Floating Away

Los Angeles Magazine's Best New Bars in LA

This month's Los Angeles Magazine has a section on LA's Best New Bars.  While there are bars I have never been to and never plan on going to, props to Los Angeles for including three great bars that I really enjoy on the list. 

Hyperion Tavern is a bar that I just love.  Its a bit hard to find the first time (no signage on a dark street), but once you are there, you will love it.  It's the kind of place where you show up alone and leave with tons of friends.  We stopped by there one night after checking out a show at Spaceland and ending up in a congo line.  No joke.  The place is a no frills blast and I might add, my favorite bathroom in all of Los Angeles.
It is also home of the fabled Guitar Hero Wednesday nights. 

Another bar on the list, Edison, has become a favorite of mine for after work on a Friday when its still just lawyers and other government employees exploring the vastness of the space and unwinding from the week.  Come 9 or 10 pm, the place is a nightmare. 

The last pick I was happy with is a Culver City bar called Vinum Populi.  The place is right next to the Italian restaurant Ugo and is essentially a self serve wine bar.  I like wine a lot, but don't know exactly what I like in a wine.  Vinum Populi is perfect for wine beginners like me.  You get a self serve card and you can walk around trying wine from 1 ounce wine dispensers. 

Los Angeles Magazine Best New Bars in LA:
Best Post Rehab Cocktail: Winston's, West Hollywood
Best Damn Dive, Period: R Bar, Koreatown
Best Homespun Hospitality: Seven Grand, Downtown
Best Fermented Malt: The Village Idiot, Hollywood
Best Place to Get Lit: Edison, Downtown
Best Totalitarian Barware: Bar Lubitsch, West Hollywood
Best New Concept: Vinum Populi, Culver City
Best City Sanctuary: X Bar, Century City
Best Neighborhood Hideaway: Hyperion Tavern, Silverlake
Best Business Write-Off: Sidebar, Beverly Hills

Kobayashi's Hot Dog Record, Eaten!

23 year old, Joe Chestnut killed Kobayahi's record this weekend by eating 59.5 HDBs (hot dog + buns), setting up the biggest Hurldown in the history of the world:  Nathan's July 4th Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest!

So, just who is this Joe Chestnut who took down 59.5 HTBs in 12 minutes?  Well, you might remember him from his stunning 2005 MLE (Major League Eating) Rookie of the Year season.  Or, you might remember his fantastic second place performance at last year's Nathan's contest against the king himself, Kobayashi, where he set the American record with 52 HTBs.

Joe's official MLE bio says it best:

"Chestnut has become known for his simple, levelheaded approach to the sport. Blessed with strong esophageal muscles and extremely capacious cheeks, Chestnut is widely considered the best chipmunker on the circuit. At the end of the contest, he stuffs his cheeks until they look like Dizzy Gillespie’s mid-solo, in the style of a chipmunk. Many believe that he will use this very technique, along with his God-given gorging abilities, to beat Takeru Kobayashi in the near future, most likely in a short form contest."

The prize for his crushing performance?  A free trip to New York, a life's supply of hot dogs, and a $250 gift certificate at the Arizona mall where the contest took place.  Yeah, definitely worth it!

How to boil a Lobster (w/ video)

Here's a post that's been in my fingertips for a while.  This past New Year's eve, my girlfriend and I decided to cook a huge meal.  And at the center of this meal would be a huge lobster.  The only problem was that neither of us had cooked lobster before.  After speaking with some people and doing some online research, we decided that it wouldn't be that tough to do.  And it wasn't.

However, nothing prepared me for the trip to Ralphs ($8.99/lb with Ralphs Club).  The lobsters were looking very comfortable on the bottom of the tank.  Until the fish dude stuck a wooden claw down there and upset them.  He then picked one out, put him on the scale (~3lbs), and placed him in a plastic bag.  After poking holes in the bag, he handed it to me.  There I was going through the aisles of Ralphs with a huge live lobster in my cart. 

One of the lessons I learned during my research was to place the lobster in the freezer for 10 minutes before dumping him in.  They say this numbs his senses so that he puts up less of a fight in the pot (it seemed to work).  The other lesson I learned was that one easy way to keep the tail from curling up was to stick a skewer in (while it's alive, of course).  On paper, this makes a lot of sense.  However, as I learned, and as you will see, you really need a large pot to implement this one. 

So how was it after all this hard work?  DELICIOUS.

Now, enjoy the video:

The Colony Cafe and Papa's Porch get Mainstream Press

I can't tell you how excited I was yesterday when, perusing through the LA Times food section I found a review on the Colony Cafe.  Its great that such a wonderful little restaurant and right around the corner from my apartment.  I would like to point out that in that past two weeks, we here at Floating Away have been ahead of the LA Times on both the Cold War Kids and the Colony Cafe.  How many blogs can brag about that?

On a related side note, if you happen to be on the West Side, stop by here and grab some fro-yo.  You won't be disappointed.   

Redemption

Driving down Fairfax, returning from seeing P. Park @ Hotel Cafe, Dan and I were shocked to see that Eat-a-Pita had redememed themselves with an "A."  A special heart felt Mazel from floatingaway to Eat-a-Pita.  Don't get us wrong, we still won't eat there.  If it's not good enough for Jeff, it's not good enough for us!

My First C

Seriously.  How on earth do you get a C grade these days?  Even the Norms around the corner on Pico has a B.  When I used to live in Hollywood, I would pass Eat-a-Pita all the time, but I never stopped.  I've always really liked the large patio area they've got.  And the ivy looks nice.  Unless of course, that's where the rats live.

How do you feel about eating at a C?

Get Your 3 Quarters Worth

To celebrate their 75th anniversary on March 20th, Canter's Deli on Fairfax has announced a special menu (and unbelievable price).  Each visitor will receive a corned beef sandwich on rye bread, pickle, chocolate chip rugula and a schmear of potato salad for 75 cents.

Talk about an incredible deal. Remember when those stupid collect call commercials were all the rage like 3 years ago and they advertised that you can't get anything for under a dollar except a collect call.  I would so much rather have a corned beef sandwich than a collect call.  It's good to know where your priorities are.

Some little known facts about Canter's that you may not have known:
The Canter brothers started the deli in Boyle Heights in 1931.
The current location on Fairfax was the former Esquire Theater.
Slash of Guns n' Roses used to work the cash register.

Cheeseburger, anyone?

Sure, I was planning on making a salad for dinner.  But then I remembered that cheeseburgers are much better.  I had driven past Hamburger Habit (Sepulveda and National) a couple of times in the past, so I decided to give it a try.  The inside was faintly reminesent of Gray's Papaya in NYC.  I recommend it highly.  Great burger and salty fries.