With the chaos of moving I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up my Five Things Fridays for a couple of weeks – my mind is absolutely scattered right now and most likely, so are my words! Instead, how about 100 things?
This is my take on the list of 100 Things in Los Angeles to Do Before You Die that’s been making the interweb rounds. Things I’ve done are bolded, things that I want to do are italicized, things that I am really uninterested in are struck-through. And things that don’t count – in my case, anything sugar-related* – are left alone, plain text, as are things that I am otherwise indifferent about. And when sweet cocktails at bars are references, I’ll sub something not-sweet, because there are some spots that I really do want to check out, even though I’d prefer a nice glass of wine.
1) Cocktail punch at the Radio Room in the Edison
2) Chili dog from Pink’s
3) Rattlesnake and rabbit with jalapeno at Wurstkuche – I like rattlesnakes too much, couldn’t do it. Nuh uh.
4) Korean short ribs taco from Kogi BBQ taco truck
5) Great Los Angeles Walk
6) Ajo Garlic Ramen at Ramenya
7) Sour Kraut Cocktail from Copa d’Oro – it sounds vile!
8. Red velvet cupcake from Sprinkles
9) Singing Elvis at Palms Thai
10) Churro from churro cart at Disneyland
11) Junk food dessert platter at Simon LA
12) Dessert tasting menu at Providence
13) Classic martini at Musso & Frank Grill
14) Roasted bone marrow at Church & State – I’d try it, but it’s not like I’m itching to or anything.
15) Pedal boat at Echo Park Lake
16) Bowling and $4 cocktails at Shatto 39 Lanes
17) Kobe-style beef at Park’s BBQ
18) Mulholland Drive from 405 to 101 – I got carsick.
19) Medicina Latina at Malo – I prefer my Mexican food from taco trucks and see no reason to ever go here.
20) Father’s Office burger – Elitist gimmick, no thanks.
21) Maple bacon doughnut at Nickel Diner
22) Mashti Malone’s lavender ice cream
23) Red Line Metro barhop
24) Live music at Spaceland
25) Magic Mojito at Bar Centro at the Bazaar by Jose Andres
26) Wine tour through San Antonio Winery
27) Sample everything at Scoops ice cream
28) Bike from Santa Monica to Hermosa Beach and back
29) Mochi from Mikawaya Little Tokyo
30) Broiled San Francisco stuffed French toast at Starling Diner
31) Mojito sampler jelly shots at Bar Nineteen12 – if it’s in Beverly Hills, I’m probably not interested.
32) High Tea at Royal/T
33) Pimp your own burger at the Counter in Santa Monica
34) Carne asada burrito from Tacos Tumbras A Tomas at Grand Central Market
35) Diddy Riese Chocolate Chip Cookies
36) Ride the mechanical bull at Saddle Ranch and have a premium SR AMF
37) Greyhound Proper at Hungry Cat
38) Blue cheese fries at Pete’s Cafe and Bar
39) L.A. Conservancy’s Historic Core walking tour
40) 21+ screenings at the ArcLight
41) Secret beef feast at Totoraku – Um, no, this falls into the “elite” category.
42) Moonlight Rollerway
43) Bartender’s Choice at Comme Ca
44) Tomato, mozzarella, sausage, salami, bacon & guanciale pizza at Pizzeria Mozza
45) Ride the Pacific Ferris Wheel at Santa Monica Pier
46) Late-night Danger dogs
47) Bet on a horse at Santa Anita racetrack – and I won, too!
48) Loco Moco (foie gras loco moco, quail egg, spam, hamburger) at Animal – But I’d prefer something sans Spam!
49) Blood & Sand cocktail at Tiki Ti - Actually not sure what drink I had there, it was many years ago, but it was enough to get the idea. It’s a tiki bar, it’s open odd hours, it’s kind of a local legend. I get it.
50) Tea and a stroll through Huntington Gardens
51) Drive Sunset Boulevard from Echo Park to PCH in a convertible – well, I’ve done it on a motorcycle. Close enough!
52) Double chocolate croissant pudding with Jack Daniels sauce at Milk
53) Hike from Fern Dell Drive to Mt. Hollywood, stopping at Griffith Observatory - I’ve done part of it and want to do the rest. I haven’t been to the Observatory since I was in my teens.
54) Meatball sandwich from Bay Cities Deli
I wanted to live in the pagoda, like Molly Ringwald’s friend in Pretty in Pink.
55) Scorpion cocktail at Hop Louie - long before the hipsters discovered Chinatown, this was one of my hangouts. I think I may have turned 25 there.
56) Magic Castle
57) Scoe’s No. 2 at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles
58) L.A. Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats
59) Philippe’s French Dip with hot mustard
60) Dim sum at Empress Pavilion in Chinatown
61) Remember the Maine at the Varnish
62) Omakase dinner at Urasawa
63) LA Phil concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall – does seeing Pink Martini there count?
64) Pool party at Standard Rooftop Bar
65) Quarter chicken with side of garlic sauce at Zankou Chicken – at least once a week.
66) Goddess spa treatment at Olympic Spa – I’m too self-conscious to do the spa thing. Really. You gotta get nekkid.
67) Vodbox at Nic’s Martini Lounge – this just sounds lame.
68) Turkey dinner at Clifton’s Cafeteria, don’t forget the green jello – I’ll admit it. Been here most of my life and I’ve never eaten at Clifton’s – I’ve only gone inside for a look-see.
69) Los Angeles Marathon
70) Marty & Elayne at Dresden Room – a big resounding Meh.
71) Coleslaw and sourdough toast at Original Pantry – I despise coleslaw, but have eaten there many times. Meh.
72) Real Black Dahlia Tour by Esotouric – although I’d prefer the Raymond Chandler’s Bay Cities tour
73) Ninotchka at Bar Lubitsch – well, I’d order something not sweet but I’d still like to go there.
74) Stay in a bungalow at Chateau Marmont – sure, why not!
75) Auntie Em’s Market dinner – been for breakfast; it was pretty mediocre; no need to repeat the experience for dinner.
76) Sunday wine tastings at Silverlake Wine
77) Grilled cheese night at Campanile
78) Power lunch at the Polo Lounge
79) Cadillac Margarita at El Cholo
80) Courtside at a Lakers game
81) Angel City Derby Girls Tournament
82) Box seats at Hollywood Bowl summer concert
83) Dodger Dog at Dodger Stadium
84) Ride the Good Year blimp – I have a heights thing, you know.
85) Sip mojitos poolside at the Hotel Roosevelt’s Tropicana Bar
86) Ringside at Lucha VaVoom
87) Summer movie at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
88) History Walk from Mission San Gabriel to Olvera Street - I kind of have a problem with this one. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but it feels like a tribute to the colonials, and I just can’t get on board with that.
89) Taro ice cream at Fosselman’s – my old roommate loved Fosselman’s and loved weird flavors. He was also partial to the sweet corn ice cream. Me, I prefer a nice lemon sorbet.
90) Galco’s Soda Pop Shop
91) Apricot & Honey 75 at the Penthouse during sunset - well, I haven’t had this particular drink, but long before Santa Monica was the high-rent district, the Penthouse at the Huntley was this dirt cheap happy hour place where all the underage girls – including me – went for margaritas and chips! Things have certainly changed. Can underage kids even get served anymore?? It used to be So. Easy.
92) Angel City Drive-In
93) Downtown Art Walk
94) Bonfire at Dockweiler Beach
95) Bingo at Hamburger Mary’s – could be good for a laugh!
96) Karaoke at Brass Monkey
That’s Loo. Yee Mee Loo. Photo by Blurrylens.
97) Yee-Mee-Lu “blue drink” at Good Luck Bar – Not only am I old enough and native enough to know that it was spelled Yee Mee Loo, but I had many, many a “blue drink” – also called a Tidy Bowl – at the real Yee Mee Loo back in the day. It involved rum, blue curacao, and pineapple juice, and just writing those words makes my teeth hurt from the sweetness of it all. No wonder I’m predisposed to diabetes!
98) Sunset dinner and horseback riding with Sunset Ranch
99) American Food & Wine Festival
100) Hike to the top of Sandstone Peak and sign the register – I totally want to do this.
*Although I will admit to tasting a teeny bite of the famous bacon maple donut at the Nickel once; I figured the protein in the bacon would offset the sugar…
