Caroline on Crack | September 2007

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Monthly Archives: September 2007

September 30, 2007

25th Annual American Wine & Food Festival

OMG, had so much fun last night. Would have been even better if I had a designated driver but as it was I just didn’t drink all that much. Le sigh! I so wanted to try the Patron tequila bar, the Belvedere vodka bar, the Moet & Chandon champagne bar and all the various wineries that were present at the 25th Annual Wine & Food Festival. But I guess it was a good thing I didn’t since I had a hard enough time trying to negotiate the cobblestone streets in the Universal Studios back lot with heels. I nearly took out some innocent bystanders trying to walk up the hill.

How did I get in this sold-out $300 ticket event which featured the talents of celebrity chefs like Wolfgang Puck, Nancy Silverton and Paul Prudhomme to name a few? Pure and simple luck. Richard Coraine, COO of Union Square Hospitality Group, had invited me to Wolfgang Puck’s charity event way back when I had written about the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party his company just so happens to put together. He liked my blog.

Categories: Dining, Los Angeles, Nightlife

1 Comment

September 28, 2007

Boozelicious: BevMo’s 5-Cent Sale

Flickr Shot by Mr Geoff

Stock up that wet bar, wine collection, extra gift stash, Beverages & More is having its 5-cent sale where you can buy the second bottle for just 5 cents. Note that the discount only applies to the second bottle of the same exact thing. But, come on, still a pretty good deal!

You can get wine (over 150 to choose from), Skyy Vodka and even a dirty martini mix for that “buy one get the second for 5 cents” deal. Although I don’t know how I feel about a dirty martini premix.

Some other deals:

2005 Summerland Syrah — $15.99/2nd bottle 5 cents
2005 Guenoc Victorian Claret — $17.99/2nd bottle 5 cents
2004 Michael Pozzan Marianna — $39.99/2nd bottle 5 cents

The sale runs through October 22 and you can purchase stuff online to pick up at a store near you.

Various Beverages & More locations.

Categories: Los Angeles, Shopping & Sales

This Weekend: Your City Is a Wonderland

Friday, September 28

LF Store’s 3-Day Blowout Sidewalk Sale
Help LF Store out by clearing out their remaining 2007 spring and summer fashions so they can make way for the upcoming season. Pleassse? They’ll give you 75-90% off selected merchandise. Think about it, $200 shoes are now $18. And it’s all for a good cause: fall and winter fashion. You’ve got three locations to choose from.

Friday, September 28-Sunday, September 30. 2736 Main Street, Santa Monica, (310) 584-9371. 133 N. Larchmont Boulevard, Los Angeles, (323) 465-1000. 278 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, (949) 497-9194.

Fred Segal’s Annual Sale
Wanna shop like a celebutante but can’t afford to? Well, Fred Segal, clothier to the stars, is having its Annual Sale where designer wear for men and women are marked down 50%. The sale runs til all the clearance is cleared out. Get there before all the good stuff is taken.

8100 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood. (323) 651-4129.

6th Annual Feast of San Gennaro
Ohhh, aaaay, three days of Italian food and wine hosted by Adam Corolla and Jimmy Kimmel. Nuff said. Oh wait, one more thing, Bada Bingo, bingo played with Italian-American celebs. OK, OK, and there’s also live music, bocce ball games, karaoke and a cooking stage where you can learn recipes, all in celebration of Italian culture.

Friday, September 28 – Sunday, September 30. 11am-10pm. $5. 1651 N. Highland Avenue, Hollywood.

Soul Food at Royale
On the last Friday of every month, Royale on Wilshire presents a soul food event featuring a special soul food menu, R&B music from local radio djs and 1/2 off soul food appetizers menu. A new artist music lounge goes off from 8:30 to 9:30pm and more music continues for the rest of the night til 2am. So chow down on mac n’ cheese and spare ribs then work it off on the dance floor to hip-hop classics from the ’70s-’90s.

8:30pm. No cover. Wilshire Royale, 2619 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. RSVP here or send an email to fresh@mix1200.com.

Saturday, September 29

Neighborhood Music Festival 2007
How Hollywood is this? Steve Aoki and DJ AM spinning sets back to back. And even Brent Bolthouse — nightlife impresario responsible for Hyde, Area and Privilege — is djing, albeit in the VIP area. Definitely more hipster than raver scene. But hard-core partyers can hit up this festival first since it starts at 3 and then make their way over to the Nocturnal Festival for the ultimate dance party just 3.5 miles away.

3pm-2am. General admission $40, VIP $80. 3911 South Figueroa Street, Downtown L.A.

Nocturnal Festival
I soo want to go to this! I wanna dance to Chemical Brothers, Paul Van Dyk and Benny Benassi, among others. If you go, remember to drink lots of Gatorade before and after cuz you’ll definitely work up a sweat at this here party/festival. General admission is $60 and VIP is $150. With VIP you get access to a hosted vodka bar, special viewing deck of the main stage and, most importantly, special restrooms.

7pm-4am. General admission $60, VIP $150. Nocturnal 2007, 836 Francisco Street, Downtown L.A.

Sunday, September 30

Down the Rabbit Hole at the Bar
Hurting from all that dancing in wonderland on Saturday? Drop down the rabbit hole at The Bar on Sunset where you can sit back, drink and listen to some soothing blues. And if you can even muster up some brain power, you can share a game of Connect Four and Backgammon with your buddies. Johnny from Kings will be playing his blend of hard-core urban blues this Sunday and the last Sunday of every month.

9pm. The Bar, 5851 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. (323) 468-9154.

23rd Annual Abbot Kinney Festival
The ultimate summer block party to end the season, Abbot Kinney’s in Venice. This 23rd annual event is celebrating Venice’s 102 years of community and this time it’s going green with eco-friendly vendors and seminars and environmental issues. I know, doesn’t sound all THAT fun. But two stages for live music, three food tents and 300 vendors featuring handcrafted goods sounds cool. And after what you did on Saturday, don’t you want a mellow Sunday anyway?

10am-6pm. Abbot Kinney between Main Street and Venice Boulevard.

Categories: Beauty & Fashion, Dining, Lists, Los Angeles, Music, Nightlife, Recreation, Shopping & Sales

Santa Monica Pier’s Last Summer Movie: Moonstruck

It came and went so fast but Santa Monica Pier was only showing movies in the month of September and now it’s on it’s last screening. Moonstruck, the movie that made me wish for Cher’s midnight blue-black spiral permed hair back in the day, is showing tonight. Perfect considering you’ll be watching it under a waning full moon. How romantical!

But before that, in honor of the movie’s 20th anniversary there will be a wine tasting and a cooking demo from 6:30 to 8:30pm in the wine pavilion sponsored by Tuscany’s Castello di Gabbiano winery. Chef Claud Mann from Dinner and a Movie will be doing the demo at 7pm.

Tickets are free but you need to pick them up beforehand at Vidiots on Pico or the other locations listed on the SaMo Pier Web site. For seating, feel free to bring your own beach chairs or you can rent them at the venue for $5 with proceeds benefiting the Cancer Relief Fund.

It’s going to be cold out on the Pier so remember to bundle up. Layers are good.

EVENT: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 at 6:30pm

200 Santa Monica Pier
Los Angeles, California 90401 (map)

Categories: Los Angeles, Movies

Red Mango’s Fugetsu-Do Mochi Has Arrived

I wouldn’t have made a special post for this if we weren’t talking about Fugetsu-Do mochi but, yes, Red Mango is now offering the delicacy to top your fro-yo.

But back to F-D, I have been meaning to check out this well-known Lil Tokyo mochi place ever since someone at Hawaiian Ryan’s tiki bar opening told me about it. But I haven’t been able to squeeze some time in my weekend schedule let alone stop by the ATM since the place only takes cash.

Fortunately, Red Mango is now featuring the confection. (They say they were actually the first to use mochi as a yogurt topping.) Yay! But that doesn’t mean I won’t check out the actual Fugetsu-Do though.

Red Mango, Westwood Village
10942 Weyburn Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90024 (map)
(310) 464-8526

Categories: Dining, Los Angeles, Sweets

1 Comment

September 26, 2007

Places I’ll Never Show My Face in Again: American Airlines and Alamo Rent-a-Car

American Airlines

How is it that with all the advancements in technology to make our lives as comfortable as possible, they still haven’t applied that science to airplanes? In fact it seems like airplanes are increasingly becoming the most uncomfortable way to travel out of the planes-trains-automobiles transportation triad. Case in point: my trip to Maui via American Airlines.

Categories: Places I'll Never Show My Face in Again

6 Comments

September 20, 2007

Aloha, See Ya Next Week!

I’m off to Maui for a lonnnnng weekend so you won’t be hearing from me til next Tuesday or Wednesday. At least that’s what I’m aiming for. I’m still going to bring my laptop just in case I get separation anxiety, though. Baby steps. But the goal here is to not blog. You can catch up on your reading here if you haven’t been doing so every day.