Los Angeles – Page 5 – thosecoolkims

The Facey Kids Go to the Symphony!

This past Christmas, our present to the Facey kids was a trip to the wonderful Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, to see Beethoven in the House, one in a series of concerts for kids put on by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As Kendall, the oldest, is now a clarinet player in her school orchestra, we thought it would be really cool for the kids to see a renowned symphony orchestra in one of the coolest concert halls in the world. We think it’s awesome that the LA Phil has a kid-friendly concert series that exposes kids to classical music and the arts, so we were only too excited to take the kids here.

Not surprisingly, all of the kids knew the iconic opening of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, but none of them knew that it was Beethoven that had composed it. So, they were in for a treat as we piled in the Land Rover I was testing for the weekend and headed off for Downtown LA.

One cool aspect of the Symphony for Youth series is that during the hour before the concert begins, kids can participate in all kinds of creative activities to learn about music, theater, and art. We decided to make masquerade masks for an imaginary ball. Here we are making them, and wearing them:

The concert itself was great, and the kids thought it was really sad that Beethoven couldn’t even hear his final 9th symphony (which contains the famous Ode to Joy) because he had gone deaf at the early age of 32.

After the concert, it was time to leave the concert hall for the next destination!

It was recently Chinese New Year, and this is the year of the Tiger. To celebrate, the Chinese American Museum held its Lantern Festival near Chinatown. The event had live performances as well as tons of arts and crafts projects for kids.

The kids made awesome paper lanterns, fans, embossed metal plates with their own drawings, and even abacuses!

No trip to LA is complete without a stop at Sprinkles for some gourmet cupcakes. Kendall and Jordan had been here before, but this was the first time for Mikayla and Ethan.

Despite the hour-long cross-town drive to Beverly Hills to get these cupcakes, the kids declared the trip worth it. Ethan summed it up best when he bit into his Peanut Butter Chocolate cupcake and exclaimed, “This is the best cupcake ever!!!” No argument from us; look at them!

Another awesome weekend with the Facey kids. We miss them already! Click below to see the album.

Facey Kids Weekend Feb 2010

Stefan’s at L.A. Farm

Last night we enjoyed a great night dining out with our friends Britt & Wade at Stefan’s at L.A. Farm! Of course – it’s the same Stefan from Top Chef! Upon arrival, we got an awesome unexpected surprise – as we all got out of the car in the parking lot behind the restaurant, there was Stefan himself, enjoying a cigarette in the back! He was super cool – he called out to us and gave a us a warm welcoming, and even met up with us in the lobby and chatted us up for a bit before we were seated! He is a funny guy and it definitely made our night to see him so social and talkative with us. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask him directly what we should order – and his response was, “Do you like small plates?” We all gave an emphatic YES! He told us to get the tater tots with Hidden Valley ranch dressing and the “Big Mac”. I kind of laughed a bit, I really thought he was pulling my leg – but he wasn’t! He even assured us that yes, he really does use Hidden Valley Ranch. He also mentioned deviled eggs and foie gras! All we knew was we couldn’t wait to sit down and start eating …

Small plates - Deviled Eggs, Tater Tots w/Hidden Valley Ranch, Foie Gras on Toast and Oyster

Stefan’s is really casual and the menu is very fun. I wasn’t so sure what to expect – afterall, on the show, he always seemed to feature very serious sophisticated foods. But the small plates really set the stage for a good time. We took his advice and started with the deviled eggs, tater tots and the Sonoma Foie Gras with Cracked White Pepper, Smoked Salt and Griddled Brioche. Delicious! The boys ordered oysters and said they were impeccable. Its tough to see in the photo, but the presentation was awesome – the oyster sat on a simple and perfectly formed mound of salt. And the deviled eggs were topped with caviar! A very special egg, for sure.

Added bonus of the small plates? They’re only $3 each!

Stefan's "Like a Big Mac" - My burger for dessert!

Our entrees were great too … Ed ordered the Shepherd’s Pie (total Ed food!) and I ordered the veal chop with cauliflower puree and baby carrots.

The only bummer about mine was that I had no idea a veal chop would be so fatty and kind of weird. I was pretty bummed about it and didn’t want to end the meal on an anything-but-sublime note. So, when the dessert menus arrived, I decided to skip the sweets and order the “Like a Big Mac” instead! It was the best choice I’ve ever made – and no kidding, I think it’s the BEST burger bite I’ve ever tasted!

So, I am happy to sign off with this entry by saying, I had a burger for dessert!

*My iPhone pics were terrible, so these photos are from Yelp user Kwiri Y. and kevineats.com.

MOCA’s First Thirty Years

mocapink

Ed & I headed up to catch the awesome First Thirty Years exhibit at MOCA two weeks ago, and being the modern art lovers we are, we have to say we enjoyed every bit of it! The exhibit is sort of a “greatest hits” of modern art. Of course, there are many pieces that you’ve seen before – but nonetheless, it was really cool to have them all in spot. Be sure to click the exhibition link as mentioned above, the site has a really great photo gallery that shows a lot of the work! (Unfortunately, Ed & I were only armed with the iPhones, so we didn’t get many pics!)

Probably the most impressive was the photography collection. I have been fascinated by photos of people ever since I was a kid, and two of my favorite photographers were on display: Garry Winogrand & Diane Arbus. Both of them have a real knack for capturing the most odd, yet beautiful images of ordinary (and in Diane Arbus’ case, NOT-so-ordinary!) people. Doesn’t hurt that they capture some fun 60s stuff, which both Ed & I love. Here are a few of my favorites from the show:

arbus_doglady arbus_giant

arbus_sunbathers arbus_twins

Diane Arbus: (top) Lady Bartender at Home with Souvenir Dog, 1964, A Jewish Giant at Home with his Parents, 1970; (bottom) A Family on the Lawn One Sunday in Westchester, N.Y., 1968, Identical Twins, 1967

winogrand_zoo

winogrand_spacectr

Garry Winogrand: (top) Couple in Central Park Zoo, 1967; (bottom) Kennedy Space Center, 1969

There were lots more that we really loved and hadn’t seen before. Ed looked pretty space age in RM669 by Doug Wheeler (1969), and I loved Mirror/Mirror-Table/Table (1964) by Richard Artschwager!

moca_c&e

Go see First Thirty Years at MOCA before it’s gone!

craft/Los Angeles

This Saturday was a very exciting evening for Ed & I – we ate at Craft in L.A.! For those of you who may not know, Craft is one of Tom Colicchio’s restaurants – and Tom Colicchio is the head judge on Bravo’s Top Chef!

As a huge fan of Top Chef, when Ed told me he was taking me there on Saturday night I could hardly contain myself! Of course, it’s a popular dining establishment sought out by many other Top Chef fans, and we knew it would be good. But we had no idea how outstanding our experience there would be! Ed even claims that our meal was the best meal he has had all year – and that’s saying something! The ambiance is modern, but warm … the food is quality exemplified … and the service is incredible. It was a fine dining experience that felt casual somehow. It was sophisticated and rich, but not stodgy or formal. We can’t stop thinking about it!

craftLosAngeles We did get a nice surprise right off the bat … after getting our drinks, our server came out with an Amuse-bouche! It was a Gruyère cheese puff pastry of sorts. I was so in love with the fact that I was somewhere that actually served an amuse-bouche that I didn’t mind handing it right over to Ed. (The world would be so much easier for me if I just enjoyed cheese … but I digress … )

At Craft, you are encouraged to order one starter, one main course and one side dish per person to get the true experience! The portions are individually sized, but they are served in the center of the table family style so you can share with your companions. This was great news for Ed & I, because we always want to try as much as possible! So we perused the menu and had the difficult task of narrowing things down enough to place our order!

As usual, it was extremely difficult to get good pics of the food due to the (beautiful) ambient lighting, but we began with the roasted Octopus (on the left) and the roasted Quail. Ed absolutely loves octopus, and this dish was outstanding! It was served with diced pineapple and a sauce that I can’t remember. I’m not usually the one on-board the octopus train, but I thought this was DELICIOUS! So delicious in fact that I thought the octopus far outshone the quail. This isn’t to say the quail wasn’t yummy, but wow – that octopus was something special…

We both ended up choosing fish for our main courses. I opted for the Alaskan Halibut & Piquillo Pepper and Ed went for the John Dory (on right). The halibut cannot be explained with words! It was the most tender piece of halibut we’ve ever had, and the roasted red pepper on bottom was sweet and meaty and essential to the brilliance and simplicity of the dish. The John Dory was a nice contrast because the fish was light, flaky and ever so buttery, but it was sprinkled with a few slivers of olive, which gave it an exciting salty kick. The dishes aren’t prissy or fancy at Craft, everything is just so simple and fresh, but that’s truly what makes everything so amazing. Our sides were roasted pee wee fingerling potatoes and brussel sprouts with bacon. Again, the family style service is perfect because it encourages sharing. I have been craving more brussel sprouts ever since!

As if all of the above wasn’t satisfactory enough, we knew we had to order dessert. Come on, how could we not see what they had to offer?!? :) So after checking the menu, we decided on a Hazelnut Waffle with braised apples and cinnamon ice cream. However, we had no idea that there was another treat coming … these tiny panna cotta cups with fresh berries arrived at our table just minutes after we ordered our dessert! Then, even more bite-sized treats appeared at the table! A teeny plate arrived with a tiny fudge brownie, a candied pineapple square and a miniature coconut macaroon. Serious attention to the sweets were being showed, and I have to admit, I wasn’t complaining!

And finally, as if it couldn’t get any more extravagant, these two Cranberry Orange muffins perfectly packed to be sent home with us came out “for breakfast the next morning”, compliments of the pastry chef. AWESOME!

All in all, it was a perfect evening … we can’t wait to go back again, with lots of people, so we can try even more! This was absolutely a culinary paradise!!!

Another Sunday Funday in Los Angeles

This past Sunday we headed up to Van Nuys for the annual Best of France and Italy car show. This show was basically Ed’s dream – it featured French and Italian cars mostly from the 1950s-1980s. It was not your typical car show! I have learned quite a bit through osmosis just by being with Ed for so long – so I must admit, I really enjoyed it too! Many of the cars you just wouldn’t see here in the States, and we were impressed by the variety and condition of the ones on display!

This little number was one of our favorites – a 70s model Citroen DS21! Ed and & I LOVE these cars. They look so space-age and so unique. Just a bonus that this car was red!

The DS models have these really cool lights on the back and just don’t look like any other car! We’d love to own one, but they are really tough to find stateside, and they are waaay out of the price range!

This is a fun 60s era ad for the Citroen – so space-age!
citroen2

Some other favorites were this Caravelle Convertible …

And, who could forget the Renault “Le Car”?!?

Then, as if Ed’s morning couldn’t get any better, he unexpectedly spotted his favorite car ever – an East German communist Trabant! These are extremely rare and even more random – this car had Hungarian plates!

Ed stands happily by the Trabi

After leaving Van Nuys, we decided to do something completely different – we headed down to Culver City to see Sanrio’s Three Apples art exhibition, which was celebrating 35 years of Hello Kitty!

three_apples_top

Hello Kitty was such a staple for girls in my generation growing up … the pencil cases, stickers, lip gloss, you name it – every little girl coveted their Hello Kitty stuff, and she’s certainly maintained her staying power through the ages! Three Apples was cool because in addition to showcasing TONS of HK merchandise throughout the years, they also had a lot of favorite low-brow artists showing work inspired by HK. The space was impressive and we had an awesome time!

Here are a few favorite art pieces from the show:

(L): Mermaid w/Hello Kitty by Gary Baseman, (R): Awesome Velvet Hello Kitty Elvis!

Tara McPherson’s HK piece

Loved the colors and “classical” twist to this one.

Crazy Lady Gaga Hello Kitty Portraits!

A darker side to HK

As I mentioned earlier, the show also did an entire product retrospective. All the stuff they had there was amazing! Our pictures don’t really do it justice – there were entire rooms just filled to the brim with stuff – but here are a few:

Notice the dress made of stuffed HK’s!

An obsolete “plug in” phone I would’ve loved as a kid! And, lots of HK sweet treats.

Just when our day couldn’t have possibly gotten more fun, we had dinner plans with our dear friends Britt & Wade. Wade was making us dinner – and when he cooks, its ALWAYS amazing! He ended up serving a beautiful salad and the tastiest beef stew we’d ever had!

Salad with greens, avocado, yellow and red tomatoes, onions and toasted walnuts = YUM!

An amazing Beef Stew to welcome the fall – who cares if it was 90 degrees that day? :)

And that concludes another Sunday Fun Day!