Umami Mart

Ahhhh the life of a food journalist. The repeat and multiple visits to restaurants of all shapes and sizes, booze and food paid for by expense accounts, all in the name of research. I remember reading a review by Frank Bruni about Per Se, Thomas Keller’s New York sibling to French Laundry. I was so […]

Regional food pride has long been a competitive discussion between residents of urban cities throughout the United States (acutely observed here by our favorite comedian Kyle Kinane). Food at the the top of this list, like pizza and hot dogs, are usually made with cheap ingredients infused with a local style. And of course there […]

I’m feeling a bit deflated today. Recently I discovered that my column shares the same name with a right-wing, conspiracy theory, political blog (I’ll leave out the hyper link here, because you don’t need to waste your time with all that. Ok never mind, freedom of speech yaddi yadda, here you go). So just to […]

When I first moved to Studio City earlier this year, my friend Trevor greeted me with “Welcome to the city of sushi joints and bong shops.” And I thought to myself, “Heaven?”  I kid, kind of.  According to Yelp.com there’s about 63 places to eat sushi in the 7.11 square miles that is Studio City.  […]

*Please enjoy this track (in another window) while reading this post. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest Los Angeles fan, but I’m trying my hardest to appreciate the great things the city has to offer, and at the top of most Angelenophiles (did I make that word up?) “things to love about LA lists” is Dodger’s […]

“Yoko, they have rattlesnake and alligator sausages,” my friend told me of this place called Wurstküche in Downtown LA. For some reason I imagined Lisbeth Salander goth types sitting around a table eating rattlesnake sausages with forks and knives. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t at all interested in the rattlesnake or the alligator– […]

Lamill Coffee in Silverlake, LA impressed me because it looked good. They package their coffee beans in tins (made in the USA) that are retro looking and all the staff wear matching t-shirts. Yes, call me superficial – but ever since leaving Tokyo, I have to admit I miss the art of presentation. The menu […]

“Have you eaten?” Without fail, this is the first thing out of my Lola’s mouth whenever I arrive to her house. This is also the only question she will ask you for the next 15 minutes until she sees you physically eating something or in my Lola’s particular case I feign interest in get her […]

I know there is good food in Los Angeles and I’m trying to be more open to new things. That being said, I don’t like driving and I don’t particularly like Santa Monica, so I normally don’t travel to the west side of the city to do anything, beyond what I have to for work. […]

So I’m in the valley, Burbank actually, or is it North Hollywood? Depends on who you are talking to. LA native? Valley native? You’re from Hollywood? Oh, not from Hollywood? So you’re technically from the Valley, but you live in Hollywood, got it. Do the Hills start at Cahuenga? No? They start at Mulholland? You […]