Adventures in the World of Mobile Knowledge Workers

A Wi-Fi Find in West Hollywood?

I discovered this place on my way back from checking out an Angels vs. Yankees playoff game in Anaheim last week. It was one of those days when my calendar was jam-packed. I had a meeting later in the day. I couldn't rely on the quixotic nature of Orange County to LA freeway traffic. So I took public transportation on the way back. It was a brilliant scheme. And as you'll see from this story, the moral is that there are unexpected benefits to being green.

I walked through the Angel Stadium parking lot for literally three minutes to get to the train station. I took the train to Union Station. I then walked one minute (still inside the train station) to get to the subway, got off after a few stops, walked across the street and took the bus from there. The whole trip took about an hour. And for those who remember the bad old days of public transportation in LA, I can report that this bus was clean and that the riders seemed to be regular working people.

I reached the nadir of the expedition, however, when I got off of the bus. I was thirsty and, as a result, felt travel weary. Although I had tried to ration my teeny bought-at-the-ballpark bottle of water, it didn't last the journey. My misplaced skepticism about the train running on time didn't help me either. I sat in full sun for 15 minutes (at least) at the train station. In retrospect, this was a completely ridiculous strategy, although it was pleasant to sit outside. My thinking was, 'What if the train comes early?' The rational answer would have been 'It will wait until its scheduled departure.' But as I could not afford to miss this train, I erred on the side of irrational thought.

'What to do?' I asked myself, tired and trudging up the hill. Then hope appeared.

Massimo's Mud Spot - La Brea & 8th

At first I thought that I had entered a 1950s set. Two walls are a dull pale blue; one is a dull pale yellow. They have an institutional feel and look like they should be in an old downtown office building. I found the color combination off-putting at first, as it gave me a queasy feeling. But I got used to it. Bright orange spherical drop lights hang from the ceiling. I'm not 100% sure because this isn't my design period, but it really does feel very 1950s. 

And just as in those detective movies from the '50s, a metal ceiling fan whirs away. There are even slatted blinds -- on the small windows above the large storefront ones. A mini-library is set up in one of the storefront windows. 

Thankfully, although the staffer working behind the counter continued the '50s theme, she was cheery. She wears a dress that looks like it could break into song on its own.

Sake House - La Brea & 8th

Here's another lunch recommendation, in case you're in the Miracle Mile area.

Sake House is my go-to comfort place. You enter and all the staff sings out  "Hello" and various things in Japanese. "Welcome" might be one of the things they say. One of the guys in the kitchen seems to be on a time delay, so he always starts his part after the other staff members have begun. As his voice is the last one that you hear, he effectively has a solo each time. At any rate, it's like entering a party, where everybody knows you. They've simply been waiting for you and now things can really get started.

Cafe Flourish - Wilshire & Cloverdale

The sign that I took to my seat, after I ordered my lunch, had a drawing of a school of fish and the sentence, "You are in the flow."  This was one of many indicators that we weren't in Kansas anymore, Toto. And you know something? This Midwestern girl liked it. 

Cafe Flourish, per its menu, is "committed to sustainable food practices, we use organic wherever possible, we don't use animal products... and our food is lovingly prepared, embedded with positive intentions." Okay, but does it taste good?

I selected the BLT&A (Be Love, Thanks & Abundance), which is the plant-based version of a bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado sandwich. I chose quinoa salad as the side. The irony is that people often think that I'm vegetarian and I'm absolutely not. I don't overdo it, and of course I eat edamame, tofu, etc. But I've had soy hot dogs and stuff like that in the past and I don't like them. The "b"  in this case was smokey tempeh bacon. So I didn't hold out much hope for this sandwich.

But it was really good. The bread was soft with a smidgen of crunch (the menu calls it "half-toasted").