Venice (Italy)

Pie Society Bar Opens Behind Pitfire Pizza in Costa Mesa

Somehow, after many, many months of successfully dodging media events and previews and other assorted occasions where I actually have to behave myself in front of my esteemed colleagues, I ended up at four events in a week. The one I was looking most forward to, because I have this dream of being a ... More >>

'To the Wonder' Is Spinning in Place

Terrence Malick's gorgeous, ridiculous obsession

Berlin Discoveries

Greatness emerges at the year's first major film festival

Berlin Discoveries: Greatness Emerges at the Year's First Major Film Festival

Physician, Heal Thyself

The bracing 'Yossi' lays bare the soul of a closeted doc

Poolside Set To Bring The Dance Party This Friday At South Coast Plaza's Sony Store

Culture guide gurus Flavorpill have teamed up with Sony to present the "Sony Sessions," an event that celebrates the local culture of six US cities including Houston, Long Island, Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and our very own Costa Mesa.The fact that we made it into the company's lexicon of pos ... More >>

The Five Best Shows in OC This Week: Conor Oberst, Dr. Dog

Monday, October 1 The Two FoscariSegerstrom Center for the Arts The LA Opera makes a one-night-only appearance at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts to perform Giuseppe Verdi's The Two Foscari. Verdi based his three-act opera on the historical play of the same n ... More >>

X's Exene Cervenka Cherishes Her Time Under the Big Black Sun

The singer appreciates the 35-year-old band more because they could end it at any time

Lauri Burns, Former Prostitute Who Turned Her Life and Those of Street Girls Around, Cheered

In her early 20s, Lauri Burns used to work Orange County's mean streets as a prostitute.That was in the 1980s, and as of today Burns has not only totally turned her life around but those of 30 young females she has taken off the streets as a foster mom and countless others through her Teen Project s ... More >>

Mysterium Theater Co.'s Holy Host

How the Church of the Foothills let the edgy theater company use its grounds as a home base

Los Angeles Angels Get Legal Bill For Wheelchair Access Violations at Stadium

Our Matt Coker told you in April that the Los Angeles Angels and the city of Anaheim settled a federal class action lawsuit that requires them to make their stadium more wheelchair accessible. This week, U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter ordered the defendants to pay the plaintiff lawyers--V ... More >>

'Jitney' Shows We're Black Like Them

South Coast Rep's staging of the August Wilson standard reminds us why we need more African-Americans in OC

SoCo Farmers Market Erects Permanent Structure

A few years ago, when Jeff Duggan of Portola Coffee and I were talking about his plans to move into the OC Mart Mix, he said it was going to be OC's version of the San Francisco Ferry Building. I confess that I rolled my eyes--people are always saying these sorts of enthusiastic things to me--but at ... More >>

Mel Gibson Be Damned, Here Comes the Jewlicious Festival!

​​​​​ How many Jews does it take to make a kickass boat party? At least ten 13 years old or older. (Author's note: Google "minyan."). From Feb. 24-26, Long Beach (or "Tel Aviv West," as no one but me has ever called it) will host the Eighth Annual Jewlicious Festival. Taking place on ... More >>

Six Songs to Work Off the Extra Helping of Grandma's Stuffing and Those Seven Beers You Drank Thursday Night

​Look, you ate too damned much during the four-day Thanksgiving break. But it's cool. We've all been there. The good news is there's this little thing called exercise that's going to get you back to who you were last Wednesday. As an avid gym member (the girl at the front desk knows my name), I kn ... More >>

3hree Things: On Getting Ready For Tour (Or Not)

Watch out for 3hree Things every Tuesday, where Riley Breckenridge, drummer of Orange County's favorite local alt-rock band Thrice, gives his take on life in Southern California as an OC native.​ I leave for tour in two days. And I'm not ready. Again.You'd think that after touring for ab ... More >>

Are Three Would-Be Losers in Fullerton the Greatest Pickup Artists of All Time?

​Are three average-looking twentysomethings named Jason, Jesse and Kong, who live in a dumpy apartment complex behind an alley in what they call "the asshole of Orange County" (Fullerton), the greatest pickup artists of all time?The no-last-names-given trio stars in the YouTube channel Simple Pic ... More >>

Red Hot Chili Peppers New Video "Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie"

​Our favorite LA boys are back! Here's the first video off of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' latest album I'm With You with the single "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie."This is not the much-hyped Kreayshawn version, which, according to bassist Flea, "just didnt work out." He added, "That happens s ... More >>

Allen Baylis, Surf City Lawyer, is Source on Stories About Red-Light Cameras, Nudity and Raëlians

​Huntington Beach attorney Allen Baylis is making the media rounds this week thanks to two issues he regularly fights in court: government use of red-light cameras and government bans on public nudity.As Orange and Westminster this week consider joining Anaheim in banning red-light cameras, Baylis ... More >>

Carmageddon 2011: A Soundtrack by Ken Elkinson

​When Venice musician Ken Elkinson released the 6-CD box set of ambient music called Music For Commuting last January, we're pretty sure he didn't intend for it to keep SoCal residents in a state of zen for a 53-hour period of freeway construction.While it wasn't intended just for commuting throug ... More >>

k'ya Street Fare as Strong (and Strange) as Ever

The non-po' boy po' boy​A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a guest speaker at Cal State Fullerton who stayed at the Hotel Menage in Anaheim. After his lecture, we invited students for a post-lecture eat at k'ya Street Fare, which we reviewed way back in 2009. I had never been, but remembered Edwin li ... More >>

Tilted Kilt Offers Blarney Boobage

The Long Beach quasi-pub follows the Hooters model of booze, breasts and burgers

Lobsta Truck's OC Debut TODAY!!

lobstatruck.com​Let's finish our trio of luxe lonchera updates with this: Michelle told you two weeks ago about the Lobsta Truck coming to Orange County. Starting today, they'll be dropping anchor in our local waters. Turn the page for the locations!

Dueling Dishes: Battle Cappuccino

Dave LiebermanKean Coffee's Italian cappuccino​As hard as it may be to believe, I am not a die-hard coffee snob. I do not care to memorize the names of coffee estates as though they were domaines in Bordeaux, I don't trust any place that gives me a palate cleanser before my espresso, and I'm not y ... More >>

Homemade Grappa: Don't Tell the ABC

Rows of homemade grappa in a bar in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.​Grappa. Just the word sends waves of warmth down the esophagus.Grappa is brandy distilled from pomace--the solids left over during the wine-making process; the stems and pips and skins and pressed pulp. The French call this leftover gun ... More >>

Bread and Tulips

Bowers Museum

The Lives of Angie and Johnny

'The Tourist' gawks at its stars, visits Venice, has twist

Zoppé Family Circus

Broadway and Long Beach Blvd.

At the Farmers' Market: Peaches

Movin' to the countryGonna eat me a lot of peaches.- The Presidents of the United States of America, "Peaches"Flickr user weaselmcfee​No fruit says summer like peaches. While strawberries are at least nominally available most of the year, and plums and whatnot are shipped in from Chile or Israel o ... More >>

Cooking Italian, The Wrong Way: Not a Panzanella Recipe

rsgreen89, through a Creative Commons licenseBrandywine Tomatoes​For all of the wonderful simplicity and economy found in Italy's tradition of cucina povera--literally "poor kitchen", or peasant food--Italians can get awfully cranky when it comes to misinterpreting their barebones culinary ways. I ... More >>

David Kesler of the Cellar, Part Two

Courtesy of the Cellar​Executive Chef David Kesler of Fullerton's The Cellar Restaurant is on the line this week. Here's a random fact for the readership: people who excel at both cuisine and pastry are rare in the extreme. Every culinary arts student studies pastry, but it's like being both an ou ... More >>

New Dusty Rhodes And The River Band Video!

​Our friends over at LA Record tipped us off with a new video of the song "All One" from our favorite Fullerton bombasticos, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, Watch it after the jump.

The Gondolier
 of Venice

Sunset Gondola Rides

Soil to Soul

Orange County’s freshest farmers, farmers markets, food purveyors—and the chefs who love them

Eat Cheap

or expensive. or somewhere in between