During the Great Depression, Hollywood did its part by providing
people with the ultimate escape. It didn’t try to provide its audience
with everyday situations that just reinforced their misery. Sullivan’s
Travels made that point brilliantly. Instead, Hollywood gave them
fantasy and opulence. The glamour of the Busby Berkley movies, the
optimism of Shirley Temple; all these movies were a respite from the
bleakness that awaited them when the lights came up.
Nobody wants to admit that the country might be facing a
depression. At the very least, right now, times are tough. That’s why,
when I tell you about Gold Class Cinemas, you must understand the
spirit in which my husband Chad and I went. First of all, we were
invited by our friend Nigel, who is already a member and was very
excited to see our reaction to the whole experience.
We were to see Iron Man 2 and the theatre was in Pasadena. When I went online to check it out, I saw that there were, what looked like big orange Bark-a-loungers with smiling people resting with cocktails. Hmmm.
Everybody has them. Those neighborhood joints you walk/drive by a
million times but never go into. For no good reason. The place looks
nice enough and clearly has customers, but you always just pass it by.
We've lived in the Valley for over a decade, within walking distance of
the Great Greek and we never went until last month. Our friends, S and
K (who used to live nearby) were horrified. Turns out the GG is one of
their all time favorite places. Or so they claimed. You'd think if that
were true they would have drug us there long before the night K was due
to leave the country for an extended length of time. Of course, it was
the one restaurant she just had to eat at one more time before she
left, so that has to count for something. I guess there isn't a lot of
Greek food where she's going.
I think there might be a reason most of the neutral or positive reviews of Olio Pizzeria focus mainly on breakfast. Their overhyped pizza crust tastes like english muffins. And, unfortunately, it's not quite Thomas'.
When I originally conceived of taking a self-led tour of the LA food
trucks with some friends it was to see who was trying to capitalize on
the success of Kogi BBQ, the crossover Mexican-Korean taco truck, and
their use of Twitter to let people know their current
location. Supposedly Kogi is the originator of the hip and cool LA
food truck and, as some have told me, has the best food of all the taco
trucks. My plan was to find trucks that had just rolled out, are newly
popular, or ones that I know nothing about and see if Kogi would hold
up against the rest.
Except for a short stint on the Westside, I've spent over 20 years living in the Valley. And I love it. I really do. Yet, since I became more of a "foodie" a few years ago, I have been consistently disappointed with our lack of finer dining choices. We have excellent Mexican, burgers, pizza and sushi on every block of Ventura Blvd., but it's a wasteland when it comes to trying to find a place with a decent wine list, upscale decor and innovative food that doesn't cater to hipster millennials who are more concerned with being seen than with what's on the plate. Every time I read about a new place opening I held my breath in anticipation that my prayers would be answered…only to have them dashed by another gastro pub or taco joint (no offense).
