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LA Magazine's Top 75 Restaurants - 2008

Los Angeles magazine recently came out and rated LA restaurants based on their opinions, at first I was not a fan of their star rating system, but even the One Star restaurants are very good places to eat, we have dined at a few of the 3 star restaurants mentioned below and I defeinitely think Josie is worthy of the rating but Wilshire? it's okay, but not necessarily worthy of its peers or better than Mastro's (my favorite steakhouse). I was also a little upset that Rustic Canyon didn't make the list, maybe they are too new?? I think the 1st 4 star restaurant I intend to try will be Melisse... mmm can't wait.



****: "Remarkable and extraordinary"
***: "Bold and ambitious"
**: "Distinctive and assured"
*: "Pleasant and satisfying"

FOUR STAR
1. Lucques
2. Melisse
3. Providence
4. Bastide
5. Urasawa
6. Sona

THREE STAR
7. Vincenti
8. La Cachette
9. All'Angelo
10. Patina
11. Hatfield's
12. Osteria Mozza/Pizzeria Mozza
13. Mako
14. Wilshire
15. The Dining Room at the Langham
16. Valentino
17. Angelini Osteria
18. Spago
19. Campanile
20. Fraiche
21. Josie
22. Saddle Peak Lodge
23. Craft
24. Cut
25. Water Grill

TWO STAR
26. Ortolan
27. Joe's Restaurant
28. A.O.C.
29. The Grill on the Alley
30. Gardens
31. Xiomara
32. Jar
33. Nishimura
34. Mimosa
35. Comme Ca
36. Mastro's Steakhouse
37. Ciudad
38. Simon LA
39. The Foundry on Melrose
40. Grace
41. Bar Hayama
42. Michael's
43. Drago
44. Il Grano
45. Kiriko Sushi
46. Matsuhisa
47. Lawry's the Prime Rib
48. Blair's
49. Massimo
50. Madeo

ONE STAR
51. Sushi Katsu-ya
52. La Botte
53. The Hump
54. Sushi Dokoro Ki Ra La
55. Tanzore
56. The Buffalo Club
57. Mori Sushi
58. The Lobster
60. Chameau
61. Il Carpaccio
62. Trattoria Tre Venezie
63. Nanban-kan
64. Asanebo
65. The BLVD
66. Paperfish
67. Petros
68. Sam's by the Beach
69. Bashan
70. The Ivy
71. Cafe Pinot
72. Crustacean
73. Cafe Pierre
74. La Scala
75. Tasca Wine Bar

Out My Window NYC

I was looking at some other blogs last night and came across this NYC Photographers (Gail Halaban) blog that I thought was fascinating. Not only is the actual photographic talent by Halaban awe inspiring, but it is a very interesting subject. It is so intriguing to visit other peoples homes not only to see their views in NY but also to see how they set up their space. You can see more at http://outmywindownyc.blogspot.com/

Improv Everywhere hits Hermosa Beach

Improv everywhere is a large network of people that get together and make large elaborate random scenes, in a word... they are awesome. Recently they turned a little league game in Hermosa into the best day of these kids' lifes. Imagine you are playing a standard little league game and expecting the usual crowd of 20 or so parents to show up until these guys come in and turn it into a major league caliber game. If you have any semblance of a soul, you will enjoy this.

You can check out some of their other scenes here: http://improveverywhere.com

Vacation Where the Dollar is Still Strong

Nice Article I found. Tijuana didn't make the list?

Check out these 7 places where the greenback is worth a lot more than the paper it's printed on
Argentina
Why spend thousands in France when you can find the same vibe here? Buenos Aires (a.k.a. the Paris of South America) has embarked on a dramatic turnaround since the 2001 collapse of the Argentine peso — but the place is still amazingly cheap.

Chic hotel rooms, nights out dancing and fabulous food and wine cost half what they do across the Atlantic. A huge thick-cut steak dinner? Rarely more than $25.

Mendoza region where they make the Malbec wine is supposed to be awesome.

Bali
With the dollar holding steady against the Indonesian rupiah over the past year, Bali has become one of the best island values in Asia.


Luxury bungalows nestled in lush hillsides can be had for $100 to $200 a night. At countless stone temples you can often see shadow-puppet performances for free or a small donation. And half-hour massages typically cost less than $15.

Please see countdown clock to right. Yessss!

Costa Rica
Incredibly, Americans now have about a third more buying power in this natural wonderland than they did five years ago — a dollar equals around 500 Costa Rican colones today vs. 360 then.

You can explore beaches good for surfing, then go snorkeling in coral reef-filled bays.Don't miss the rainforests, which teem with wildlife — including rare quetzals with spectacular plumage.

We may try to go this fall and stay at the Paladin (My Work)compound.

Mexico
With the peso/dollar exchange rate steady over the past couple of years, Mexico remains a prime bargain destination.

The hottest area now is arguably Mexico City, booming with new museums, a historical architectural revival, and a vibrant music and arts scene. Entry to the city's huge Museum of Modern Art, where you can see works by Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera, costs just $2.

Aside from Cabo, which I have visited at least 5 times already and the rest of Baja, we really want to go to Xihuatanejo and Guadalajara.

Morocco
Though the Moroccan dirham has strengthened a bit against the dollar in the past year, in the ancient cities of Casablanca, Fez and Marrakech many café meals still cost less than $5.

Classic budget hotels in atmospheric narrow streets, such as the Hotel El Muniria in Tangier, where Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac stayed, cost around $30 a night. Plenty of luxury hotels are available too.

Just don't watch Babel before you go here.

Panama
This small country boasts mountains, rainforests, 1,500 miles of coast (your pick of the Caribbean or Pacific) and — of course — the magnificent canal, where you can gawk at giant supertankers being raised and lowered through the locks.

Forget exchange rates: Panama's currency, the balboa, is pegged at parity with the U.S. dollar, and the dollar itself is accepted virtually everywhere.

No thanks.

Vietnam
There's never been a better time to visit one of Asia's most fascinating countries, with pristine beaches and unique crafts: The dollar goes further against the Vietnamese dong than it did three years ago.

You may have enough left to splurge on a fivestar hotel, such as the new Park Hyatt in Ho Chi Minh City ($290 a night vs. up to $675 for a comparable room in Chicago).

I think Brandon set the Vietnamese record for most spring rolls consumed in a week, last I checked the record still stands... same same.

The Angels have descended upon us again...

The smell of fresh cut grass, hot dogs, and Coors light has overtaken the sinuses of all who enter Angel stadium once again. No single team has managed to bring nostalgia to me year after year as the Angels have managed to do, this year will mark my 25th year as a fan (my first game was at age 5 with Grandpa Gene). And an exciting year it promises to be, the Angels are on the heel of their 3rd consecutive AL West title and have brought some more talent in to make another solid run at the playoffs. Torii Hunter was the marquee addition to an already stacked outfield, he is great defensively and will put some more power in the lineup (as of this article he already leads the Angels with 4 HR's). Kotchman and Kendrick could have breakthrough seasons and the pitching lineup will be solid once Lackey and Escobar get healthy. Chone Figgins is on eof the best leadoff men in baseball, we will see if he can keep up his stellar on base percentage.



As far as the other teams in the AL West... they suck. Alright, I am sure Seattle will put up a decent fight this year and could very likely end up in the playoffs, they have a tight starting rotation and a lot of power potential in their lineup but lack depth, a few injuries will drop them out of contention. The A's are in a down cycle of their Moneyball philosophy and will be scrappy but ultimately lack overall talent, they should come in 3rd in Al West. The Rangers have a powerful lineup and solid bullpen but again have no pitching, they are my pick for cellar dweller this year. Obviously I am biased here, but I am also a realist... the West will be won in Anaheim again this year, after that it's anyones guess, but I will be damned if the Chowderheads go to the WS again. Go Angels!

Bell caught himself a Sailfish in Costa Rica!

Too bad you let that Dorado get away in La Paz during Bokow's bachelor party...

Guest Columnist - Cameron Verdi

Cameron is a good friend and financially astute observer of our weakening economy, please enjoy his perspective....

So with Bernanke( The Fed Chairman, who controls the Reserve, a position that can be herald as one of the world's most powerful positions) scheduled to talk tomorrow, the topic of conversation will undoubtably be about the state of our economy. Recession, inflation, you know, the normal stuff. Funny how the government is trying to act as a triage for all the pain our economy is currently in. Congress felt compelled to meet with some of the Oil big wigs this week, to determine exactly how did they make soo much money over the last few years. I have one number for you, $107. Price per barrel of oil, is a good start.

Enough about that, I find it funny how we can spend soo much time trying to understand why we are where we are, opposed to what we can do to fix it. This wont be fixed over night, and I dont intend on pulling my hair out trying to understand all of our global issues, including, but not limited to our devalued dollar, global dislike for the War, etc. From my perspective, it all starts with baby steps, 101 of spending and budgeting on the personal level.

A rule of thumb that I have always leaned on, is to take care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves.

What does that mean? Well, lets get analytical on it.

If you bring home $4,000:

Try to save 10% of that into an account you dont touch ( except for emergencies)( May I recommend: www.ingdirect.com)

So you now have $3600 left.
Roof over your head shouldn't cost you more than 30% of your take home ( 4,000 x 0.30)= $1,200
Car and gas----that is up to you....but for the record, you now have $2,400 to play with.
$2400 less car expenses, gas, utilities, phone, health insurance ( dont skip this one, it is important), food, dining out, entertainment etc.

This all seems basic, but you would be surprised how much better life could be without the pressures of not having any money saved. Down the road, we can talk about IRA etc, but I think this will be a good start. Since I finished rebuilding my house, I realized I was lighting a lot more money on fire than I needed to be, so I have implement my old school style of saving, just like in the old days, and feel like it is an important thing to always maintain.