of all the things you can’t find in downtown LA, there are the things that you can find which are so unique in their own right that it sets them apart from the rest of that massive palm tree village.  gems people like to call them, but i prefer to call them “digs”.

everywhere you walk, you’re walking through a mass of scary people.  the locals that make up the majority of this area of LA aren’t ones that i choose to mingle with or stand on a corner too long with – at first glance you might categorize them as “crazies”, but it’s taught me quite the lesson in life. get.  tough.  friggin.  skin.  build it and you better build it now cuz life don’t get much easier.  that being said, “cruising” downtown has become natural for me and the girls that work hard over at Babycakes.

Pam and i went out cruising one night – i think it was in search of something like Big Lots or something else.  we walked past the Wooden Spoon.  an ex gallery space.  warm yellow tones.  tall ceilings.  quaint and small tables.  bench seating that lines the walls and adorned with pillows.  we told ourselves we’d go there soon.  and we did – pretty much the very next day.

i’d blog about the brazilian sausage over the yummy beet salad.  but, my biggest “wower” meal was the pork burger.

mammoth.com

it is so gigantic in size.  it was inconceivable as to how i would even fit a proper bite (a little bit of everything) in my mouth at one time.  the third try, i managed to load everything in and probably at the risk of dislocating my jaw. but the amazingness of this THING would ease any hospital bill.  the potato roll was toasted, the pork was SO thick and tender.  the caramelized onions and sauteed cabbage was just the perfect complexity.  so simple, right, but slightly vinegary/butteriness.  pam scored a bite before i finished it off.  we were floored.  i finished it only to have gained “the bottomless dish” syndrome.   which you say to yourself when you’ve tasted something so yummy that “you wish that it would just never end … you could keep eating it for the rest of your life.  the salad? salad shmalad … who cares?

we also enjoyed the sangria.  cinnamon was a big puncher in it.  not to mention the wonderful, wonderful berries:

marriage in heaven

my brunch life really evolves around omelettes.  i work in a bakery, so something sweet for breakfast is out of the question.  i can’t look at sugar and if i’m putting my money into a meal, it daggone well better NOT be sweets.  i get that for free and it’s the best (see below post).

pam lived in santa monica when she was a california girl previously.  she is in LA again now, but we’re all downtowners.  she took the liberty of showing my a few favorite spots and she took me to Swingers on Lincoln Blvd.

egg white omelettes amongst the bagillion other amazing things they had on the menu.  it reminded me a lot of Kings Highway at the Ace Hotel in palm springs.  extensive and extremely diverse.  and from the look see around me, methinks the quality parallels as well! funky fresh waitstaff: questionable amount of clothing, tattoos and eyeliner, all super super kind.

i got the california omelette.  wasn’t trying to play the tourist, but i couldn’t disagree with the ingredients.  ”3 organic eggs, stuffed with jack cheese, bacon, avocado, and alfalfa sprouts”.  grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed).

done me good.  it was tremendous in all its glory.  spicy potatoes to accompany and i even got leaves with mine too.  of course the hot sauce was in abundance and a plentiful amount of mustard.  mixed and shmeared on my english muffin.  hit the beach afterwards.  california girl… !!