The LA Rum Festival, 2022. Photo by Joselina Rodríguez.
The Los Angeles Rum & Tiki Festival comes back to Downtown LA for its 2nd Annual Southern California festival Friday, September 8, 2023, from 4 p.m. – 9 p.m., once again at The Majestic Ballroom.
This year will also feature an adjacent event with sessions located at Roxanne’s in Long Beach on Saturday, September 9, 2023.
The “boutique-style” event will offer Grand Tastings and seminar events this year to showcase select brands that “emphasize the education and premiumization of the rum,” as well as provide seminars on the second day with an emphasis on rum Tiki cocktails and some movers and shakers of the Southern California Tiki Bar culture. Continue reading →
Del Taco’s Honey Chipotle BBQ Brisket Quesadilla. Image by Karin E. Baker for The LA Beat.
The favorite eatery of Lily Tomlin’s septuagenarian stoner character on Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie,” Del Taco has just introduced three new items featuring 16-hour pit-smoked pulled beef brisket and smoky honey chipotle BBQ sauce.
We tried all three items – the Honey Chipotle BBQ Brisket Quesadilla, Epic Honey Chipotle BBQ Brisket & Bacon Burrito, and Honey Chipotle BBQ Brisket & Bacon Fries – during a private media tasting in the beer garden at Benny Boy Brewing in Lincoln Heights.
These atypical offerings are not what you expect from a fast food chain. “Food is experiential now,”Del Taco’s Chief Marketing Officer Tim Hackbardt told me at the tasting. “Some customers always order from our value menu while others are looking for something totally new.”
The pulled brisket was tender and loaded with delicious flavor thanks to 16 hours of pit smoking. Tucked into an oversized flour tortilla with crinkle-cut fries, crispy bacon, grated cheddar, and sour cream, the BBQ brisket burrito makes for an indulgent yet elevated experience.
my pedro town was gratefully mostly spared by hilary… construction continues on the west harbor proj… terminal island prison in the background, across the channel…
Tiki Oasis 2023: Pooch Parade. Photo by Elise Thompson.
Everyone feels gorgeous in all of their colorful finery at Tiki Oasis, and why should the pets be any different? It was a noticeably dog-friendly event, with the restaurant even allowing them in as long as they didn’t jump on the furniture. Our well-behaved pups would never! Lucca’s Snakebite Lounge kindly donated gift bags with clothes and toys for the pups. Enjoy these photos of our canine and feline friends, along with their two-legged companions. Continue reading →
*indicates that this title is also available for rent, purchase, or viewing through streaming sources.
“Party Girl” (1995, Fun City Editions*) Breezy comedy from the ’90s indie scene fueled largely by the effervescent presence of Parker Posey as a New York scenester who discovers that boundless energy and impeccable fashion sense can’t keep her afloat (especially after she’s arrested for selling liquor at her rent party) and so turns to her godmother for a job at her staid library. Any confectionery lightness in the story is buoyed by the charming bite of the dialogue by co-producer Harry Birckmayer and director Daisy von Scherler Mayer, whose depiction of twenty-something city life in all its diversity and bravado remains both appealing and accurate. With Guillermo Diaz, Omar Townsend, and (briefly) Liev Schreiber, and a soundtrack loaded with ’90s-era club sounds (Tom Tom Club, Deee-Lite, Ultra Nate); Fun City’s Blu-ray features a 4K restoration of the original 16mm negative, as well as commentary by Jake Fogelnest and lengthy interviews with Posey, von Scherler Mayer, Birckmayer, and music supervisor Bill Coleman, who discuss their inspiration for the film, the influence of the NYC club scene, and its status as the first feature streamed on the internet, among other subjects. An abundance of BTS production material rounds out the excellent set.
Aloha Caftan Society at Tiki Oasis 2023. Photo by Jamie Verity.
Saturday morning, a favorite event of Tiki Oasis, The Aloha Caftan Society Parade, strolled around the hotel grounds. The colorful group surrounded the pool and danced in all of their glory. Women and men of all types and ages were resplendent. It was a celebration of all forms of beauty, and everyone felt like a queen.
DakhaBrakha at the Ford. Photo by Bob Lee for the LA Beat.
The Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha have a sound that is at once ancient and modern, unlike any other music in my collection but somehow familiar. They are drawing from musical traditions that go back centuries, but the effect can be uncannily like listening to Public Image Ltd., voices wailing over deep basslines and indelible beats. In the idyllic natural setting of the Ford, the four musicians held us in a trancelike state, with no need to comprehend lyrics to get a deep feeling from the dramatic sounds unfolding on stage. Much in the manner of Australia’s Dirty Three, one’s emotions get tugged upon just from the information in the sound, no verbal cues are necessary.
This group has some of the most sublime, cool arrangements you’ll ever hear, anyone might become a percussionist at any moment. Accordion duties can be passed from member to member in mid-song. Their ability to confound expectation, using a relatively limited, traditional set of instruments, is one of their most endearing qualities. And a catchy song is a catchy song in any language – you find yourself tempted to sing along but respectfully holding back, not wanting to butcher what are probably very passionate lyrics. Continue reading →
“The cycle of self-sabotage” is not only a line of dialogue from the current Studio Stage offering at the Long Beach Playhouse but is also a recurring theme that the characters cannot escape no matter how hard they may believe that they try.
“The Motherfucker with the Hat” is a hard-hitting and uncompromising look at the nightmare of addiction, recovery, betrayal and AA culture. Like slamming three shots of whiskey neat, the Tony Award winning work from Pulitzer Prize recipient playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis is sharp, concise and very witty in the face of the never-ending emotional disaster for its inhabitants.
Foul-mouthed and fast moving, this presentation is not for the easily offended, nor should it be. What it does do is entertain and enlighten, not outrage.
The play opens with a pre-recorded curtain speech peppered with so many expletives and f-bombs that at that point one can either run for the door or buckle in. Judging by the nervous laughter, all in attendance chose the latter as the play opened in a New York City apartment as Jackie (expertly essayed by Brandon Prado) enters his girlfriend Veronica’s (played with sass and bravado by Tammy Mora) apartment fresh out of jail but full of hope on the horizon; he’s clean, sober, recently employed and in love as he brings her presents and enthusiastic promises. The sexual heat of the moment prompts Veronica to jump in the shower as Jackie suddenly discovers an unfamiliar men’s hat on the table. His suspicions aroused, he sees the telltale signs of a former sexual liaison and the accusations fly. Continue reading →
Palmilla Cocina y Tequila. Photo credit: Art Gray Photo.
A long-awaited new restaurant opened in Newport Beach on July 27. Palmilla Cocina y Tequila is from the team behind Hermosa Beach’s restaurant of the same name, along with Manhattan Beach’s acclaimed Esperanza.
Palmilla Cocina y Tequila was designed by globally acclaimed architect and designer Gulla Jonsdottir. Born in Iceland and based in LA, Jonsdottir has won awards from the likes of Architectural Digest, Esquire, and Surface magazine for creating stunning spaces in LA, Paris, Miami, San Francisco, Cabo, China, and more.
The vibe at Palmilla Cocina y Tequila evokes Cabo San Lucas. You’ll find sensual, curvy lines; a sophisticated, beachy color palette of white, coral, and muted earth tones; a hand-woven jute ceiling; straw pendant lights; and ceramic pottery. A large imported yucca tree grabs the eye, and half the restaurant features a retractable ceiling. All the furniture and decor were custom-made in Spain and Mexico.
The seafood-intensive menu at Palmilla Cocina y Tequila was created by Chef Ray Alvarez (formerly with Ciudad, Border Grill, and Malibu Beach Inn). Inspired by Alvarez’s food-immersive travels through Baja and Sonora, the menu here features top-quality ingredients. You’ll find sizable U-10 Mexican white prawns, free-range Jidori chicken, and premium beef, along with handmade tortillas and salsas, moles, and made-from-scratch cremas.
