Let's Get Some Cupcakes in Beverly Hills!

Despite long standing predictions that a cupcake crash would follow the long developing (and internationally spreading) cupcake boom, cupcake shops seem like they are everywhere. Here in Seattle, we have the Cupcake Royale, Trophy Cupcake, and Yellowleaf Cupcakes, among others. In Beverly Hills, there is both Crumbs Bakeshop and Sprinkles Cupcakes within a block of each other right off Rodeo Drive. I have had Crumbs before on a previous trip and decided to try Sprinkles for a change.

Between the two, Sprinkles Cupcakes is the higher design concept shop. Everything here has been meticulously crafted by a designer, from the bamboo trays to the gift box packaging. The shop is small and is more cupcake shop than coffee shop (like the Cupcake Royale).Directly beside Sprinkles Cupcake is a Cupcake ATM (Seriously) and then Sprinkles Ice Cream, which is literally the other side of the same shop. If you walk from one to the other, the same thoroughness of design is here as well and the same song is even playing in both shops.

However, having high design with a crappy cupcake is far worse than excellent cupcakes with crappy design. In this particular case... the cupcakes were actually pretty good! The cake was nice and moist, the three flavors that I tried were all well balanced and without excessive frosting. All the cakes look like there is a ton frosting, but this is actually an illusion: The cake top is actually fairly domed, which gives the impression that there is more than there actually is.

Perfection? Not quite. Almost all of the cupcakes have a small colored marker on top that shows which flavor the cupcake actually is (again, design is everywhere) and there is even a special Beverly Hills shield cupcake, but these little discs are effectively inedible and just confusing. I am sure that they are non-toxic and safe... but they offer an unpleasant bite if you aren't aware that they are little sugar(?) stone disks.

It is a fun little shop, but my one regret? Not trying the ATM that constantly belts out a song of praise to Sprinkles. I will have to give it a try next time...

Let's go to Beverly Hills!

About a week ago I had a super quick trip to Beverly Hills. There was a position that was open and I was invited to sit for the exam, so I took the day off and went down to throw my name in the hat. I had less than 24 hours there, but the trip ended up being good: I had a chance to reconnect with some friends and take a quick look around the famed Beverly Hills. 

My first memory of hearing about Beverly Hills comes TV, but not from what you're probably thinking of. I never saw Beverly Hillbillies and 90210 wasn't it either. The very first time I remember "Beverly Hills" being mentioned was this monstrosity:

Beverly Hills Teens. "Come live your fantasy in Beverly Hills. Come on and make your dreams come true..." Somewhere between Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Inspector Gadget there was this. The 1980s were something else and there was so many cartoons floating around. If you watch the intros to the cartoons that played on Saturday morning, I bet you'll recognize some that you've long forgotten.

But, on this trip I had a chance to take a look around the actual city of Beverly Hills. The city was established in 1914 and exhibits a rather beautiful design that takes advantage of the natural features of the area. The story is that after some oil prospectors failed to find any oil in the area, they decided to try to set up their very own city. The city was laid out by Wilbur D. Cook who was heavily influenced by the Olmsted Brothers and reflects an approach to planning called "City Beautiful". This was a movement that preferred organic shapes, placed emphasis on civic pride and monumentalism, and the need for nature near to where people lived. It was a softening of the geometric grids and the idea that cities could be better places than they were. It's a goal is still central to urban planning today, even if the terminology and ideas about how to get there have sometimes changed.

A lot of the places that we really like today came from this era and Beverly Hills is actually pretty nice. The streets north of Santa Monica Blvd curve elegantly without completely losing the efficiency that a grid system offers. The houses are mostly upscale and become nicer as you move into the actual hills. The city leaders built a very nice civic complex, starting with the city hall below. With about 35,000 people and a more geometric downtown core, it seems like they have actually done a good job at managing their growth over the past 100 years (which you can see in the image to the left). 

Of course, as beautiful as it is, with only 24 hours there's not much time to do anything... except perhaps to try some cupcakes!

Flight Report: Leaving LA

Burbank Airport

Sunset at BUR...

I ended up not getting very lucky this time around for flights. I was set to fly out on United from Burbank back to Seattle via SFO, but pretty soon it became apparent that things would take a little longer than I expected. My original flight out was delayed and finally we got the green light to board. They got all of us on board and then had to deplane everyone because there was a flow control situation in SFO.

What is flow control? Every airport has a certain capacity for accepting airplanes, which varies through the day and by visibility. Airports tend to accept fewer airplanes at night (often with a curfew to be good neighbors to the surrounding population) and when visibility is reduced they are required by the FAA to limit the number of planes that take off and land for safety reasons. San Francisco is known for fog and for being a hub for air travel and we were delayed a few hours this time around.

Everyone was ready to go and on board, literally, just before they delayed the flight

Unfortunately for me, my connection was only an hour and a half. At this point, I'm not very happy with the way that United is treating their customers and this became an example of that. A few other frequent fliers I was talking to on the flight were standing in line and told me that they had stopped bothering to try and call the new United because the wait times were so bad. That mirrors my experience since the merger with Continental as well, to the point where I've the new United has literally refused to take my call to customer service (all that I get is something like the message: "We have a high volume of people calling right now. Please try again later. Goodbye." and then an audible *click*). I can't believe that that is acceptable to them and while the official line is that this is something new with the merger, I clearly remember a couple times pre-merger where I have been unable to reach Continental during an emergency. I've recommended United in the past, but  my stance is shifting.

In total, they offered to maroon me in San Francisco, if I wanted to fly up there that night, but wouldn't provide a hotel. That wasn't an option. When I told them I had a place in Los Angeles, but would appreciate a $15 shuttle ride there, since it was now 9pm and my friend couldn't provide a ride, they said they couldn't do it despite providing that to other passengers who had to get to LAX for a reroute. They weren't interested in a single day of rental car as a solution either, so I could get there and back. I think overall my requests weren't that unreasonable, especially since afterwards it took about 1.5 hours to get back by bus because it was so late. That's a huge inconvenience and it put me with my baggage in Hollywood late at night. While places like that don't usually concern me, people had been drinking and a fight broke out across the street from me while I was trying to transfer to my next bus. The $15 shuttle ride would have been a very appreciated gesture, especially since that was all I was asking for.

...and back again the next day.

In the end, I came back the next day for my new flight: A direct flight from BUR to SEA on Alaska Air. At the start of the year, I had status matched with them and to my pleasant surprise I was welcomed with a first class seat, despite the fact that my status as a paid Alaska passenger was dubious. In IROP situation, airlines can put you on other airlines if they need to. Burbank was as trouble free, in terms of security, as ever. Even with it being lower on the priority airport totem pole, I still like it better than the other options around LA.

We had a very nice stewardess in the first class cabin who was on her first day. She was very nice and she took great care of us, but you could see that she was a little green. Because I like to take photos, I asked if I could swap seats with someone at a window seat for the climb and she asked if it was my first time on a plane (No, not quite). It was refreshing to see someone at the brink of starting a new adventure and her enthusiasm was really quite infectious. I could see that the rest of the people she was working with got a little caught up in it as well: The pilots offered a couple kids (who were on a plane for the first time) a chance to sit in the cockpit and everyone else on board seemed pretty positive.

Want more like these photos? Keep reading after the break! I've got more photos from the flight, including the inflight meal, and some really nice shots from our approach to Seattle.

Keep Reading!

Eating in LA: Three more Great Places in Downtown LA

Food Friday is back! This time with four more places to check out while you're wandering around Los Angeles. This time I'm going to cover the classics, a good new pizza place, and a hole in the wall that was good but definitely more on the adventurous side of dining. I'll have all three additional places after the break, but for now....

...we have to start off with classic sandwich of Los Angeles: The Roast Beef Sandwich from Philippe the Original. Philippe's has spent 104 years serving hungry Angelenos and this sandwich has been on the menu for 94 of those. It first appeared in 1918 for a dime a sandwich (When they celebrated 100 years of business back in 2008, that price even made a brief comeback). Simply put, Philippe's is an institution and it is not going anywhere. If you visit LA, you have to visit this place which is easy because it is right by Chinatown, Olvera Street and Union Station.

Philippe's is known for being delightfully anachronistic. The menu is a combination of classics like the sandwiches, coleslaw, and lemonade and crazy holdovers from another era. Care of a pickled pig's foot or egg? No problem. How about a single olive? That's a dime, please. Half a peach? Sure thing. Coffee? Up until this year, it was $0.09 a cup. Today, it is still less than two quarters. The women behind the counter look like they were dressed by someone running a restaurant in the run up to World War II and with a place like this, there's no real need to update the interior much. Everything feels old, well worn, and permanent. It's as if they carved the place from a single piece of stone, leaving an unchanging shell in which they run indomitable Philippe's restaurant that we know today (The saw dust on the floor is a nice touch).

It also doesn't hurt that the sandwiches are actually good. I recommend that you ask for your sandwich double dipped (they dip the sandwiches whole into au jus, instead of providing a cup). Asking for it double dipped means more of that great flavor in the bread, without it being soggy. You can add whatever you want to your meal from there, but you have to get the sandwich. 

After the break, three more restaurants including one super hole in the wall by the convention center, another LA institution, and some damned good pizza. 

 

Skybars in LA: Skybars and Rooftop Lounges in Los Angeles (At the Top)

I enjoy visiting skybars. Being able to look at the city below is a great feeling and lately I've been "collecting" that experience when I visit a city. My goal is to go to the highest skybar in the city and enjoy a happy hour with a frend. This time in LA, I tried three of them: The member only City Club on Bunker Hill, Rooftop Bar at The Standard, and WP24.

The City Club at Bunker Hill is a member's only club at the top of the Wells Fargo Tower. It's on the 54th floor and it's the highest skybar in the city. I managed to get in on a fluke. I'm not a member, but the person I was staying with happened to know someone who was. Lucky us.

From the bar, you can see the entire city. The prices weren't as bad as I thought they would be, but it is more expensive than other places. Then again, if you can afford the monthly membership, you can afford these prices.

The Rooftop Bar at The Standard doesn't have the same view, not by a long shot, but it is open to the public and when we visited cover free. The rooftop is separated into two areas. The first is a super-trendy lounge and the other is a faux-German beer garden. While there was no cover, a beer was $8. It's built in to the prices in any case. Overall the building is a relic that's been updated as much as they can. I don't think that I would stay here for the hotel, but I would definitely come back.

Finally, we have WP24, which is located on the 24th floor of the Marriott in the LA Live development. I have mixed feelings about the bar. The menu looked pretty good, but it's pricey as you would expect for a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. On the other hand, it's in the LA Live development which is all expensive and among the options in the area this is actually a good choice for a pre-game drink or anything in conjunction with a convention or other event in the area. The view is nice and the windows offer an unobstructed view, but it doesn't have the same feel of being embedded in the city as other skybars do. City Club is distinctly above the city and The Standard, although only on the 16th floor, is still distinctly in the city. From WP24, you get a view of the city from a couple blocks away.

Los Angeles actually has quite a number of skybars. I'm sure this is not an exhaustive list, but here is my shortlist of skybars in LA which is part of my big list of skybars worldwide. When I go back, I am definitely looking forward to trying Perch, which I didn't get around to this time. If you have any suggestions of places to add to this list, please let me know!

City Club on Bunker Hill: Wells Fargo Building, 54th floor

BonaVista: Bonaventure, 34th floor

WP24: The JW Marriot at LA Live, 24th floor

Elevate Lounge/Takami: 21st floor
Perch: Pershing Square Building, 16th floor
Rooftop Bar at The Standard: The Standard Hotel, 15th floor

Transit in LA: Getting around LA without a Car

Los Angeles is known for being an autocentric city, but what happens if you decide not to rent a car? I did just that and I'm happy to report that the transit investments in Los Angeles have paid off and that having a car, while still convenient, is no longer mandatory. Transit in LA, at least for everywhere that I went, was a robust and accessible system that let me put more money to my trip instead of into the tank of a car (which is a lot because a gallon of gas is $4 to $6 right now in Los Angeles).

The map above is the full system map, with every bus and train listed. There really is a bus going everywhere, even if it's not very frequent. Within this network is another network of just those lines that run every 15 minutes or less. The dark red lines are for the "Metro Rapid" service, while the yellow lines are for "Metro Local", both of which are bus based services. The difference is that the "Metro Rapid" lines stop at fewer bus stops along the way, making them express buses.

Also visible on the map below are the heavy rail components of the system. The bright red, purple, and turquoise lines. These are traditional subways for the red and purple lines and modern light rail running on the surface for the turquoise line (which is actually the newly opened expo line that will one day reach Santa Monica). The slim green lines are buses that are operated by other municipal agencies, in this case the Big Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus and Rapid Service). In total, there are 44 additional transit agencies that are represented on their main system map.

After the break, we'll get into a nitty-gritty overview of the system and show off the newest pieces of my transit pass collection.

Walking in LA: Eating in Echo Park and Silver Lake

My favorite part of LA is, without a doubt the area between Los Feliz and Echo Park. Los Feliz and Silver Lake are both very nice neighborhoods and Echo Park has recently become a trendy place to be. For me, Echo Park has always been home as long as I can remember (The Pioneer Market? I remember playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles there as a kid). Being back was a great chance to take a walk around the neighborhood and check out what's changed.

Of course, I love restaurants and things have changed quite a bit there. The area at Sunset and Hyperion in particular is now full of interesting places to eat and check out. Intelligentsia is now in the area serving up great coffee that often attracts a line and new restaurants link Berlin Currywurst and Forage are popping up next to traditional places like Millie's Cafe and Madame Matisse. In this post, we'll visit a couple neighborhood places and check out a very cool urban intervention when I put my planner hat on.

Want to find out where to get this?

Or this?

Or see this?

If so, keep reading after the break! We'll check all of these places out.

Flying to LA: Which airport to choose?

Everyone knows about LAX. It's the main international airport in the Los Angeles area and the safe bet for getting to LA. However, LAX isn't the only airport in LA and making smart choices about which airport you fly to can make your trip to Los Angeles easier.

What other airports are there?
In the Los Angeles area, there are five airports. Burbank (BUR), Long Beach (LGB), Ontario (ONT), and Orange County (SNA). Each of these has regular service on major carriers and in many cases can put you closer to where you need to be at about the same cost. Sometimes other airports like Long Beach are actually less expensive than LAX.

Where are they?
All of the airports are spaced through the area. Burbank is in the San Fernando valley (in the valley), just north of downtown LA. Long Beach to the south of downtown LA and is one of the closest airports to Disneyland. Orange County is closer still to Disneyland (the airport of choice for this destination) and farther still from downtown LA. Ontario to the east of downtown LA. You can see a map with all of them here.

Which one do I choose?
Where to go depends on where you need to go, the price of tickets, and how you plan to get around.  The LA/Ontario airport has a great little tool to help make that decision if you are driving. Just type in your address, and you can see driving time to all of the airports side-by-side. Metro also has a simplified map that shows what buses run to and from the airports to different destinations in LA. After the break, we'll have a quick overview of my take on the pros and cons of each of the airports.