Category: Food & Drink

Brunch is a meal that doesn’t always have to be predictable. Let me introduce you to a new kind of brunch: Sunny Spot by Chef Roy Choi. While I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of Kogi barbeque, Choi’s most known culinary venture, Sunny Spot really is a happy endeavor. When you pull in off of Washington Boulevard in Venice, you enter a small parking lot with valet. From the outside, Sunny Spot is unassuming but when you enter the restaurant, you step inside a colorful, sunny and truly open space. Sometimes you want to step inside...

“I’ve been coming here twice a day for 25 years. If it wasn’t for Jimmy (Nichols) and his family, I’d starve!” says Rita, a regular who lives across the street from J. Nichols Kitchen in Del Rey. Rita is one of the residents who has been coming to the restaurant in the Marina Marketplace plaza for decades. She has seen the original and has grown with the renovations. Much like Rita, J. Nichols Kitchen isn’t just another restaurant in the area. In the Marina del Rey area since 1974, this is a family owned and operated restaurant that has...

Situated in Marina del Rey, as you drive (or stroll) along Admiralty Way, the scent of sweet and salty envelops you. Among a selection of restaurants, shops, and hotels, you’ll see the Marriott hotel and if you squint hard enough, you might even see the sign for its cool bar and lounge: GLOW. GLOW is admittedly a bit out of place, but once you valet park (albeit one of the tiniest and narrow valet drop-offs I’ve seen), you get your ticket and head in through the double doors. GLOW is an outer bar and lounge that has an air...

One recent Saturday night I had the random pleasure of discovering a Santa Monica gem: Bar Pintxo. The dangling sign outside reads, “Spanish Wine and Tapas” and there are bulbs of colorful lights hanging above. With the walls lined with bottles of wine and the smell of bacon permeating all around (from the bacon-wrapped dates), happiness just fills the room because it must be said: tapas are happiness. As is this next repeated cocktail theme – sangria. Yes, it seems regardless of the food type, sangria has made a comeback at just about every restaurant. That said, here at...

Picture driving down Washington Boulevard in Mar Vista. Now picture a bright red warehouse-like building with a white flame painted on the side of it that displays one phrase: Pitfire Artisan Pizza. It’s a building that begs your curiosity – welcome to a new kind of pizza. I walked in unsure of what to expect and well, it’s a cross between an upscale cafeteria setting and an urban, sustainable brick and mortar. The tables are all made of natural woods; aluminum accents the wood (or supernatural alloy – I still haven’t decided), and red – RED – painted walls....