The Beverly Hills Farmers Market
Sundays, 9am - 1pm
Civic Center Drive, Beverly Hills

The Beverly Hills Sunday farmers market is not bad, it is actually quite typical of an LA farmers market. But in a part of town where everything has to be special in order to justify its real and supposed exclusivity, I was hoping for a bit more than just the same.

Not even a celebrity sighting was to be had at this market, which is literally across the street from the Beverly Hills neighborhood proper, though there were plenty of women there trying really hard to look like they had money. Even on a beautiful day, there was not much foot traffic at all, which usually means the market will not be customized to the community, and therefore not really be worth the drive unless you are in the vicinity. [ Read The Full Story -> ]

Everyone always says it’s cheaper to cook than it is to eat out, but is it really? If you’re not eating mac and cheese, and trying to make something with fresh. tasty ingredients it’s not going to be cheap. From buying the seasoning, to the meat, to the sauce ingredients, to the vegetables, it adds up a lot quicker than one could imagine, and it’s not necessarily faster or easier.

I am by NO means encouraging people to eat fast food, but when you have the time it is important to know that sitting down and enjoying a good meal made for you can not only be enjoyable and tasty, but it also can be inexpensive.

If you want to know how to do this the answer is you need to know where to go and what to order. Luckily the LATimes just put together a great list of different types of restaurants in LA where you can get GREAT deals. Here are some of my fav’s…

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The Mar Vista Farmers Market
Sundays, 9am - 2pm
12224 Venice Blvd, Mar Vista

One basic principle of farmers markets is that the good ones are crowded. There has to be something about them to make the community want to attend on top of their usual grocery shopping at regular markets and Trader Joes. The organizers of the Mar Vista farmers market clearly know all this too, and they have put their knowledge to good use.

This was one of the most crowded markets in LA, and it is not even located in an area benefiting from pre-existing foot traffic like markets on 3rd Street Promenade or Downtown. This, plus the presence of families and groups of young people just hanging out is a testament to the fact that people just plain like this market. The produce was not even that out of the ordinary; most of the vendors sell at various other markets as well, making this spot quality, but not necessarily unique, yet the crowds prove that something is being done right.

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Montana Avenue has a couple of staples, Father’s Office probably being the most popular amongst them. Beyond the beer and burger, Montana Cafe and 17th Street Cafe have been there forever, and Babalu even survived a fire. Fireside Cellars has an impressive selection of high-end wines, but the Duck Blind is the only liquor store around that sells high-end nudie magazines. With a constantly revolving selection of specialty stores pitching blink and you’ll miss them trends, it’s easy to ignore a new store opening.

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The Westchester Farmers Market
Wednesdays, 8:30am - 1:00pm
Westchester Park, Lincoln and La Tijera

I was expecting the Westchester market on Lincoln to be generic and visit-worthy only for the surrounding community. While its modest size and weekday hours might gear it more toward proud Westchster-ers, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that this market was actually a quite the little gem worth checking out. Not only did they have the usual produce and the like, the Westchester farmers market upped the ante with a few unique offerings, with a fraction of the crowds of more popular markets.

This market had every base covered as far as produce goes, and even boasted some specialization that you don’t usually find at these smaller markets. Mark Boujikian Farms focused on grapes of every sort, all of which were beautiful and well priced. He even had seedless Zante currants, a fruit I had never heard of in my life, nor seen at any other market. In fact, there has been a noticeable lack of grapes at farmers markets, even though we are smack in the middle of their late summer season.

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In an interesting twists of sorts, we’ve got quite a few bits and pieces of news concerning food in Los Angeles.

• It seems L.A. is getting health conscious and environmentally friendly by the day. The Los Angeles City Council approved a pilot program on Tuesday that will provide 5,000 households with a 2-gallon bin that will be used for food waste, reports the Los Angeles Times. Residents are asked to start tossing their scraps, leftovers and food-soiled packages in the bins beginning next month. What will the city do with all this food, you ask? The scraps (which will be combined with lawn clippings) will be delivered to a composting center near Bakersfield. The bins will be delivered to residents in Harbor Gateway, Lincoln Heights and South Los Angeles.

• While we haven’t solved L.A.’s drug problem, crime problem, traffic problem , you can go to sleep tonight knowing we’ve solved something: the Mediterranean fruit fly infestation has been officially declared over. The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced Thursday that the infestation has been cleared in Los Angeles, Santa Clara and Solan counties. The Mediterranean fruit fly is a common insect that threatens agriculture in California. State officials say the Mediterranean fruit fly can infest more than 260 types of fruits and vegetables by laying eggs in the produce.

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It’s a bar and grill slash art gallery and jazz club. Hal’s, located in the trendy 1300-block of Abbot Kinney, brings together the best of Venice’s funk and L.A.’s chic. Outside, it’s simple: wood-framing, lots of windows. Inside, it’s dim and sleek: bar on the right, dining on the left, original artwork on all walls.

The pieces are interesting—nothing quite the same, no established theme or artist, all just effortlessly cool. Hal’s trademark? A multi-dimensional portrait of a man leaning on a bar (or table?), hand posed around a wine (or water?) glass. Take a look and decide for yourself.

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Happy Hour

• Happy Hour at East 46 | Thursday, August 14th | Free! | 21+| 46 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena (Map) | Starting this Thursday and then continuing every Thursday is East 46, fine Asian dining ($3 appetizer’s and $5 drinks) with comfortable sofas and lives DJ’s spinning the latest house, trance and world music for your pleasure. The Grand opening will feature Hosts: Loriann Valencia, Herick Hell, Ken Black, Dino, Chunkeebutt & “B”, Katrine Nygard, and music and “ambiance” by Herick Hell.

Music/Art

• Sunset Series: The Love Hangover Art Showing | Thursday, August 14th | 6-10 p.m. | Free! | Barker Block - 513 Molino St., Los Angeles (Map) | Come and enjoy some good music and ever better art. Must RSVP for entrance: barkerblock@filtermmm.com. Artwork by The Love Hangover, Sounds by Castaneda, The Kiss Off and Pants Off.

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Southern California has always been home to healthy living (or at least health fads)… We birthed jogging, popularized yoga, and let’s not forget the countless diets that have seen the light of day here. And recent trends are howing an increased awareness of just what we’re eating: a recent South LA city has imposed a moratorium on all new fast-food restaurants.

Well now Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is mulling over a new proposal that would force restaurant chains to display the caloric content of each dish on their menu.

Quote Yaroslavsky: “Most people do not have a clue how many calories they are taking in when they have a milkshake or a double hamburger with cheese and fries,” he said. “This is an incentive for people to make the right dietary choices.”

This new measure would only affect chains with more than 15 franchises, so most of our favorite little hole-in-the-walls could still slip by. But this very well could spell doom for Outback Steakhouses’ Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing (2,900 calories).

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Film

• Vicky Cristina Barcelona | Wednesday August 13th | 7:30pm | Cost: FREE! | The Areo Theater - 1328 Montana Ave, Santa Monica (Map) | Come see Woody Allen’s latest sexy, quirky love story, starring Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Barden, and Penelope Cruz for free at the Aero tonight before it is even releases!

Clubs

• Club Sandwich | Wednesday August 13th | Cost: FREE! (With RSVP) | Must be 21+ | Free booze from 9:30-10:30 | The Standard Purple Lounge - 8300 Sunset Blvd West Hollywood (Map) | They’ve got free booze, free entry, live music, and a clever name. What more could you want?

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Film

• Eraserhead: Peter Ivers Memorial | Tuesday August 12th | 7:30pm | $12 | Egyptian Theater  - 6712 Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood  (Map) | Come see the film that made Lynch the creepy, artistic genius that we all know him as today. At 6:30 there will also be a book signing to celebrate the release of the Peter Ivar biography In Heaven Everything Is Fine, with author Josh Frank.

Comedy

• Comedy Death Ray - Maria Bamford and Patton Oswald, and SPECIAL GUESTS | Tuesday, August 12th | 8:30pm | Tickets $5 | Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater (Map) | This is a great place to go for amazing and CHEAP comedy. Tonight they will have Maria Bamford, with special host Patton Oswald, and other secret “special featured” guests they have yet to name. Sounds exciting!

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Toi on Sunset came very highly recommended from a friend. The atmosphere’s great, the food is greater, and she even got to meet Quentin Tarantino in a daring after-dinner introduction during which she referred to him as “Quenti.” This being said, I don’t take Thai recommendations lightly; it is one of my favorite cuisines.

My friend Ellie and I got there around 8:15 on a Thursday night. There were some people crowding around the entrance and we worried there would be a wait, but we followed the instructions on the sign out front to wait for the doorman who showed us right to our table.

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