Tag Archives: around la

STOP IT, LA.

February 20, 2013

Filed Under : AROUND LA

Franklin Canyon Park / the style eater

Franklin Canyon Park / the style eater

Franklin Canyon Park / the style eater

Franklin Canyon Park / the style eater

Stop being so dang pretty all the time, Los Angeles.

One of my favorite things about this crazy city of mine is that you can be grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s one minute…and then 15 minutes later you can be on the top of a mountain eating Cookie Butter or drinking Traderade.  Just kidding on the Cookie Butter, but seriously there are so many great places to hike and explore.

For this particular adventure, we drove through the flats of Beverly Hills (aka lots of mini mansions), then up into the hills of Beverly Hills (aka giant mansions), then up even higher on a windy street up the side of a mountain until we reached our destination at Franklin Canyon Park.  There are trails, walks, parks, reservoirs, and lots of cute puppies everywhere you look.  We decided to do a small hike to the top so we could overlook the reservoir.  What is it about bodies of water that are so appealing?  I don’t know but we were darn excited to see this thing.  When we got to the top, the reservoir was drained and empty.  WHAT THE HECK?  Anyway, so we took the long way down the mountain and snapped pictures on our iPhones.  Can you believe these are iPhone pics??

*a note to locals who want to hike this: Stop completely at all STOP signs.  We’re talking a 5-second stop at least!  There are cameras at every STOP sign up in the park and they want you to give them a $100 for rolling through them.  Be good and stop!  We know from experience.

[Around LA] wurstküche

December 15, 2011

Filed Under : AROUND LA

wurstkuche

Wurstküche is somewhat of an LA favorite.  It’s located in the super neat Arts District of downtown (another one recently opened in Venice) and almost always has a line out the door.  Their premise is simple: they serve really delicious German-style sausages (ranging from veggie to chicken to buffalo) and you pick 2 toppings (my favorites are the carmelized onions and sauerkraut).  That’s all you need, I promise.  Oh, aside from the Belgian fries, of course.  You NEED those.  No question.  In fact, order the large size.

Also, their beer menu is quite extensive.  As it should be.  What’s a sausage without a beer?  PS, if you’re vegetarian, they have great veggie dog options as well (i’m a half vegetarian, yes that exists…no red meat or pork for me so I order the chicken or turkey varieties).

wurstkuche

wurstkuche

wurstkuche

By the way, it’s across the street from the ever-so adorable (I mean, LOOK AT THAT FONT!) The Pie Hole, so if you’re not too full from eating an entire order of french fries, be sure to grab a slice of pie here:

the pie hole

[Around LA] cha cha chicken

November 21, 2011

Filed Under : AROUND LA

cha cha chicken

Since I live on the westside, I’m going to start my LA posts with a little Santa Monica beach fare.  Cha Cha Chicken is located on my favorite part of SM beach – if you go a little north, it gets touristy; if you go south, it gets real dirty.  But right there, the beach is beautiful and pristine.

Oh and the chicken at Cha Cha Chicken?  Kind of amazing.  Order the medium jerk chicken with baked sweet potatoes.  And definitely, without question, order an agua fresca {pictured below is the mango guava agua fresca}.  Also, this place ain’t real fancy so don’t think you’re going on a romantic date here.  Instead, go with lots of friends for lunch, or even better, for linner {3pm} when there is lots o’ parking.

Plus, you kind of feel like you’re on a tropical island when you eat inside the restaurant.  It’s like a mini vacation!  On these dreary November days, a little bold color is exactly what I need.

cha cha chicken

cha cha chicken

cha cha chicken

cha cha chicken

cha cha chicken

cha cha chicken

[Around LA]

November 2, 2011

Filed Under : AROUND LA

GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY

I’ve been wanting to start a new feature (column?) on the blog for awhile now about some of my favorite places in Los Angeles.  I have lots o’ favorite things to do, eat, and see (mostly eat), but there are also so many places I have yet to explore, so that will be fun to share as well!  I’ll be posting these faves randomly and have started a new category for “Around LA” so they’ll all be in one place.

*This photo I took of Griffith Observatory is from December 2010.  In the dead of winter!  In general, Griffith Park is one of my absolute favorite places because the views are incredible and the greenery is so peaceful, but on this particular day, the visibility from the observatory was so clear that we had 100% visibility of the entire city, from the ocean to the west and the downtown skyline to the south (and everything in between).  Breathtakingly gorgeous, let me tell you.

More to come!