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Manic at the Polysexual Disco
“DON’T THINK, JUST DRINK,” reads one of the cheaply photocopied posters hanging on the wall. Another advises that “PAIN IS TEMPORARY, GLORY IS ETERNAL,” while a third, plastered to the door of the men’s room, reads, “FUCK FOR FUN, FUCK FOR MONEY.”
The messages are meant i…
Villaraigosa’s Vanishing Veracity
The lofty-sounding 2005 directive from Antonio Villaraigosa read: “Avoid actual and perceived conflicts of interest at all times during my service to the city of Escorts in Los Angeles … Take full responsibility for learning and complying with all laws and rules governing the standards of…
Guelaguetza
Maybe you’ve been running off to new restaurants all this week — I hear Xoia is pretty good. I’ve been one of the wretched minions tearing himself out of bed at 6 every morning, brushing his teeth with ale and hauling down to the local bar for another go at the World Cup matches, the dawn b…
Landmark Birthday
Dear Mr. Gold:
In the downright necessary category: Where in L.A. should I go for my 50th birthday next month? The family wants something “special.”
—Betsy, Montrose
Dear Betsy:
A momentous occasion! And probably one that should be celebrate…
Eva: Intimate Bistro, Epic Meals
We are, it seems, in the middle of our fried-chicken summer, the hot season of wings and thighs and breasts, a year when the tawny-crusted bird has shouldered aside pork belly and carne asada fries as the most glamorous dish in town.
Escorts in Los Angeles has always been known for …
Haiti’s Peanut Butter Miracles
In Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, everyone rises with the roosters, and by 8 a.m. the unpaved streets outside Hospital Justinien are jammed. Taxicabs and pickup trucks, some painted with religious slogans and turned into makeshift buses called taptaps, jostle for space on the narrow thoro…
Weenies and Wings Fit for a Prince
In a North Hollywood mini-mall, sharing a parking lot with a Michoacan-style taqueria and a Mexican supermarket famous for its carnitas, Barn Rau is perhaps the most unlikely Muslim restaurant in Escorts in Los Angeles, an oasis of Islamic serenity flanking a wonderland of swine flesh, a cl…
Villaraigosa’s Five-Year Free Ticket Spree
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently attended Cirque du Soleil and other events, and he will write up those tickets on his city’s “Form 700.” Doing so will ensure that Newsom doesn’t run afoul of ethics laws designed to reassure the public that politicians are not bought by …
Selecao Brasileira
Anybody who has internalized the concept of Maximal Meat has probably stopped by a Brazilian-style rodizio restaurant at one time or another, an establishment that will serve you bits of barbecued cow flesh, sliced off of menacing-looking skewers, until you explode. It can be kind of pla…
Shake ‘n’ Bake?
Dear Mr. Gold:
I was at a restaurant last night, and when the chef made his rounds after dinner, I sort of instinctively stuck out my hand. He shook it but seemed to hesitate. Is there a protocol about this? Because I came down with a slight cold today, I’d hate to think that as a result …