spies.

So, it's awards season here in L.A. I guess the movies this year were ok--not great, not terrible. Here is my personal rundown of the Best Picture nominees: The Artist--very lovely. I think it will win, as it was both artistic and heart-warming.

The Descendants--good performances, but ultimately a well-done Lifetime for Women flick.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close--I absolutely refuse to see this, and cannot even talk about it.

The Help--I refuse to see this, too, but I do love both Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer and hope they win.

Midnight in Paris, Moneyball and Tree of Life--I have to get my hands on screeners of all of these. Hugo--meh. War Horse--no.

OK, moving along. What I really want to talk about and what made the 2011 awards movie season memorable for me was...spy flicks. I always used to find them tedious and dull, but no more. I'm all about the spy movie, and there are three reasons why: MI4, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Haywire.

Like most of the 6 billion people on the planet, I was completely done with Tom Cruise and had ceased watching the MI franchise long ago. However, the rave reviews and the promise of Incredibles director Brad Bird intrigued me, and I went and saw it on Christmas Day.

I absolutely loved it! Loved the tongue-in-cheekiness of it, from the silly "madman with a nuclear weapon" MacGuffin of a plot to the opening scene where the team breaks into the Kremlin ("The Kremlin?") to all the classic MI gadgetry and inventions--a lot of which I found really brilliant.

After then entire Dubai sequence--which could have been a movie in itself--the sold-out crowd in the Cinerama Dome burst into applause. I don't think I've heard a live movie audience cheer an action scene.

Most of all, I loved seeing Tom back to his cool-as-a-cucumber, pre-couch jumping, pre-bat shit crazy self, when he was still repped by Pat Kingsley, and everyone could agree he was the most perfectly engineered movie star in history and possibly a machine created by special effects magicians somewhere deep in the wilds of Burbank.

I drink the Kool-Aid again.

The next spy flick I loved was Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I was also excited for this one when I heard it was helmed by Let the Right One In director, Tomas Alfredson. Plus, I had never seen the British miniseries. Actually, I might have, because it was the kind of thing my parents would have watched, and would have made my eyes glaze over with boredom, dying to change the channel to something like Josie and the Pussycats--but I don't have any memory of it.

This is one of those movies that is s......l......o......w. Wow. The first hour was almost inscrutable, and my friend even turned to me at one point and said, "Do you want to go?" But I knew I had to stick with it. If nothing else for the fact that I had paid $16 to see the damn thing, and it was the first movie I was seeing in the Cinerama Dome.

But I was glad I did. When I realized the filmmaker was in utter control of the pace and pieces of the puzzle slowly linking together, I was like, "Man, that is craftsmanship." But the great thing about TTSS was that it serves as a complete antidote to a spy film like MI4. Actually, it's the antidote to every silly spy film ever made. It really illustrates how grimy, depressing and empty the life of the spy is--especially in the Cold War Era in which it takes places. The older dudes who pull all the strings are totally devoid of any personality or morality--or any life, for that matter. And the young spies, while still full of fire, are just desperate to get out of the game alive.

I thought it was all an interesting comment, not only on the spy business, but the institution of the corporation.

And this just completely kicked ass. Pun intended.


So, being on this new spy kick, I'm very excited to read this book. As the 4 or 5 of you who read this blog know, I'm a complete sucker for hip jacket designs.

I also plan to check out some of the classic spy films: The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, The Ipcess File, The 39 Steps, The Tailor of Panama and maybe some of the older Bond films. Maybe. They should tide me over as I anxiously await the new Bourne Legacy in August!

If you have any other suggestions for reads/flicks, please let me know! xoL

valentines.

bottega louie.

There are a lot of things I love about L.A., and I few things I don't, but I'll tell you the #1 thing that gets me all riled up: people who constantly have to prove how "New York" they are.

Honestly, there is nothing more L.A. than saying "But I'm really a New Yorker," or "I'm a New Yorker at heart." Go to any online dating site, and 80% of the dudes title their profile "New York Boy Living in L.A." I'm sure the gals do some variation on this, too.

Because here's the thing--you're not. If you were a New Yorker at heart, you'd be in New York. But you had to throw it all away to come out here with your sitcom pilot or your spec script which never sold, so you're left with nothing to do but bitch and complain about how awful L.A. is and how New York is like some magical, fairy tale kingdom.

Well, you know what would help you let go of the past and live in the here and now? #1 Turn off Community or Modern Family* or whatever piece of non-brilliance you're raving about as "brilliant," actually leave your apartment, get outside and experience L.A. beyond all the godforsaken Hollywood nonsense. And have I got just the place for you.

Bottega Louie is located in the heart of downtown, and let me tell you, #DTLA is becoming so much fun. It used to be Dullsville, but not anymore! Anyway, I tell you this, because stepping foot in Bottega Louie is like entering the place New York dreams are made of.

And I'm not talking Brooklyn or the Lower East Side or grimy subways or any of the grittier elements you New Yorkers like to reminisce about (none of which are all that gritty anymore anyway). Brunching at BL makes you feel like you rolled out of bed in your Upper East Side penthouse, had the doorman call a town car and make a reservation, and then sped down to Midtown for a late brunch.

It's fabulous New York right in the middle L.A.

It might be interesting to note here that Bottega Louie is the #1 rated restaurant IN THE COUNTRY on Yelp (side note: 5 of the top 10 restaurants are in L.A.), and although I am loathe to admit it, I do pay attention to what people say on Yelp.

Anyway, I've gone with a group of friends for a couple of birthday celebrations, and both were just so damn wonderful and memorable. The space is cavernous and bathed in white. The waiters wear crisp white shirts and black bow ties. The pastry cases are filled with the most breathtaking confections. And it's always jam packed.

It's one of those rare places that makes you feel like a million bucks just by being there. I've worked in the biz, and let me tell you, this is not easy to do.

But the really wonderful thing about BL, is that ultimately it is a Los Angeles institution. Shown here are the Farmer's Market Breakfast and the Farmer's Market Tart, which came to @ $20. Super fresh, market ingredients, gourmet food, casual service and reasonable prices--everything that is so awesome about dining out in L.A.

So, get outside New Yorkers, and get to Bottega Louie! Wax nostalgic for the city you left and for the dining experiences you never really had--because it was all pizza slices, Papaya King and the occasional $30 hamburger.

And just chill and stop hatin' on L.A., OK?

*Full disclosure--I am a little embarrassed to say I have yet to see Modern Family, but I trust that it is as brilliant as everyone says. I think we are in a Golden Age of Television, and I truly find it to be an exciting and artistic medium. I also think it's very brave when people risk everything for a project they believe in. Hollywood's a tough town, everyone has a dream and only a very few make it to the top.

I suffered from horrific homesickness when I first moved out here from Minneapolis, and I totally get it. I'm just playing with you.

chinatown.

Hello. Playing catch up as always, but I thought you might like to know that in the past month or so, I've been venturing into the Chinatowns of the Los Angeles area. And yes, "Chinatowns" is plural.

I've heard so much about Yang Chow in downtown's Chinatown--star-studded, the best food, etc., so a friend and I went there on New Year's Day. There was a 40-minute wait, but we were both up for it.

Predictably, there are scads of reviews for this place on Yelp, and at least 2400 of them mention their most popular dish, "Slippery Shrimp."

Being the 21st Century gal that I am, I always check in on Facebook and Instagram when I go out. Within seconds of doing this, I had a few replies that said to some effect, "I love that place. You have to try the Slippery Shrimp."

So, my friend and I had some cold peanut noodles, dumplings, and of course, the You-Know-What. The noodles and the dumplings were lovely and wonderfully prepared, but something was...missing, which I'll get to in a minute.

So, they bring those slippery little buggers to our table. I couldn't have been more excited to pop a few in my mouth. My friend beat me to it, and exclaimed, "Oh my God. This is the best shrimp I've ever tasted."

I took my first bite, and you know what? I didn't care for it. I'm not trying to be contrary or all "the backlash starts here." It was impeccably prepared...almost too much so.

Yang Chow's famed Slippery Shrimp

Here's what I think the deal is. It's this place--Chung King, which is not in "Chinatown" Chinatown, but in the real Chinatown of the LA area--San Gabriel.

Am I making sense? To those of you who live in L.A. and are somewhat foodie-inclined, I'm making perfect sense. To the rest of you, maybe not.

This tiny little building on one of the most drab streets out in the middle of the Inland Empire offers up some of the most authentic Szechuan food not just in Los Angeles but in the country.
This is the case with many of the restaurants out here in Gold territory.

I came here with another friend over the holidays, and we've been back a couple more times, because we are ADDICTED, people. Specifically to the dish you see above, which is shrimp buried under a blizzard of chiles, scallions, garlic and something called Szechuan peppercorns--which they add to most every dish.

Again, if you Yelp this place, you'll find many reviews describing Szechuan peppercorns as having an effect on the mouth much like a mild form of novocaine. I found this to be accurate--and fascinating. They don't burn your mouth up like so many varieties of hot peppers (yes, you Mr. Habanero). Rather they provide a little zing before the entire lower half of your face goes pleasantly numb. Seriously, it's the damndest thing.

I think this is what made it difficult for me to enjoy the aforementioned Slippery Shrimp. They were just too bland, and basically a gourmet version of Sweet-n-Sour Shrimp--and I just can't stomach Sweet-n-Sour Anything.

A friend of mind described Yang Chow as the Cheesecake Factory of Chinese restaurants, and I found this observation to be dead on. The few times I've eaten there in the last 10 years, I've found myself saying, "God, what am I doing at this chain monstrosity when there are so many amazing places to eat?" Then I take a bite of the most perfectly deep-fried ball of marcaroni and cheese, and I'm like "Jesus, how can food be this good?"

I think Yang Chow is the Chinese version of this principle.

Chung King's Water Boiled Fish with Pepper

But anyway, back to Chung King. The photo above shows a dish called "Water Boiled Fish with Pepper," and yes, I know that sounds gnarly. The picture's not great either, and it's not because I'm a whiz with the Instagram. I am. This is just not picture-perfect food. It is, however, one of the three best dishes I think I have ever eaten in my life. The fish literally melts in your mouth, and the fiery sauce is dotted with those delightful little Szechuan peppercorns. And I'll take it over Slippery Shrimp or Deep-Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls every day of the week.