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Showing posts from December, 2010

Tokyo 7-7 Coffee Shop, Culver City - Thank You for the 30 Years

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When I was working in Culver City, there was a place that kept me alive and kicking for almost nothing. I wasn't making much and over the 3 years, I frequented a place called Tokyo 7-7, a tiny, divey coffee shop run by a few Japanese ladies. Since 1980, they served breakfast plates as low as $2.50 and was consistently filled with loyal customers wearing suits, service uniforms and baggy jeans. It was a real mix of people that would otherwise never be found in the same building unless it was the DMV. At that time, Downtown Culver City was developing into a "foodie" district and was sarcastically dubbed as “CuCi” for its semi-pricey lunch and dinner spots. Amidst the transformation, this tiny alleyway gem continued to keep things real. Real cheap. Sadly, on December 18, those that frequented Tokyo 7-7 would remember this quaint business as real soul food. The food is nothing to write about, but sometimes it doesn't have to be good to have an impact on you. Everyone...

2010 Fuji Rock Festival Food Stalls

Here's 5:50 mins of pure food. The food alone at the Fuji Rock Festival is worth the trip. Simply press mute when the high-pitched, nasal-voiced people get on your nerves. Enjoy .

WonderTune Paris - Finally Going to Europe

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After years of traveling all over Latin America and Asia, we are finally heading to Europe for our first time – and we're super stoked. Would love to hear your eating/drinking suggestions for Paris. And here's the WonderTune Paris mix. Featuring chill/laidback songs from: AIR Arcade Fire Beck Bent Blur Bon Iver Coldplay Daft Punk Jazzanova Massive Attack Nightmares On Wax Nouvelle Vague Peter Bjorn & John Phoenix The Radio Dept. Radiohead The Shins Yo La Tengo Download WonderTune Paris . Enjoy. Thanks for reading.

Ngu Binh, Little Saigon Westminster - Bun Bo Hue the Lonely, Distant Red-headed Relative of Pho

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When it comes to Vietnamese food, you can bet the first thing people will talk about is pho , a delicate soup noodle dish made from long hours of boiling beef bones, browned onions, fish sauce and various spices. Do not pronounce it like "foe" – all of your wrongdoings in life will be spilled over WikiLeaks and you'll be left to eat Costco samples for the rest of your life. I love pho as much as everyone does and enjoy eating it in whatever mood I'm in, but let's be honest, it's time it got off the stage like Leno. Of the hundreds of Vietnamese soup noodle dishes, it doesn't do much to the senses. There's definitely aroma, flavor and heat, but it is also one big bowl of boring. Zzzzz. Believe it or not, pho will never go away. It's impossible. It's provided sustenance for Vietnamese people for decades and it fuels poor, starving college kids all over the U.S. It will not suddenly disappear off the face of this planet. As a suggestion...

Soo Rak San House of Noodles, Koreatown Los Angeles - Sujebi Korean Hand-Torn Noodles

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The Koreans have quite a number of different dishes that are served on special occasions, seasons and holidays. I read on a Korean tourism site somewhere that bi bim bap is a typical New Year's day dish, same with rice cake soup, tteok . Or when a child is born, colorful rice cakes dusted with various bean powders are served to the family. I remember my good friend Immaeatchu telling me how she had made a beef and seaweed soup in celebration of her mom's birthday. Whatever the case, it seems like everyday is a party for Korean people. And for sure kimchi is that one dish that is celebrated everyday. But for the not-so-glorious non-Holidays and special occasions that involve too much soju and watered-down Crown Royal, Koreans are also prepared for that department with the many 24-hour joints in Koreatown. A bowl of haejang kook (hangover soup), yu kae jang (spicy beef soup) or shul lung tang , white beef bone broth, always seems to do the trick. Although Korean soup...