is a non-profit that works with the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System to maximize veterans’ opportunities in the sustainable horticulture industry. Go visit the nursery for great plants and to support a great cause. It only opens Wednesday through Sunday, so make sure to go on those days.

Grow Native Nursery at the Veteran's Garden
100 Davis Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90049

Grand Central Market.

The downtown LA Grand Central Market is in the midst of transforming into a more upscale food market. It is currently a mix of foodie hangouts such as Eggslut, Wexler's Deli, C and G Cafe, and many ethnic, been there forever food stands. Hope it stays that way. You don't want the upscale yuppy foods to drive out the traditional Chinese, Salvadoran, or Mexican stands.