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Kim Kardashian Offers Fashion Tips at Westfield Culver City Sat 11/7 1pm

Gregory Go — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:11:32 +0000

Kim Kardashian will be at the newly remodeled Westfield Culver City this Saturday at 1pm. The OK! Magazine Beauty Editor and reality show star will be there to offer her personal fashion tips to fans.

First 100 visitors in line get an autograph and picture taken with Kim.

Westfield Culver City
6000 Sepulveda Blvd.
Culver City

Artemide and Rezek Lighting Warehouse Sale This Weekend

Gregory Go — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:52:30 +0000

There's a warehouse sale of high end Artemide and Rezek lamps this Saturday 11/6 from 10am - 5pm. Get up to 80% off discontinued, reconditioned, or showroom pieces.

Artemide/Rezek Warehouse
4200 Sepulveda Blvd.
Culver City, CA

View Larger Map

Thanks LA Times

Happy 35th Birthday Hello Kitty at Royal/T

Gregory Go — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:20:41 +0000

Royal/T celebrates 35 years of Hello Kitty Royal/T

Royal/T, the restaurant and art gallery combo on Washington, has been celebrating all things Hello Kitty with an exhibition and events called Three Apples: Hello Kitty 35th Birthday Party and Exhibition.

Here's a fantastic recap of the opening night and great pictures from Food Librarian, and here's one of a daytime visit to the gallery. (Food Librarian's photoset embedded after the jump.)

(Update: Here's a cool look at Hello Kitty's history from the LA Times.)

The exhibition is open everyday from 10am - 10pm, and closes November 15. In addition to the exhibition, there are special events on weekends.

Goodie bags given to the first 100 visitors for every event, and there will be DJ powered music at each event. Here are the remaining events:

Hello Kitty Artist Party
11/7, Saturday, 7pm - 11pm

Hello Kitty artists will be on hand to present and discuss their works.

Hello Kitty Goth Party
11/13, Friday, 8pm - 12am

A retro 80's theme costume party. If the Halloween isn't out of you yet, get more dress up fun at this event. Prizes for the best costumes. The cafe will be serving Hello Kitty themed food.

Fashion Show Party
11/14, Saturday, 7pm - 11pm

Designers will be presenting their Hello Kitty inspired fashions on the runaway tonight.

Here is Food Librarian's photoset of the show.

Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
T 310 559 6300

Mateo's Ice Cream & Fruit Bars

Louise Yang — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:30:39 +0000

fruit bars Louise Yang

Although summer has come to an end, the heat still hasn't left LA. That's why I decided to visit Mateo's Ice Cream & Fruit Bars on Sepulveda one afternoon to grab some ice-cold sweetness. I had ridden past the little shop many times on my bike but never thought to look in until now.

Mateo's Ice Cream & Fruit Bars has gallons of ice-scream ready to be made into sundaes as well as all sorts of strangely flavored fruit bars (some with dairy, some without). The fruit bars are a low $1.50, so I stocked up on a bunch just to have around in the office when I wanted something cold and sweet.

Rest assured that their fruit bars are made of real fruit juice because while eating my watermelon bar, I noticed there were still whole seeds and chunks of watermelon in the bar! The mango and chili one is an interesting combination and really does taste like mango with chili sprinkled on.

Mateo's more adventurous flavors may not be for everyone, but they do have some pretty standard bars like cantalope or coconut. For people who don't like fruit bars, there's always ice cream.

Mateo's Ice Cream & Fruit Bars
4929 Sepulveda Blvd
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 313-7625

Santa Maria Barbeque

Louise Yang — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:40:46 +0000

Sampler plate Louise Yang

In the heart of downtown Culver City, right across the street from Tender Greens, is a little barbeque place on the corner called Santa Maria Barbeque. From across the street, it looks like a small place with a few tables for outside dining, but it actually has a good number of tables inside -- good for small groups.

I ordered the sampler plate, which came with two to three pieces each of brikset, chicken, and ribs as well as a side of fries and some bread. The plate was certainly something two adults could share and still be full.

The barbeque sauce that came with the plate was tangy, sweet, and went well with the meat, which was good because most of the meat was tasteless. The brikset had no flavor at all, but it did soak up the barbeque sauce well. The ribs were also lacking in much spice and didn't even have a nice smokey barbeque taste despite this being a barbeque place. The chicken, equally as tasteless, was at least tender and juicey -- I just wish the juices had more flavor.

The fries were decent and had some tasty dry seasoning on it, but I didn't come to a barbeque joint for fries.

Santa Maria Barbeque was a place that I very much wanted to like, but it just was lacking in soul and flavor. My sampler plate tasted like the person who cooked it knew how barbeque looked like and cooked to the appearance of barbeque, but had no idea what it tasted like because there was none of the delicious tastes I've come to associate with barbeque at all. If my meal was a sample of what the restaurant has to offer, I'm taking my appetite elsewhere.

Santa Maria Barbeque
9552 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 842-8169

Sushi Central

Louise Yang — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:58:18 +0000

Sushi Central Louise Yang

Located on the border of Palms and Culver City is a tiny sushi restaurant with a big reputation. If you're a fan of Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network, then you'll know which restaurant I'm talking about: Sushi Central.

The seating area of the restaurant may be small, but don't let that deter you. Grab a seat at the small 5-seat bar if there's an opening and watch the action happen on the other side of the kitchen.

Philip Yi, the owner and chef of the restaurant is amiable and has a lot of sushi knowledge to share. Since I was a bit tight on time, I ordered a chirashi ($13) as well as a nigiri of his choice. That way, I could taste the usual slices of fish that most restaurants have, as well as a small sampling of what the chef has to offer.

The chirashi was smaller than I expected, but actually the perfect amount for lunch. The pieces of fish were decent -- the standout pieces being the white fish and salmon. The rice was a little over-vinegared for my taste, but I did enjoy the interesting texture of the rice. The rice had a subtle different texture than the usual sushi rice I've had and some pieces almost tasted like broken rice.

The highlight of my meal was the nigiri chef Yi made me: Hawaiian ono specially flown in through FedEx. It was so good, I ended up ordering another order of it. The fish was slightly torched and had such a buttery, rich feel in my mouth that if price ($8 an order) weren't an issue, I'd just order ten plates of this.

Sushi Central may be priced a little higher than other sushi restaurants of the caliber, but if you're a fan of ono, this is certainly a good place to fulfill your craving. I read that Yi's spicy tuna roll is what helped him win in the Throwdown, but I didn't get to try it yet. Perhaps it's a reason for another visit?

Sushi Central
3500 Overland Ave
#100
Culver City, CA 90034
(310) 202-6866

Pampas Grill -- Get Your Meat On

Louise Yang — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:39:05 +0000

Pampas Grill Louise Yang

Pampas Grill is a restaurant for the serious meat eater. Don't even think about taking your vegetarian friends here because even though they do offer somewhat vegetarian sides like salads and plantains, their speciality is meat. Brazillian style churrascaria type meat to be more exact.

The restaurant is laid out as a long self-serve buffet. Not all-you-can-eat, mind you, just a buffet. Diners load up their plate or plates full of food, end up at checkout where someone weighs your plate and charges you by weight. At the front of the line are the cold dishes like salads and hot dishes like croquettes, collard greens, and okra. These are all $8/lb. At the end of the line is where all the meat on skewers are. A plate of just meat is about $14 while a plate of meat and others is $10.

Not wanting to feel like a complete pig, I loaded up on a serving of collard greens and okra before heading to the main attraction: roasted, spiced, delicious meat. The collard greens turned out to be a big disappointment because they were both underdone and underseasoned. Poorly cooked collard greens are one reason why people don't like to eat their green leafy vegetables. The okra was a bit better, but nothing worth returning for. I also picked up a chicken croquette which was cold, soggy, and not very good.

The most care obviously went into the meat. The garlic beef was tender, juicy, and oh, so garlicky. The garlic chicken was also heavy on my favorite allium as well as rosemary. Roasted chicken sometimes gets to dry in the wrong hands, but this was not the case here at all. It was cooked to tender, almost fall-off-the-bone perfection. I also got a sausage which while good was nothing to write home about. I was excited about the sirloin caps, which I got two slices of, but they were rather dry.

Pampas Grill is a great place to bring meat-loving friends. Don't be fooled into filling up your plate with the lesser foods like salads and plantains. Pampas Grill seems to do only one thing really well and it is cook delicious skewered meat.

The restaurant is located in the large Bally's and Best Buy plaza on Venice and Overland. It may be hard to see from the street, but it's in the walkway between the Bally's building and a coffee shop.

Pampas Grill
3857 Overland Ave
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 836-0080

Yokohama Sushi

Louise Yang — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:28:20 +0000

Sushi Lunch Combo w/ Paradise Roll Louise Yang

Yokohama Sushi is tucked away between a gym and a Best Buy on Overland. Unless you park in the lot, behind the gym, it's almost impossible to spot. The Korean-run restaurant isn't going to win any sushi awards, but if you're in the mood for a quick lunch combo and some rolls, it's a decent place to be.

I ordered off the lunch specials menu which has your usual items: teriyaki meats, nigiri, and rolls. I went with a sushi combo ($15) which comes with 5 pieces of nigiri and my choice of roll. I chose the paradise roll.

The 5 pieces of nigiri weren't anything to write home about, but they weren't bad either. They were just your standard nigiri. The paradise roll, which has tuna, salmon, and some white fish fared the same. In a way, the lackluster fish was a blessing in disguise because it'd be a waste for good fish to be covered in a heavy sauce.

Yokohama Sushi doesn't try to be the best of its cuisine, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a place to go with some friends who aren't picky with sushi, grab a beer, and just shoot the breeze.

Yokohama Sushi
3857 Overland Ave
Culver City
(310) 202-7062

Let's Be Frank

Louise Yang — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:01:16 +0000

Brat & Soda Louise Yang

I'll give it to you straight. Sometimes, I just want a delicious hot dog and a soda. Thankfully, there's Let's Be Frank, a hot dog stand in the Helms Bakery Complex. The stand is only open at the complex Wednesdays and weekends, but the easy parking makes up for the limited days.

The hot dogs are more pricey than your usual street-dog vendor, but your conscience gets a rest with the natural, grass-fed beef dogs. I'm not a sausage taste tester by any means, so I don't know if these actually tasted better than your generic supermarket sausages, but they certainly didn't taste bad.

I ordered a brat with all the fixins, which includes grilled onion, a splash of Let's Be Frank's original hot sauce, some sauerkraut, and of course, deli mustard. The casing of the sausage was perfectly snappy. That alone was worth the $5, although I wouldn't make this an every day meal. Another thing I liked about the brat was that it was much longer than the bun. I hate it when I run out of meat and have too much bun.

Let's Be Frank is a simple, delicious hot dog stand. While $5 is a lot to pay for a sausage and bun, it's worth it when I get that inexplicable craving. On a great sunny LA day, it's just nice to get out of the office, order a hot dog, a soda, and sit outside to soak up some rays.

Helms Ave
between Washington Blvd & Venice Blvd
Culver City, CA 90034
(888) 233-7265

www.letsbefrankdogs.com

Green Peas

Louise Yang — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:30:27 +0000

Prosciutto Sandwich Louise Yang

Green Peas is a new restaurant on Sepulveda set up at the same spot Vinoteque used to be. It's a casual place with a menu full of sandwiches, wraps, quesadillas, pizzas, salads and soups. Patrons order and pay at the counter, take a number, and then go find their table.

On my first visit, I was craving a well-made sandwich. I ordered the prosciutto sandwich, which like all their sandwiches and wraps, come with a choice of soup or salad. The guy behind the counter suggested the zucchini soup, which I agreed to.

What's nice about Green Peas is that they give patrons their choice of breads which range from sweet pretzel breads to crusty baguettes. I chose the baguette for my sandwich.

A decently sized sandwich came, cut in half, with a side of soup. The soup was piping hot, which I have to give them points for. I hate it when places serve luke-warm soup. Despite it being vegan, it was creamy, rich, and full of zucchini flavor.

The sandwich itself was delicious and hit the spot. The bread was crusty and held the sandwich together nicely. The prosciutto was aplenty, well seasoned and not overly salted. The mozaarella was fresh. The bitter arugula lent a good contrasting flavor to the sweet sun-dried tomato aioli. It was just a good sandwich overall.

For about $7 for a soup and sandwich, Green Peas is certainly within my budget for a casual lunch out. The decor inside is pleasant, they have seats outside for people who want to enjoy the wonderful Los Angeles sun, and the food is tasty. What more could I ask for?

4437 Sepulveda Blvd
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 397-9815