Father's Office Burger - Best Burger in LA???

I have seen countless lists and articles that have the Father's Office Burger as one of the best, if not THE best burger in LA.  With a claim like that I needed to check it out and evaluate it for myself.  First, let me say that burgers are one of my favorite foods, hands down.  My heart belongs to the best burger I've ever tasted -- The Sobelman's Burger in my hometown of Milwaukee, WI.  This burger has bacon, grilled onions, 3 types of cheese, and jalapenos all on an amazing bun.  So needless to say, the Father's Office burger had a lot to live up to.  I usually scope out the website before I visit the establishment and I must say, the FO website left much to the imagination.  It is vague, there isn't a menu, and it's hard to tell that its a restaurant, much less a restaurant with the best burger in LA.  The absence of a menu adds to the mystique.  So, there was a lot of anticipation leading up to this visit.  There are two locations in SoCal; one in Santa Monica and one in LA.  We went to the Santa Monica location because we were already in the area and it is the original restaurant.  We found rockstar parking right across the street at free meters (it was after 6 or 7) which was awesome.  We walked in and there was a guy at the door that informed us that seating was first come first serve and all ordering is done at the bar.  There aren't waiters and the restaurant itself is pretty small.  So we made our way to the bar and found a couple seats.  We ordered a Belgium beer from there externsive and ever changing beer list but that's not what we were there for.  We each ordered a Fathers Burger done medium with a side of fries and sipped our beer while anxiuosly awaiting what was to be a delicious treat.

Once the burgers came I immediately was excited but a bit perplexed.  The burger looked curiously healthy loaded with fresh arugula and the bun was what looked like a kaiser roll instead of the usual round bun.  The sandwich is actually dry aged beef that sits upon a French bun, topped with caramelized onions, applewood bacon compote, gruyere, maytag blue cheese and arugula.  The first bite was....delicious.  But in a different way.  I usually like burgers because of their greasy toppings that add flavor but this burger had all of its flavor in the meat.  The onions and bacon compote didn't hurt but the meat was flavorful, juicy, and cooked to perfection.  It is definitely a mouth full in a good way.  It was so big, along with the side of fries that I shared, that I could not finish my whole burger leaving a few bites on the plate.

Besides the burger, the atmosphere was enjoyable and the beers were unique and fresh.  The bartenders engaged in snobbish beer banter with me and I loved it.  One was particularly knowledgeable about micro breweries all over the country including one of my faves New Glarus in Wisconsin so he of course won me over.

I'm not sure I would classify this as the best burger in Los Angeles (Umami anyone?) but it was a good sandwich at a great price ($12).  The burger had character, charisma, and loads of flavor. I'm going to put it in my top 5 in the city and check some more places out.  If you're in the Santa Monica area 1018 Montana Avenue Santa Monica, or Los Angeles area 3229 Helms Avenue Los Angeles, CA I wouldn't miss this place. Check the website for hours.

Copa D' Oro

Two words: Amazing Cocktails

Copa D' Oro is pretty awesome. It is a bar and cocktail lounge in Santa Monica minutes from the ocean.  Walking in was like walking into the 20's or 30's.  It wasn't over done with early decor; it was modern but classic! 

The cocktail menu was definitely reminiscent of that time though.  We went on a Monday when happy hour is all evening.  The market menu has cocktails that are just $5.  Originally we went for just 1 cocktail each but got sucked in to having a 2nd round because we were intrigued, the mood was awesome, and the drinks were gooood.  I started with a Buck Fizz which was created at the Buck's Club in London in the 1920's. It has Gin, Champagne, Fresh Orange Juice, and Cherry Brandy.  It was good and you couldn't taste the gin at all.  Grete had a Moscow Mule which has Vodka, fresh lime juice, homemade ginger beer.  This drink was invented in 1941 at the Cock 'n Bull Restaurant in Hollywood, CA.  What really makes the drinks is that they are homemade at the bar using fresh, local, organic ingredients from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.  The menu changes seasonally which adds a little more excitement.

On our 2nd round we both decided to go with something with a little more punch.  I had the Clover Club which originated at the Bellevue-Stratford in Philadelphia around 1931.  This drink has Gin, homemade raspberry syrup, fresh lemon juice, pasteurized egg white.  It was really good except for the pasteurized egg white on top.  Every time I drank it I had to hold my breath because it reminded me of smelling raw chicken.  No Good.  Grete had the Affinity which a classic cocktail from the 19th century that has Scotch, Extra Dry Vermouth, Sweet Vermouth, Orange Bitters.  Talk about strong, this drink was like drinking straight scotch but it had a lot of character and didn't smell like raw chicken so I was on board.


We didn't have any apps but there is a small food menu.  Happy hour is all day Monday and Tue-Sat from 5:30 -8.  This is a great bar to go to for drinks before hanging out in Santa Monica and at $5 a drink, its a great deal.


Check them out at:
217 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90401
t. 310.576.3030  

The Getty Villa

The Getty Villa in Malibu is one of two museums open to the public from the J. Paul Getty foundation.  Getty first opened up his Malibu home as a museum to show his large collection of antiquities in 1954.  After the collection became too large for his home he built the villa in 1968 on the estate to house all of it. The Villa was modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house buried by the eruption of Mouth Vesuvius.  Many of the Getty Villa's architectural details are based on elements drawn from other ancient Roman homes in the towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. The Villa opened in 1974 and the collection of art inside is dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria including antiquities arranged by themes including Gods and Goddesses, Dionysos and the Theater, and Stories of the Trojan War and Roman-inspired architecture and gardens.



We arrived a couple of hours before they closed so we only had a limited time to explore.  We started with the Garden tour which explores the 4 garders in the villa and puts them in context of the time period of the AD 79 (when the original Villas was destroyed).  The Inner Peristyle garden is an intimate resting spot at the center of the Museum.  Around a narrow reflecting pool sit replicas of finds from the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, including square marble basins and bronze statues depicting women who have come to draw water from a stream. Outside the Museum entrance is the Herb Garden, which includes fruit trees and fragrant and colorful annuals and perennials used by the ancient Romans in cooking, ceremony, and medicine.


The Museum's south doors open onto the Outer Peristyle, the largest garden at the Getty Villa. It has hedge-lined pathways and circular stone benches. Plants favored by the ancient Romans, such as bay laurel, boxwood, myrtle, ivy, and oleander, are planted around a spectacular 220-foot-long reflecting pool. Bronze sculptures, replicas of statues found at the Villa dei Papiri, are placed in their ancient findspots. A peristyle, or covered walkway, surrounds the formal garden and leads visitors past illusionistic wall paintings to spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.  Beyond the East stair in the Museum lies the East Garden, one of the most tranquil spaces at the Villa. This walled sanctuary is shaded by sycamore and laurel tree.

After the garden tour we watched a short video on the history of the museum then looked at some of the exhibits on the upper level of the villa.  Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't get to see as much as we wanted which means we will just have to take another trip.

Definitely leave a lot of time for this museum. It is open Wed- Mon 10am - 5pm.  There's a lot to see including tours and movies.  The best thing about this museum is it's totally free you just have to reserve the tickets in advance.  Parking is $15 for the car load. After visiting this museum I'm super excited to go to the Getty Center.

Campanile - Grilled Cheese Night

For those of you that don't know April is National Grilled Cheese Month.  So in honor of one of my favorite things to eat I wanted to find the best grilled cheese in Los Angles.  I read a few places that Campanile has a whole night dedicated to grilled chesses so I really wanted to check it out.  Every night of the week the restaurant has a different theme and Thursday is grilled cheese night.  They actually boast that they were the first restaurant in LA to have a night that features a grilled cheese menu.  The menu changes seasonally which keeps it interesting.  The menu for my visit had the classic which interestingly includes grilled onions and mustard and some quite unusual ones including a crab roll and autostrada.  I was particularly intrigued by the Croque Monsieur because it was featured on the cover of Bon Appetit a few months ago and it looked amazingly delicious so I thought I'd try it out.  The restaurant itself was pretty cool - sleek and trendy.  It is connected with La Brea Bakery which is legendary in itself.  The meal started with bread (from the bakery) and a bottle of wine.  They actually had a sale on wine in celebration of tax time so certain bottles were half of, we of course took advantage of this.  We split the Croque Monsieur which came with fries and a salad.

 
I was surpprised that it was open faced unlike the previous pictures I had seen.  Getting past the look, the sandwhich was pretty tasty but not what I would typically think of as a grilled cheese.  The mushroom sauce added an extra layer of flavor to what I would describe as a opend-faced ham and chesse but it was missing the chessiness and greasiness of a classic grilled cheese.  All in all, the meal was satisfying and good in taste but did not meet my expectations in regards to a grilled cheese.  Perhaps next time I will go for the classic.  Before we left they corked the rest of our bottle of wine and let us take it home.  Pretty cool.

Overall, a good place to eat but I wouldn't classify it as the best grilled cheese EVER.  If you're in LA give it a try.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels is on a lot of LA must do lists so I thought I'd go see what all the hype was about.  I usually pass it on the 101 but never realized what it actually was.   The visit was inspiring and spiritual however even if you're not religious from an architectural point of view alone it is worth seeing.  It is called one of the most innovative buildings in LA.  The building is not what you would typically think of as a cathedral or religious place of worship.

It was dedicated and opened in 2002 so its fairly new and the 3rd largest cathedral in the country.  At 65,000 square feet, 11 stories and 151 million pounds, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is a massive structure built to last 500 years.  So much care was taken in every detail of the cathedral.  From the materials used to the placement of art, everything has a purpose and that's what makes it so fascinating.  The interior is modern, simple, and elegant.  My favorite part of the cathedral is the Crypt Mausoleum which can house 6,000 sepulchral and cinerary urn spaces for interments in the lower level.  Most of the spaces are empty and anyone can purchase space there.  In fact, our tour guide already has his space picked out with his name engraved, which was pretty cool.

The Cathedral is open everyday with mass M-F at 7 and noon.  Sunday there are three masses at 8, 10, and 12:30 (Espanol). The tours are M-F at 1, lasts for an hour, and is totally free. 

Adamson House

My friend took me to the Adamson House in Malibu and to be truthful I didn't have that high of expectations.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  The Adamson house was built in 1930 by Stiles O. Clements who is a famous Los Angeles architect and a key figure in the LA art deco movement (see a few posts back for that story).  He built the house for Merritt and Rhoda Adamson.  Rhoda's parents once owned all of Malibu thus the Adamson House is built in the Malibu Lagoon and overlooks one of Southern California's best beaches.



We opted for the guided tour which is $7 and takes about an hour.  The tour starts with the history of the property and the families that own it. Once context is set, the tour moves to the house itself. The amazing thing about this house is its filled with decorative tile from Malibu Potteries, a short lived tile company owned by Rhoda's mother.

The bathrooms in particular are bright with cobalt blue tiles.  There are also two Persian rugs made completely out of tile.  The house is filled with its original furniture and books.  The whole experience is made more exciting because you know the background of how and why the house is there.  An interested fact is two of the children that lived in the house are still alive! If you like history, architecture, or just awesome beach views go to the Adamson House.  It will be a good time!

Toyota Grand Prix

The Toyota Grand Prix is the single largest event in Long Beach.  It is an open-wheel race held on a street circuit downtown in the Pike and is apart of the Izod IndyCar Series. The Izod race is the main event however there are a ton of other events spanning 3 days.  Friday is the fun day which features the celebrity race practice and qualifying race.  There is also a night concert and a charity ball after the racing is done. Saturday the main event is the actual celebrity race as well as another night concert.  Sunday is the official Indy Grand Prix race so it's the day with the most buzz and excitement for real race fans.  Even if you're not a race fan this event is fun, there are a lot of people out, and between the music, food, and drinks you'll find something to entertain you.  The actual event was held this past weekend (ending today) so look for it next year around this time.  Ticket prices vary but if you're on a budget the best bet will be to go on Friday.