Best Things I Did and Things I Ate in Los Angeles, pt.2

I bet you were worried I forgot I had a blog. No, didn't forget. Let me prove it. Let me show you more tacos.

Ok, it pains me to say it, but the Monday of two weeks ago (I suppose I have fallen behind) I was still in California and still furiously hungry for tacos. In California there's this Mom and Pop chain called "King Taco" bent on bringing a proper taco-cart experience to the masses and fortunately for me they're so interested in this mission that they have an outpost in Pasadena.


While I assure you I could have eaten all of this on my own, I was actually there with Grandma. I had heard tell of King Taco's ferocious red salsa, but really didn't expect it to be all that tough. Was I wrong. Definitely the meanest taco salsa I've ever encountered that came standard with a meal. I love King Taco for keeping the taco experience totally street despite it's many outlets throughout Southern California. No sacrifice of authenticity or flavor, quite commendable. Also, and this is so important for a proper taco experience, the food was all dirt cheap. Even the plate of taquitos in the background cost barely any money (and it included guacamole!)


Hey, remember Guitar Hero? (The 12th Street Guitar Hero Fanciers' Association isn't dead, just sleeping, by the way) The Santa Monica ward had a big FHE Monday night featuring a cultural hall full of Guitar Hero stations. How magnificent. And I finally got to square-off against Tanner and ran into many a fond California acquaintance as well.


There was a discussion on how to best pose for a figure drawing pose and this is the pose Tanner and Keith decided they preferred.


Tuesday was Tortilla Soup day at Houston's, but it was also "Weird Camera Malfunction Day" but I was able to get a picture of my sushi salad. I know, it's weird. I went to Houston's and got sushi. I won't bore you with the decision-making process that got me there, but everything is great at Houston's, so why not try the sushi? No regrets. None at all.


Wednesday evening I went to the Los Angeles temple because I love how enormous it is and like to imagine what it'd be like there on a busy day. While there I discovered (hidden in plain view) the Fire Inspector's Certificate in the Celestial Room restricting that space to a maximum occupancy of 475. I think they manage to stay pretty far away from that cliff's edge.







Also, Wednesday night (after a little Twin Peaks watching) I went back to El Super Taco on Santa Monica and (as I mentioned previously) ate a torta (a torta de tinga de pollo, to be precise) that was the single most delicious torta I've ever eaten outside of Mexico. It was so delicious that I started to panic, started to worry. Why was this meal so delicious? Was something wrong? Was I in trouble? Could you taste what I tasted, you'd know what I was trying to get at here. (No picture b/c too sacred)

Thursday. A visit to Tacos Por Favor on the westside with Broek and Jared (creator of the Hamster Fighting Machine).



Looking at these pictures again, I start to hate California a little for being too tricky to get to for lunch.


Tacos Por Favor: "We make healthy Mexican food that just taste great." Indeed.


And finally, that night I went with Grandma to the Claim Jumper and ordered some asparagus with a side of tri-tip.


And then, the next day, I went back to New York and I have remained here ever since. I do not kid.

Best Things I Did and Things I Ate in Los Angeles, pt.1

So, yeah. Last week (practically two weeks ago, to be honest) I flew out to California for Grandma's birthday. And you know what? It wasn't any normal trip...I was a surprise!! Grandma had no idea I was coming! Just like she didn't think Mom, Dad, or Afton were coming out either (I guess she was expecting to have an awful birthday with no one who cared about her or something?)

Shortly after getting to California we went and had breakfast at this fine place in Pasadena called Marston's.


Grandma and Aunt Afton.


Mom.


I had huevos rancheros (it's always interesting to see how huevos rancheros will be interpreted...in this case, they were interpreted with lots and lots of chili)


Grandma's eggs and bacons and fruit


Dad's Eggs Benedict.


That night we went and celebrated Grandma's birthday with a meal at the Tamoshanter.


Prime rib! Lots of it!


And after dinner? An trip to the Glendale Center Theatre (California's Family Theatre) for a performance of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.


This is a bit of art from when the Glendale Center Theatre was just the dream of some poor theatre-in-the-round enthusiast and his wife.


Was the evening ready to end? NO! Back to Grandma's for cake and candles!


Then, on Saturday we had some lunch at our family's restaurant, Twohey's. I don't mean that it's the restaurant we own (because we don't own one), but the restaurant that we go to always. It's like Monk's Diner on Seinfeld, but for those with Condie blood.

There I enjoyed their famed curry clam chowder.


And their magnificent onion rings and a fine, fine chili dip.


But most importantly, our order got a little mixed up and I got a free bittersweet hot fudge sundae! And bittersweet hot fudge sundaes is what Twoheys is about! (p.s. depth of field ftw, btw)


That evening (after an undocumented trip to Yang Chow for Chinese) I ventured away from my family for a few hours for some LA adventures with Broek and Ramsey (remember when they came to New York for Daft Punk? I'd love to link to that, but it's getting late).

The night began with a visit to El Super Taco where I enjoyed a little chicken sope and a little taco al pastor. These were some excellent little treats. A few nights later I'd return to El Super Taco and order a Torta de Tinga on a hunch. It was the most delicious torta of my entire life. It was so good that I started to panic over its tastiness. My life is ruined now because of that delicious torta that lives on the other side of the country.



Then we went to the Echoplex and saw Simian Mobile Disco and Boysnoize.



Afters we hit up a taco truck in the vicinity of the club.


Yeah, that's right. Late night post-dinner tacos twice in one night. That's how great things can be in Southern California. But, to be perfectly honest, my tacos were more than a tad on the gristly side. Sad but true.


Sunday afternoon. A proper Sunday dinner at Grandma's.


There was this rumor that Grandma Barnes was in California that same weekend visiting my Uncle Greg and his family so after I dropped my parents off at the airport I went down to Tustin to see how everyone was doing. Greg had just bought himself a Wii and a challenge was presented: Could I get Grandma to play Wii? The answer, as you can see here, Yes. Yes I could. She bowled twice and got strikes both times, kid you not.



Heading home that night, I just couldn't help myself. I had to have a late night Del Taco feast. Sorry. I just LOVE Del Taco. I had a crispy beef taco, a soft chicken taco, a fish taco, and (for the first time ever) one of their cheeseburgers. Del Taco cheeseburgers...taste pretty much like a McDonalds burger dressed up as a Burger King burger.


Also on my way home I saw this Lamborghini Diablo. It had a funny vanity plate and a really cheesy driver. I thought Southern Californians would be embarrassed to be seen in a 17 year old non-classic supercar like that, but he was living it up. You sort of had to be there.


You know what? I think I'm going to call it a night and cut this post in half. I'll post more tomorrow, or the day after. Are you going to see more pictures of tacos? Come on, get serious. You are going to see lots and lots of pictures of tacos.

Best Morning Walk

All right, last week I went to California for my Grandma's birthday and on Saturday morning I took a big, long, healthy walk with Mom, Dad, and Aunt Afton through their old neighborhood. It was fun and I learned (or was reminded of) things I never knew about the residents of San Marino and Pasadena and heard about where Mom and Afton went to Birthday parties and stuff and I saw some of my favorite houses of the area. Let me show you some things I saw...

First of all, here's Mom, Dad, and Afton on Grandma's porch before our walk. Grandma's house is a likable yellow ranch house with a big driveway and big backyard, nothing too over the top.


But all around it there are houses like this!


And this!


And this!


And this!


Down the street and over a block from Grandma's is the home Dr. Nathan Roth, meaning that this is the house where David Lee Roth grew up. He and the Van Halen boys (from nearish-by La Canada) used to practice in their garage. Afton remembers hearing their racket in the neighborhood and recounted that Van Halen used to perform at San Marino High School during lunch.


This house is known for its very poorly concealed sprinklers.


And this house is knowns as my cousin Katherine's favorite.


Around Grandma's there's lost of nice California Live Oaks.


This one house has a solar observatory at the end of its driveway. What, yours doesn't?


The following stately manor (of which I've photographed the gates and taken a lousy through-the-gates shot) has been featured in numerous films. Recently it was seen as the home of Vince Vaughn's character in Starsky and Hutch. When they were filming it a few years back I saw Vince leaving the set in his criminal costume. I know, great story.



These are the gates to the estate of the lady that owns the LA Times.


This is just a nice house.


These are stairs.


Looking up from the stairs, there's this house.


Palm trees.


I always really liked this house...(oh look, it's for sale!)


But I always thought this house looked like it had boring people living in it.


Another grand front lawn.


This house is where Cameron Diaz lived in the Holiday.


This house I have always really, really liked. So cool.



Someone tore down their house to build a modern glass house.


And this is the house from Mr. and Mrs. Smith.


Next time I post I'm going to talk about the things I did and the tacos I ate while in California.