We had dinner at Café Amelie on Royal, a quaint courtyard establishment that served a perfect duck and had a bottle of wine that I’d only previously drank at Magnolia on Sunset, an Evolution from Oregon that is just splendid. We drank coffee and took in the sounds of the night, the entire day slowly [...]
Author Archives: Vaughn Blake
French Quarter Fest, New Orleans, LA Part 1
April 21, 2009 – 3:23 pm
While most of my friends and half of the entertainment industry headed out to the desert to get sunburn, ingest substances, and see the last remaining Beatle (Ringo doesn’t count) at Coachella this weekend, I decided to take the chance to get away from Southern California, get away from triple digit temperatures and secret after-parties, [...]
And Who the F**k is Ralph?
April 3, 2009 – 3:29 pm
Foreword by Stan Lerner: first let me say that I did not assign this story to Vaughn. But as a rule downtownster does not pull back its’ writers—I leave that to the New York Times. And the LA Times for that matter. I remember what a great day it was for the community when Ralphs [...]
Downtown’s Queen of Green
March 30, 2009 – 10:51 am
I noticed Minh-Son Dang within the first few days of moving into my building on 4th and Main. I’d see her riding her bike to and from the building, standing on a corner in conversation with a fellow downtownster, always mid-laugh or mid-smile, and always wearing green glasses. What I noticed most was that everyone [...]
VARNISH: Getting Lucky on Sixth Street
March 19, 2009 – 7:51 am
If I wasn’t such a big fan of Eric Aleperin and Sasha Petraske’s Milk and Honey and from the years I spent in New York, I would’ve written off Varnish as just another Johnny-come-lately watering hole attempting to capitalize on the speakeasy craze. Lump it in with The Edison, Seven Grand, and that place [...]
St. Patrick’s Day Downtown LA Style
March 17, 2009 – 4:14 pm
11:03AM
Much like every St. Patty’s for the last half-decade or so, I began my morning with a nice tall pint of Guinness and proceeded to whip up a traditional Irish breakfast of Irish Baccon, Eggs, and English Muffin toast (I couldn’t find any soda bread in the neighborhood). Main Street is quiet right now, not [...]
Old Bank DVD
March 17, 2009 – 12:08 pm
Mark Schumacher and Erik Loyson kicked open the doors to Old Bank DVD on Christmas Eve of 2005. Both veterans of the LA’s film industry (Mark’s a Director of Photography, Eric’s a grip) they saw an opportunity in downtown’s growing Old Bank District, found a space in the same building as the downtown staple, ‘Pete’s’ [...]
