Hey, Kids! It’s Music Blog Demographic Gut-Check Departmental Survey Time! Today’s polling background from over Curbed way:

Just a month ago, the Lofts at Cherokee Studios, a 12-unit Pugh + Scarpa-designed building launched its official web site, floorplans and all. Now the building, built on the site of the old Cherokee Studios (where Sinatra and Bowie recorded), has launched its blog and announced it’s creating a “Platinum Showcase.” Developer REthink has partnered with four architects to each create a loft that will pay homage to the musicians who recorded on that site. Rogerio Carvalheiro will design a loft that honors David Bowie, interior designers Kristin Casey and Rick Rifle will design for Frank Sinatra, Lori Dennis & Brook Casey will pay tribute to Alice Cooper, and Jennifer Siegel’s Office of Mobile Design and Sandra Sharma are designing a penthouse suite in homage to 30 Seconds to Mars. Wait, huh? How did 30 Seconds to Mars sneak in there with Sinatra, Bowie and Cooper?

Beatles producer George Martin once called Cherokee Studios the best recording studio in America. The recording alumni list published by the studio itself reads like a who’s who of late 20th century music…Devo, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Public Enemy, Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Who…with all those guys waiting in the wings, why exactly in hell the 30 Secs To Mars Hot Topic-suffused Penthouse design again, guys? Has Jared Leto already signed on to purchase the goddamned thing? We understand they helped raise some money for Habitat – and no fooling, that’s great – but seriously, the penthouse alongside Sinatra? User poll time! This is your chance to passively tell owner Bruce Robb and designers Jennifer Siegel and Sandra Sharma, by way of a random pointless music blog poll, which artist you’d really like to see that Legendary Cherokee Studios penthouse paying tribute to come October. Don’t snooze.

»continue reading Which Cherokee Studios Music-Themed Penthouse Do You Crave The Most?

As promised, my take on Chicago tacos at this time. I had the good fortune to be hosted by a foodie during my stay. One day we wound up at Carniceria Leon, a deli/meat market/taqueria in Wicker Park. The joint had Al Pastor skewered on a giant spit; as such, I knew I was in the right place.

Five second review: Generous portions, hybrid salsa, delicious tacos. I was expecting the requisite “con todo?” query, so it was bit of a surprise to hear the guy behind the counter ask if we wanted them served “with onions y cilantro?” but, being the only white people in the joint at the time, nice of him to change it up for us.

The last time I had pastor served from a spit, I was in Boyle Heights. Tacos were served on a makeshift table. The prep station was a minivan’s passenger door area. The whole operation was situated in an automotive repair lot. »continue reading The Al Pastor Invitational: Wicker Park v Boyle Heights

Los Angeles! The cityscape is peppered with frontage oddities, to be sure. Façaddities. You got that big record stack in tinseltown. You got a whole swath Normandie-style dwellings from the 1920s that could only be described as castle-rific, mid-city. You got houses on stilts built right into the sides of the damn hills. You got that nefarious Addams Family-looking thing up on Franklin. You got locksmith shacks. You got statue shacks. You got shacks, man. What I’m trying to say. You got mixed media: Yesterday I drove past a taco truck in Highland Park situated underneath a very old, very heavy permanently-fixed sign advertising the verysame taco truck squatting beneath it. You’ve no longer got Clifton’s Pacific Seas, but Brookdale on Broadway keeps the memory alive. You got the Marina Del Rey Courtyard Marriot (8 state-of-the-art meeting rooms), and you got Oki-Dog. Oddities man. They’re out there.

Curbed LA recently did a bang-up job of tracking down the ugliest building in Los Angeles, and we thank them for it. However a few facades have transcended their earthly kin and entered that hallowed, highest echelon of facadeness: Goofiness. Let’s examine three champions now. One’s a house, two are apartments.

1) El Bordello Alexandra
Venice Beach is home to many things. Dragon decor is but one. This apartment complex on Westminster became increasingly foolish during the 2.72 years in which I lived around the corner. At present it’s a façaddity you would be hard pressed to top.

»continue reading Frontage Poll: The Goofiest Facade Of Them All

This is not a competition for the all-around best hot dog in LA. You can find a hot dog served in any conceivable manner in this city, there’s a dog for everyone. Is a Chicago-style hot dog better than any other hot dog you can find or make? Even though it all comes down to personal preference, the answer is still yes. It’s so good that every time I eat one with a newbie, they all say the exact same thing, “Damn, homey just smashed it.” It’s so good that it puts your life in perspective.

The Chicago-style hot dog has strict criteria. It’s a Vienna Beef Hot Dog with mustard, chopped onion, relish (neon green in color), tomatoes, sport peppers, celery salt, and a pickle all served on a poppy seed bun. Eating one will keep you going, eating two will take you out, eating three is suicide, but at least you’ll go out with a smile.

To have a solid basis of comparison for the competition, I ate at some of Chicago’s finest hot dog stands such as Portillo’s, Wrigleyville Dogs, Hot Doug’s, and Wiener’s Circle. Wiener’s Circle had the best looking dog, so we’ll use it as the standard.

There are so many toppings that you can barely see the hot dog.

I excluded Oki Dog, Skooby’s, and Papoo’s because they don’t serve a Chicago-Style. I also left out Portillo’s in Buena Park because it’s in Buena Park.

The competitors are: QT’s Chicago Dogs, Carney’s, Rubin’s Red Hot, Weiner Factory, Pink’s, The Stand, and Taste Chicago. They’ll be ranked on authenticity, price, and overall taste.
»continue reading The Best Chicago-Style Hot Dog in LA

Which Italian is the better stallion–local eatery Vito’s Pizza or diminutive actor Danny DeVito? A question plaguing scholars for ages. Until now. Until Losanjudgment.

»continue reading Losanjudgment: Vito’s Pizza vs. Danny DeVito