The bands and DJs performing at KCRW's Halloween Masquerade party in Los Angeles have absolutely nothing in common with the Andrew Lloyd Webber song of the same name. If you're a Southern California resident or avid follower of independent music, then you're probably familiar with KCRW, one of the area's most tuned-into radio stations. The station's DJs, all of whom share a similar baritone rumble to their voices, are known for helping dictate the swing of the local music scene and attracting listeners to live shows en masse.
Halloween night's Masquerade extravaganza is sure to be no exception. If featured performers like Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and DJ Shadow don't ring a bell, then it's time to switch over from KISS FM to find out what all the fuss is about. They'll be on hand to entertain the gussied and ghouled-up crowd, along with Sea Wolf, Little Dragon, and all of your favorite KCRW DJs. Finally, a way to put a face to the personality spinning tribal dubstep you hear late at night. ]]>
Non-New Yorkers might be familiar with Magnolia Bakery because of a certain SNL Digital Short, where Andy Samberg claimed to love their cupcakes "like McAdams loves Gosling," not to mention that some scenes in Sex and The City took place just outside. Their baked goods are famous local lore, with lines of buttercream enthusiasts consistently snaking out the front door, even in the blistering cold of winter, even if personally we think they are a little dry to be so famous.
Los Angeles is no stranger to the maniacal cupcake trend; bakeries like Crumbs Bake Shop and Sprinkles (and now, the distinct, chocolate-hued Sprinkles truck) have been feeding the city's sugar-starved masses for years now, and while they've earned solid reps of their own, Magnolia has a certain unshakeable appeal. Well, sweets fiends rejoice, because on a recent stroll down West Third Street, we came across a sign announcing that the New York institution is fast on its way to the Left Coast. ]]>
Los Angeles's newest food truck fills a niche that few people even realized needed filling: Japanese-style Peruvian food. The Lomo Arigato truck, debuting this week, will bring a unique blend of stir fry and hot sauce to LA's lunchtime denizens. Their website is still under construction, but of course their Twitter feed and their Facebook fan page already have more than 1,000 followers each.
Meals will run between $7 and $9 and will consist of various dishes served with beef, chicken, or tofu. Customers will be able to choose between saltado, basically stir fry and rice; tallarin saltado, basically stir fry and spaghetti; or chaufa, basically something that sounds very scary. Everything comes with a side of spicy green homemade jalapeno sauce and naturally sodas are available to wash everything down. ]]>
It's getting harder and harder to start a new and unique Los Angeles food truck. Everything from ice cream to gourmet Latin fare has already been taken. Now you can scratch Southern BBQ off the list, thanks to the Barbie's Q truck that's been rolling around the city.
John Bowler's restaurant on wheels usually hangs out on the westside, though a glace at @BarbiesQ shows they've also been putting in decent time on the Miracle Mile and around USC. There's an embedded Google Map on the main site that's supposed to be up to date, but you should still check Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates.]]>
LA Weekly is every Angeleno's go-to guide for local news, legit entertainment reporting, and event listings. Like other weeklies, it can easily be found at any number of freestanding news kiosks, or piled high in front of trafficked restaurants. We're hesitant to admit it, but there's one useful piece of information that's stuck with us after watching reruns of perkier-than-thou Rachael Ray's food travel show $40 a Day: The local paper is a prime source for learning about a city.
Arguably, the Weekly's crown jewel is food critic Jonathan Gold's column, a helpful survey of the Los Angeles restaurant scene, from $5 pho to prix fixe dinner menus. Honored with a Pulitzer Prize for his writing, Gold is something of a local hero, so when his Gold 99 list of Essential LA Restaurants is released every year, copies of the Weekly seem to disappear from newsstands quicker than normal. ]]>
Raw fish isn't necessarily the first item we'd be inclined to eat from a food truck, but the newest presence in Los Angeles' growing food truck fleet hopes to change that. The Fishlips Sushi truck, a brainchild of two longtime Japanese restaurateurs, has spent the last few weeks serving up sushi and tempura that's both affordable and tasty. So far so good: as near as we can tell, there has yet to be even a single report of food poisoning.
The truck hangs out mostly on the westside, but has been known to make culturally-appropriate trips out to downtown's Little Tokyo. There are usually two locations a day, one for lunch between 11:30am-2:00pm and one for dinner starting around 7pm and going around midnight. By the end of August they expect to be serving sushi 7 days a week. ]]>
In the great gourmet food truck race of 2009, LA is slowly creeping up on New York, with some great meals-on-wheels like Kogi’s Korean BBQ, and the organic food served by Green Truck on the Go. But as much as we enjoy having the healthy food trucks, we’re excited to see LaLa land ante up with some decidedly less good-for-you gourmet food.
The FrySmith truck is getting ready to hit the streets of LA next week, and as far as we know, it’s the nation’s first food truck serving exclusively upscale French fries. ]]>