L.A.'s Far East

One of my favorite bands, Olin & the Moon, will be playing down street from my studio apartment this evening at The Echo.  Staying out of the Hollywood music venue playground, The Echo is located in downtown Echo Park on the dirtier end of Sunset Boulevard.  To me, this is a top-notch low brow venue.  Venue goers don't dress up in sparkly dresses and high heels like what you would find at The Roxy or the El Rey.  The people you're sandwiched between will rock skinny jeans, black leather boots and vintage shirts (I'm referring to BOTH men and women).  Think Silversun Pickups.  Yes, this is where they got their start.

“It's an intimate setting, and you always feel like everyone there digs the band as much as you do,” says Michelle Matranga, a rock-out regular who enjoys the moderate price of her whiskey (by L.A. standards anyhow) as much as the bands themselves.

 

You can actually say that about a lot of places on the “East Side”.  Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Atwater Village and Echo Park are all considered to be “Far East China East” according to my friends.  It’s always difficult to get  my  “West Side” friends to hangout with me on the “East Side”.  But let me tell you something really spectacular about this side of town.  It may be grungy, but it sure is hip.  These four nano-neighborhoods have more artists, musicians, urban farmers, bloggers, yogis, and health nuts than the West Side.  I get the attraction of living on the West Side close to the beach.  But you know what?  I guarantee you that I surf way more than MOST of the people living in Santa Monica or Venice.  The beach and palm trees are nice, but for a true neighbourhood feeling, the East Side is where it’s at.  How many neighbourhoods can you shop hop, bar hop or restaurant hop in without being worried about getting hit by car?  Sure you can ride your bike around Santa Monica and Venice, but the East Side offers more diverse neighborhood businesses.

With that said, Michael, Kyle and I will be making a stop tonight at The Atwater Village Farm in hopes of finding some affordable local ingredients to cook up a meal at Kyle’s house in Silver Lake.  AVF specializes in selling locally made products to support the businesses within our area.  You’ll also find an array of seasonal organic produce and freshly baked bread.  It's a terrific farm-to-table community shop that vows to support healthy lifestyles to be sustained or developed through our love of sharing knowledge.  The Slow Food Movement combined with local, organic and sustainable food philosophies and the ever-increasing presence of farmers market shopping is booming across the country.  Consumers are looking for high quality products combined with a local shopping experience.  Atwater Village Farm is the result of all these forces.