La La Land

I'm back from LA, and I had a wonderful time! Myles and Laurel, two of my best and oldest friends live there, and I try to get down there as often as I can to see them. It's always an adventure with them, and this time was no exception. They picked me up from the airport and we went straight to the Donut Man, which was every bit as amazing as we had heard. Apparently they make the strawberry stuffed donuts in the spring and early summer, and then peach donuts for the rest of the summer and fall. Let me just say that the donuts themselves were excellent, and if you can imagine one of the best donuts you've ever eaten sliced open and stuffed with fresh peaches, then you can imagine total bliss. Yum!
Donut Man is located in Glendora, right on historic Route 66, so we decided to drive home along that road and see what else we could find. Not far ahead we discovered The Hat, whose "World Famous Pastrami" we had to try. It was sliced thin and cured more like corned beef than pastrami, but very, very good.

We also found The Derby, home of George "The Iceman" Woolfe, the jockey who rode Seabiscuit.

Finally, we stopped at The Oinkster in Eagle Rock, where we picked up some peanut butter and jelly cupcakes to go. Then we went back to my friends' beautiful new apartment before heading to Culver City to see "Superbad" (SO good) and have dinner at Ford's Filling Station, which was delish. We sampled some of their cured meats as a starter, and I fell in love with Finocchiona, a fennel-cured salami. Mmmm...

The next day, Laurel and I spent some time organizing and decorating the apartment before meeting Myles for dinner at Lucky Devil's in Hollywood, where they have the most amazing grilled cheese and chili sandwich. Then played a couple rounds of Enemy Choclatier, a fantastic board game from Cheapass Games, Myles' favorite game company. Yesterday, Laurel and I went to Fred Segal in search of the elusive Clementine perfume, which they had never heard of. Then we all had some lunch and rented "The Boy Friend", starring Twiggy, which was even more magical than I had remembered it from my childhood, before I had to leave for the airport.

All in all, a fantastic vacation, and I can't wait to see Myles and Laurel again.