Time to kick the Bums out.

Maybe we need a new plague. Perhaps a month of rain? Or maybe we need to see some law enforcement for once. As you may know I live in Santa Monica. There is so much to love about this city, the weather, beaches, culture, dining, etc. For that reason I am willing to pay a much higher cost of living, tolerate traffic, and deal with the scarcity of parking. The single biggest problem facing this city is the Homeless problem. I am a tolerant person by nature, what I am not tolerant of are shouting at people minding their business, accosting shoppers for money, making idiotic comments as I jog by on the palisade, breathing foul order as they make lewd comments towards my girlfriend or female friends, pissing in my garage, invading the park I live near (Reed) so I can never enjoy a picninc there without smelling alcohol and weed, etc.


This is NOT a political liberal vs. conservative issue. This is a police department and City Hall that fails miserably to do their job. God forbid you smoke outside in Santa Monica or have a car that emit's carbon dioxide... but it is okay to infect visitors and residents with social decay. It's quite a paradox that we have here. I came to SM thinking that it was one of the most progressive cities in the Nation, I was wrong. I would hate to leave, but I can not raise children around here if I don't even feel comfortable with my girlfriend walking to the grocery store midday. This needs to be resolved. We need our pier, palisade, and promenade returned to glory.

Los Angeles - A year in retrospect

So, it's been a year now. 365 days since I decided to make the pilgrimage from the peaceful beach town (bubble) of Newport Beach to move to Santa Monica with the woman I love and leave the safety net of one of our nations largest companies (MetLife) to join a little known start up in hopes of making it big. I had such visions of grandeur.





















I am an optimist but not a fool, I knew it would be hard work having three major changes occur in my life all at once. Moving to LA, joining a start-up, and moving in with my serious girlfriend Kristina. If you know me, you would know that this has been a radical year... to say that at times I move at a snails pace would be an understatement. It has actually been a great year, I love living with K, and couldn't imagine life without it. The start-up is still... well... starting up, but things are looking positive and I have had three pay raises, higher blood pressure, about 5 extra pounds, and more excitement for a career than I have ever experienced. We aren't out of the woods yet, but I have gained a lot of experience and am past the point of any type of regret. While we still go to Newport a lot to see family and friends, we have experienced a lot of great things in LA and I am far from ready to leave. We are slowly coming out of our docile shelles. It also helps that BLee moved up here (and Grubb I guess). The restaurants are great, the culture is amazing, the people are rude as hell, I guess I am in paradise per se.

Let's revisit in another year. Who knows where we will be.

This Years Culinary Goal

I have always wanted to go to French Laundry in Yountville, and this year I am making it a point to go there for my birthday in August. I have heard great things about Thomas Keller, and I can say with resolution that I will have him feed me into my 29th year of life. If you would like to join me let me know and we will coordinate the reservation.



Top Ten Rated Restaurants in the World (Restaurant Magazine)

1. El Bulli, Montjoi, Spain - World's Best Restaurant, Best in Europe
2. The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire, UK
3. Pierre Gagnaire, Paris, France - Chef's Choice (voted for by last year's 50 Best)
4. French Laundry, Yountville, California, USA - Best Restaurant in the Americas
5. Tetsuya's, Sydney, Australia - Best Restaurant in Australasia
6. Bras, Laguiole, France
7. Restaurant Le Louis XV, Monaco
8. Per Se, New York, New York, USA
9. Restaurante Arzak, San Sebastian, Spain
10. Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain - Highest New Entrant

Big Sur - Paso Robles Trip

Greetings... we just got back from an amazing trip to our favorite vino destination, Paso Robles and decided to sacrifice a day of wine tasting to hit up nearby Big Sur. Kristina nor I have ever been through Big Sur, so aside from checking it out on the internet, we really didn't know what to expect. Growing up in Southern California as I have, one gets a jaded perception of what coastline should look like and what effect it can have on you. Needless to say, I was thouroughly impressed by the majesty of Big Sur. Obviously, I didn't expect to find young women tanning or Bro's riding around drunk on beach cruisers, but I also did not expect to become so instantly entranced by it. Well, thats enough of that. As you can see in our pictures, there were beautiful waterfalls that went out to the beach, huge rocky cliffs that hugged the coastline, etc. We wrapped up the day at Nepenthe, probably the best view of any restaurant I have ever been to. I highly reccomend it to anyone making the trip. Oh yeah, Paso was awesome too. As usual, we hit up all of our favorite wineries, made new friends and had some awesome dinners. New restaurant in Paso that is worth mentioning is Artisan. Amazing fish dishes and a great wine list.

Halloween 06 at Boo-dega

I know Halloween was on a Tuesday this year, but there was no way we weren't going out. It is one of the funnest holidays... hands down. We hit up Bodega, a local Enoteca. And it did not dissapoint, although I am probably biased due to the fact there were two awesome costumes; Zoolander and Mugatu. The guys probably thought I was gay after they saw how stoked I was on their costumes. I went as Magnum P.I. and K was a Geisha. We rolled out with some of her co-workers. I thought about what the best costumes our group had over the years and compiled a little list (top 5):

5. Brandon as David Beckham (actually it was probably the laziest costume of all time)
4. Collins and Bokow as Mormons (so un p.c.)
3. Jake as a Priest (irony?)
2. Crutchfield as a box of Franzia (Genius)
1. The Tennenbaums (Blee, Bell, and myself)

Beard Papas

I let the Krispy Kreme craze fly right by. Beard Papa's however pulled me in with it's tractor beam, if you are not familiar with Beard Papa's I will fill you in. It's a cream puff. Not just any cream puff, but a cream puff that just arrived her in LA (sawtelle to be exact). It hails from Japan, and if you are lucky enough to snag one before they sell out, you will be hooked on them and will soon fiend them at the most random times. It is the Japanese version of the Krispy Kreme and I can see why. It has a light egg-y, croissant-textured shell with a cream custard filling and is sprinkled with powdered sugar. If you take my advice and seek out this deliciousness give me a call, I will ride shotgun.

Karrens Wedding

Kristina, BLee, and I had the honor of attending my good college friend Karrens wedding last weekend. There was a lot to take in. First of all, the ceremony was in Armenian (my second Armenian wedding in a year) but it was very interesting. We didn't know when to sit or stand unless we followed the lead of everyone else. I grew up Catholic, and I thought our ceremonies were long. But when you attend an entire ceremony in a foreign language, it tends to magnify the length of the wedding quite a bit. His wife, Ani, looked amazing and I have never seen Karren so stoked. Congratulations Buddy! The reception was great, there was an amazing array of different types of foods... very good. I am a huge Zankou fan, but alas, there was no Tarna to be had. Karren's cousin Fred Kazakyhan whom we were also fraternity brothers with in college looks as though he put on some lbs, but is doing good for himself. The best surprise of the night was the music and dancing, apparently Karren and his cousins have been taking Armenian dancing lessons since they were children growing up in Glendale. I was a bit surprised to say the least... let's just say I had never seen Karren dance like that when we were bumping Dr. Dre at the Pike house in IV. I am sure Karren and Ani will be together for a long time. One more note... sorry Raffi, but the Torosyans can bust some great moves on the dance floor.... not to take anything away from the Zerounians.

Welcome to a glimpse of my world

So let me start off by saying, I have never been the type to keep a diary or any of that type of nonsense. My aim for starting a blog is to let my friends, family, and fellow apes share in my lifes adventures or lack thereof at times. I have always benefited from reading the blogs of others with suggestions on places to eat, things to see, and other types of life experiences that I can draw from. I guess this would also aim to give back to the web society that has enriched me at times. If you know me and are reading this, you will already know that I grew up in So Cal all my life and I attended UCSB, which was pretty much were my adult life began; made my current friends, learned what a freak I really am, and most importantly met the love of my life.... Kristina. Hi Babe. Let's have some fun with this. Check back for updates people. And may the Apes run wild like salmon of Capistrano.