After finding out about it nearly three months ago in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune we finally got around to trying Jake’s Hot Dogs and Sausage for lunch on Saturday, June 21.  Jake’s opened earlier this year and is located on the southeast corner of Azusa Avenue and Third Street in Azusa just north of the 210 freeway.  That’s in the area where the longer 2-way Azusa Avenue has split into the 1-way northbound Azusa Avenue and the 1-way southbound San Gabriel Avenue.  This change makes getting around Azusa a bit confusing.

As we drove by Jake’s we noticed a carwash fundraiser in the parking lot nearby.  We couldn’t find designated parking for Jake’s.  The spaces at a nearby market had a sign that said “No Jake’s Parking” so we found parking along Third Street.  It wasn’t too far, less than half a block, and there was lots of street parking.  Jakes consists of a small yellow building and several tables and chairs for outdoor seating covered by a translucent shade.  It was about 100 degrees outside so we were glad for the shade.  Their menu is posted on the west side of their building.  They make several different kinds of hot dogs and sausage such as regular, ¼ pound, polish sausage, and chicken-apple sausage.  Topping choices include grilled green peppers and onion slices (together called “everything”), sauerkraut, jalapeno peppers, and chili.  They have sides of onion rings, fries, and a frito boat.  The onion rings and fries can come with chili.  They also make breakfast burritos that can include the different kinds of sausage.  There was no line at Jake’s at about 11 am when we arrived and only one table was occupied.

I wasn’t sure where to order because all the windows were closed probably due to the heat.  I looked into a window on the west side of the building.  It opened and an employee took my order.  I could feel the cool air-conditioned air from within.  Jake’s takes some major credit cards so I had no worries about having enough cash.  I placed our orders, paid, and they gave me a ticket with a number.  They soon called the last two digits of the number signaling that our food was ready.  It came on a trsy through the window on the south side of the building near the seating area.  Near this window is a counter with condiments that can be added to orders.  Our orders came wrapped in yellow paper and labeled for identification.  I had the chicken-apple sausage with grilled green pepper and onion slices (i.e. everything) that came in a large bun.  The sausage was thick and a bit tough on the outside but the juicy taste inside made it worth biting through it.  The sausage and the bun kept their integrity and kept the many peppers and onions from falling off and making a mess.  The peppers and onions were grilled for just the right amount of time.  My wife had the Louisiana hot link with “everything” and sauerkraut.  She enjoyed it since it was just spicy enough.  Though they came without accompaniments, the sausages were still a pretty good amount of food.  Our orders came out to just over $7 total.

We probably should have gotten some sides to make it a full meal but when we had finished our sausages it was too hot outside to wait for another order.  Some Jake’s employees were setting up a microphone and speakers, perhaps in a connection with the carwash fundraiser.  The employees were nice asking how we were doing and jokingly saying that someone should “turn on the air conditioner.”  We left soon after we had finished eating and headed home to escape the heat.  We’ll be back soon, perhaps when it’s a bit cooler outside.

Our shower needed cleaning and I couldn’t do such a tedious chore without something to listen to.  The selection of audiobooks at the Covina Public Library is limited at best.  I’d already listened to all their John Steinbeck and the other authors I preferred.  They did have On the Beach by Nevil Shute that had potential.  My mom had recommended another book by Shute called Round the Bend and I’ve enjoyed most of my mom’s recommendations.  However, they did not have Round the Bend as an audio book, only On the Beach that, from the text on its case, seemed like a depressing story.  But I needed an audiobook and the choices were few so I decided not to “judge it by its cover” and give it a try.

Initially, I wasn’t disappointed.  It was about what the jacket described:  life in Australia after World War III has wiped out everyone in the Northern Hemisphere.  Shute wrote the original edition of the book in the 1950’s.  Despite its bleak setting, the story seemed strangely upbeat.  The characters had altered their lives around the major changes in the world.  They didn’t have petrol so they used horses and electric trams for transport.  They got food directly from dairies and farmers rather than from supermarkets.  Many people still had jobs.  Scientists predicted that the radiation from World War III would eventually spread south wiping out the whole population but that was several months away.  All the characters’ civility under the circumstances impressed me.  I would think that if people knew the end of the world was coming they would be living it up to excess, that there would be looting, rioting, and other lawlessness as society broke down.  Maybe people would go to great lengths to preserve the normalcy in their lives.  Or it could just be that people acted more civil in the 1950’s or people in Australia are more civil than in other countries.

The story centers around four main characters, three Australians and one American who happened to be in the southern hemisphere during World War III.  They all play different roles and have different ways of dealing with their world.  The two male main characters are naval officers who are still bound to serve the remnants of their branch of service.  Their mission takes them into the northern hemisphere and they learn more about the effects of the latest world war.  They are some mysteries to investigate and some possibilities for longer term survival.  They go to places in the Pacific Northwest with which I am familiar such as Seattle, Edmonds, and Bremerton.  All four characters develop and change as the months move closer to the predicted inevitable.  The book also introduces some minor characters.

Though the characters develop, the story doesn’t stray much from the course laid out at the beginning.  It’s more of a “slice of life” story than a plot-driven tale and the author picked a rather depressing life to slice.  Again, all the characters seem to face it with surprising civility perhaps to emphasize humanity’s best succumbing to a fate brought about by its worst.  The title, “On the Beach” doesn’t seem to have much significance other than it’s used often in the story.  We have to consider the time period during which Shute wrote it.  The Cold War and the Atomic age were both in full swing and the threat of nuclear war was very real.  The book was popular in the 1950’s.  Hollywood produced a movie of it starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner.  Some believe the book was responsible for the U.S. signing the treating abolishing above-ground nuclear tests.

On a personal note, the book made cleaning the shower less tedious and it also helped me get a couple of other chores done.  The recorded reader does a good job switching between the American and Australian accents and between the male and female voices.  I’d recommend the book to students studying the early Cold War and anyone with an interest in post-apocalyptic science fiction.

For the last meal of our trip to Las Vegas on Monday, June 9, we went to the breakfast buffet at Spice Market in the Planet Hollywood hotel.  We had no trouble getting there because we had done recon the evening before.  We had to walk from the east end of the Miracle Mile shops where parking is located to the casino at the west end.  To get to the buffet, we went to the escalator in the middle of the casino and took it one floor down.  The breakfast buffet at Spice Market occurs between 7:00 am and 10:30 am and costs $12.99 per person.  It is followed by a more expensive lunch buffet (don’t know the price) and dinner buffet ($25.99 per person).  Spice Market has recently been ranked the number one buffet in Las Vegas.

We arrived at Spice Market before 9 am.  Most of the Miracle Mile Shops that we walked by hadn’t opened yet.  There was hardly any line to get into the buffet at that hour.  The hostess assigned us our table and we were ready to check out the choices.  The space is very large with lots of seating in several partitioned spaces.  It’s easy to get lost and not be able to find your assigned table.  The name “Spice Market” seems more applicable to the hotel’s former Middle Eastern theme than its current Hollywood theme.  The décor, however, reflects its current theme and consists of vintage and contemporary movie posters.  There was one for the 1974 movie version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with the words “Coming to Videocassette” at the bottom.  Along with posters for popular movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s and American Pie, there are posters for obscure films I hadn’t heard of.  They included The Last Supper, an early Cameron Diaz film; The Watermelon Man; and The Pizza Triangle.

The buffet had several stations but their labels such as Mexican, Asian, and Middle Eastern didn’t really apply to the breakfast food.  The station names are used primarily for the lunch and dinner buffets, though we were disappointed that the Mexican station was empty and didn’t have Mexican breakfast foods.  But there was still a lot of food from which to choose.  One station had bagels, rolls, fruit, and slices of meat and cheese.  Another offered tri-tip, and sausage sliced to order.  Stations served omelets and waffles made to order and the various breakfast foods went on and on.  They had three different kinds of hash browns: traditional in bar form, ranchero style, and home fries.  They had scrambled eggs, thick slices of apple smoked bacon, link sausage, and various baked goods such as muffins and breakfast rolls.  There was also a cereal bar.  Filling our plates was easy.

We sat down at our designated table and a waiter took our drink orders.  They served freshly squeezed orange juice.  Flat screen TVs near the ceiling broadcasted the Food Network.  I made little sandwiches out of my bagel and sourdough roll using the scrambled eggs, sliced sausage, and bacon.  I liked the slice of sausage the best because it was so juicy and flavorful.  My wife also liked the sausage the best.  All three types of hash browns were equally good.  We ended up not going back for seconds as our first plates were more than enough.

After 9 am, the buffet had more of a line and was getting more crowded.  Our waiter was very attentive, though we didn’t need refills.  We left at around 10 am, walked through the now open shops, and drove back to SGV.  It was a short trip to Vegas, but we did a lot.  There are always new things to see there, new restaurants to try, and new places to visit.  We probably won’t return until sometime next year and with all the construction going on they’ll be plenty new to see.

On Sunday, June 8, we went to the Miracle Mile Shops at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.  The former Aladdin Hotel closed and re-opened as the Planet Hollywood last year and the Desert Passage Shops became the Miracle Mile Shops.  I used to live down the street from the original Miracle Mile in L.A., the stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between La Brea and Fairfax avenues.  We were curious to see the Miracle Mile Shops.  Would they have the Art Deco architecture of the original?

The Planet Hollywood is located just south of the Paris Las Vegas Hotel.  Driving south on the strip, we turned left on Paris Drive and turned right on the small street, Audrie.  We learned from experience that this street is not accessible from Flamingo Road.  When we arrived at the Miracle Mile Shops, they still looked more like Mecca than Mid-City L.A.  They and re-done the flooring, adding some tile that could be called Art Deco but the shops kept most of their Desert Passage facades.  They still have and operate the indoor Rainstorm.  The ceiling still looks like the sky and a large model ship above the Oyster Bar still has the words “Desert Passage” on it.  They replaced the Middle Eastern style benches with sleek modern ones and the bizarre-style carts are now more conventional mall carts.  They have a Trader Vic’s, a branch of the famous West L.A. bar with a Tiki theme.  In one section that includes a Daiquiri bar called Fat Tuesday, they put on a light show set to music.  A theater was showing a limited engagement touring production of High School Musical and another was a showing a variety show.

Outside one of the theaters they had a large stage set up for various entertainers.  When we walked by there were two acrobats performing impressive lifts and throws.  Their finale was to break their record of 15 revolutions of their “Human Pinwheel of Doom.”  They managed to do 18. We shopped at some of the stores such as David Z. that sells ladies’ footwear.  This is the only David Z. store outside New York.  There’s a newsstand store like the one on the real Miracle Mile, but it didn’t have the chess tables like the real one.  There’s also a La Salsa Cantina that sells “Margaritas by the yard” and the Planet Hollywood website says that a Pink’s Hot Dogs is coming later in 2008.

Like the complex overall, many of the shops are more like remixes of their Desert Passage incarnations than complete reinventions.  The Oasis Cheeseburger is now Las Vegas Cheeseburger, the Oyster Bar is still a seafood restaurant, and a restaurant formerly called Max’s that had served American food at reasonable prices and three for one cocktails is now Ocean One Bar & Grill does the same, though I overheard the waiter say their cocktail deal is now two for one.  We chose to eat at Ocean One because it was still reasonably priced and there were some things we hadn’t yet tried there.  A casino employee who was just leaving the restaurant also recommended it to us.

The hostess seated us in the “outdoor” section and the waiter came by quickly to take our orders.  We both ordered entrees with Orecchiette pasta that resembles small half-shells.  Our entrees also came quickly in wide, shallow bowls.  I had the Orecchiette with diced roasted chicken, Cremini mushrooms, and caramelized onions in a chicken broth based sauce.  All the flavors blended well.  The roasted chicken added flavor to the mushrooms and pasta and the onions were cooked such that they retained much of their flavor but it wasn’t overpowering.  I also tasted pepper that added a bit of spice.  The pasta was cooked al dente and though some of it was stacked, it was easy enough to separate and mix it with the other ingredients.  It was just enough to sate my appetite.  My wife’s pasta primavera was Orecchiette pasta mixed with spinach and parmesan cheese in a lemon sauce.  She enjoyed it.  For dessert I had caramel apple pie that I had tried previously when the restaurant was called Max’s.  It was just as good as before, containing lots of apple slices all sweetened just right.  The caramel sauce and sugar complemented rather than overpowered the apple flavor.  When the bill came they had calculated an optional 18% gratuity.

After dinner we did some more walking around the shops.  We did recon to find the buffet where we would eat breakfast the next day and left soon after.  The shops may not exactly represent Miracle Mile but at least we could still get a good meal there.

We spent most of Sunday, June 8 at Las Vegas Springs Preserve, a nature and museum complex located northwest of the Las Vegas Strip on Valley View Boulevard.  They were celebrating the first anniversary of the Preserve with live music, all-you-can-eat ice cream, behind-the-scenes tours, and games for children.  The $6.00 admission tickets also included access to the museums that normally costs $18.95 for adults.  We arrived at around the 11 am start time and there was a long line to get in.  After waiting 15 minutes, a Preserve employee directed us and some others to another entrance that put us in a much shorter line.  We heard something about a ticket that included a buffet that cost more than $6.00 but we wanted to eat at the café and opted for the $6.00 ticket only.

The Springs Preserve Café is located on the second floor and above the gift shop in the building near the north entrance.  Its official name is Wolfgang Puck at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve and, as the name suggests, it’s a Wolfgang Puck restaurant.  It’s a very large space with both indoor and outdoor seating and with amazing views of the Preserve (including the grounds where the festival took place) and the skyline of the Las Vegas Strip.  The indoor south and east walls are all windows giving everyone access to the views.  The café relies more on the natural light from outside during the day.  The menu has the natural food theme consistent with the setting.  We placed our orders at the counter (similar to the Wolfgang Puck in Downtown L.A. near the Central Library), took a number on a stand, and found a table.

Our orders took their time in coming but they were worth the wait.  My BBQ Salmon BLT was made with a rectangular sourdough roll.  The salmon was all one piece the fit perfectly in the roll.  It had the right amount of barbecue and avocado sauce to flavor it but not get all over the place.  The bacon in it was thick, crispy, and almost enough to be included in every bite.  Through the sandwich was a toothpick with an heirloom tomato and a slice of pickle.  With it I could choose fries, pasta salad, or green salad.  I chose fries that were seasoned with salt and parsley.  My wife had the Prime Cheeseburger with pasta salad on the side.  The burger had a thick patty with cheese, lettuce, and tomato.  They made the patty with American Kobe-style beef that made it taste better than the regular hamburger.  It had a silky and juicy consistency rather than being greasy or messy.  It didn’t even cause “hamburger hands.”  Through she ordered it medium rare, it wasn’t pink or undercooked, nor was it chewy or overcooked.  Its tomato wasn’t mentioned on the menu and it also had a toothpick with an heirloom tomato and pickle slice through it.  The pasta salad consisted of orzo with olive oil, cheese, and herbs.

We spent most of the afternoon at the Springs Preserve.  We saw the water filtration, green living, and recycling exhibits in the Sustainability Gallery that also had the Garbage Truck Theater.  The plaza at Springs Preserve is a large map of California, Nevada, Arizona, and parts of Utah and New Mexico with the major cities indicated.  The gardens had exhibits of design elements such as symmetry, color, line, and proportion.  The last one of these included one mirror that made us look taller and another that made us look shorter.  The gardens also included varieties of large cacti such as the Saguaro, desert plants, and the unusual Watering Can Theater.

We walked back to the north end and went inside the Origen Experience building.  They had a short historical reenactment of people in Las Vegas from 100 years ago.  A “behind-the-scenes” tour showed us firsthand the effects of a flash flood in the desert.  There are also exhibits on desert habitat and wildlife, the history of Las Vegas, and an arcade with games related to green and sustained living.  The building has interesting architecture.  Just inside the entrance is a circular rotunda that connects to all the main rooms of the museum.  The circular room has streams and images under the floor viewable through transparent tiles.  In the restrooms, rather than faucets, the water comes from pipes that extend from the ceiling.

We went outside to the grounds where much of the festival was taking place.  It was hot out, between 90-100 degrees, but a slight breeze and the fact that it was dry heat made it bearable.  My wife waited in the long line for ice cream that, surprisingly, moved rather quickly.  They also had face painting and on the outdoor stage the emcees facilitated a hula hoop contest for the children.  Too bad that boy at our cousins’ son’s birthday party wasn’t there.  He would have won easily.  Later a band playing Celtic music and some Celtic dancers took the stage.  I wonder if they would be watching the NBA finals that evening.

We walked around some of the 1.8 miles of desert trails that make up most of the eastern grounds of the Preserve.  There’s an old oil derrick that’s reminiscent of the film There Will be Blood.  There’s a community of Joshua trees behind which the future Nevada State Museum was under construction.  There’s supposedly wildlife to be seen along the trails but the closest we got was seeing a turtle’s burrow (labeled by a sign) and hearing a dog barking.  Further east the grounds include a large spring-fed wetlands known as known in Spanish as cienega.  The cienega is downhill from the other trails and contains very tall grasses and other green vegetation.  On the south end the springs have created the “Cauldron Pool,” the source of water for much of the vegetation.

After a while in the desert heat we returned to the Springs Café and got some Naked juice to cool down.  We figured we would support our hometown since Naked has its headquarters in Azusa.  I got watermelon flavor and my wife got mango flavor.  We tried both and agreed that the watermelon tasted better.  After cooling down we went to the large gift shop on the ground level below the café.  It contains myriad wares such as books, toys, jewelry, food, even apple cider from Washington (?).  We got some water bottles and stickers and then left the Preserve.  The scheduled end time for the festival of 4 pm had long past.

Until my wife had found out about Springs Preserve on MSN, I never thought I would go to Vegas to visit a nature preserve.  There’s so much more to Vegas than the bright lights and impressive hotel/casinos on the Strip.

On the evening of Saturday, June 7 we went to Mainland for our first meal in Las Vegas this year.  Mainland is an Asian casual dining restaurant in the new Palazzo Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.  The Palazzo is a tall shiny mustard-brown colored hotel on the southeast corner of Sands Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.  It is just north of the Venetian and south of the Wynn.  The entrance to the parking for the Palazzo is on Sands Avenue.  If you drive south on Las Vegas Boulevard, make a left on Sands avenue and then get into the rightmost lane.  The next right, a drive called “Palazzo”, will go right into the hotel parking.  Things are a bit confusing around there because, west of the Strip, Sands Avenue is called something like Spring Mountain Drive and, north of Sands avenue, Palazzo Drive is called Wynn drive so don’t let the name changes throw you off.  Something else we learned in trying to get to the Palazzo is that Desert Inn Road doesn’t cross Las Vegas Boulevard; it goes underneath it.  From the north, we had to take Sahara Avenue to get to Las Vegas Boulevard.

The Palazzo has at least three levels of underground parking.  There are lighted signs giving the number of available parking on each level and signs giving the number of spots available for each row.  The second level had the most spaces available, but it’s also very easy to miss.  We parked on the third level.  Some spots were reserved for high-efficiency vehicles but we still found a pretty good spot.  Once we ascended the stylish elevators to the casino level we consulted the directory that had no reference to Mainland.  That’s because the directory is only for the Casino level and there’s a level above that, the Shoppes level, where we eventually found the restaurant.

Mainland and a pastry and gelato shop on the Casino level are probably the most casual eateries in the Palazzo.  There are several fancier and more expensive restaurants on the Casino level such as the Grand Lux Café, a chain linked to the cheesecake factory, only fancier; Dos Caminos, a rare high-end Mexican restaurant; Cut, Wolfgang Puck’s high end steakhouse and a branch of the one in West L.A.; and Carnevino, an Italian steakhouse owned by Mario Bartali.  The latter restaurant had a very impressive statue of a bull just inside the entrance.  There were also places such as a French steakhouse near the lobby, a restaurant called Table 10 and at least one other bar on the Shoppes level, and a bar/lounge with live music near the Jersey Boys Theater.  My wife heard that one bar/club at the Palazzo is co-owned by Jay Z.  We didn’t see any celebrities, however, just lots of people dressed to impress.  They were probably there to see the musical Jersey Boys in its eponymous theater.

We found Mainland among the Shoppes after taking the up escalator by the waterfall.  Mainland has very modern décor with the walls and tables all curved.  The tables are large, circular and seem more for communal than separate eating.  Being early evening (between 6 and 7 pm) it wasn’t very crowded.  Along one side is a long counter where diners can watch the staff make their cocktails and milkshakes.  On the napkins and on the wall near the entrance are these iconic renderings of Elvis and Mao Zedong.  Over the speaker system they played jazz music including standards, modern, and Latin jazz.

Mainland’s menu consists of Asian fusion with separate sections for Small Dishes, Noodle Soups, Noodles, and Rice (a smaller section with only four choices).  They serve many different beverages such as tropical juices, shakes, teas, coffees, alcoholic milkshakes, and cocktails.  Our server came by quickly and we ordered our beverages.  In due time they brought my calamansiade and my wife’s toasted marshmallow shake.  The calamansiade was slightly sour but still very good.  They didn’t give free refills with it.  The marshmallow shake was very tall and my wife enjoyed it though it took a while for her to finish.

We told the server our food orders and they brought them very quickly in dishes shaped like isosceles trapezoids.  My Wok-Seared Pork consisted of many small strips of pork on top of mustard greens and crispy noodles and covered in a soybean black pepper sauce.  It also had on top small strips that tasted like fried garlic.  The pork was a bit chewy.  Perhaps that’s how it gets when seared.  The mustard greens tasted slightly bitter and actually complemented the pork, noodles, and sauce well.  The best flavor came from the garlic.  My wife had the Braise Short Rib with rice on the side.  She shared some of it with me because it and her shake amounted to a lot of food.  I actually liked the short rib better than my own entrée.  It was very tender and its lemongrass galangal sauce gave it a citrusy taste.  Red pepper flakes in the sauce gave the short rib some spice and the toasted coconut rice went well it.

Originally we only had chopsticks as utensils but after seeing us struggle, the hostess brought us forks.  We didn’t order a noodle soup because we thought we would compare it to the noodle soups we had at Ajisen Ramen back in March.  We did see the wide, deep bowls of soup ordered by other customers.  It looked like a lot of food.  Maybe we’ll try it next time.

After dinner we explored the Shoppes at the Palazzo.  They comprise some of the first floor, all of the second floor, and will also fill up the yet-to-be-opened third floor.  They mostly consist of high end European clothing and jewelry stores.  The halls are elegantly decorated with black tiles and pillars with the names of the stores on them.  Music such as “Lost Without U” by Robin Thicke plays over the speaker system.  A hall on the south end leads right into the Canal Shoppes of the Venetian that is owned by the same company that owns the Palazzo.  There are some interesting things in the stores such as a large, elaborate colored crystal chandelier in Piazza Sempione.  There’s also a rare bookstore with displays of signed first editions of classics and classic children’s books.

The first floor of the hotel has some impressive features.  In the lobby is a large fountain with statues.  Also in the lobby behind the check-in counter is a very large metal urn or cup.  At the south end between the escalators is a tall, wide waterfall.  The overall effect is one of grandeur that’s not too gaudy, of elegance that’s accessible for anyone to at least window shop.  A modern, casual Asian restaurant may seem out of place but it’s still worth trying.

We went to The Waffle for dinner on Saturday, May 31 before going to the Swervedriver concert (see the Swervedriver review for more on that.)  The Waffle is located on the ground floor of the House of Blues building that’s at Sunset and Argyle in Hollywood.  It’s about two blocks from the Hollywood and Vine Red Line subway station and the restaurant is on the south side of the building.

We arrived there before 7 pm and they had plenty of tables available.  The inside of the restaurant is L-shaped with some small tables for couples and several semicircular booths.  There’s a low counter along the back wall facing a semi-open kitchen.  It looks like there’s also seating upstairs and outside.  The booths and seats are light brown, the color of perfectly cooked waffles.  The décor on the walls is sets of nine square panels with rounded corners all different shades of brown that look like the inside squares of waffles.

The hostess seated us at a booth and the end of the L-shape.  Our enthusiastic waiter, J., came quickly and described two very substantial specials, one a full breakfast and the other a double-wide waffle sandwich with bacon grilled into the waffles.  He described it as “a heart attack on a plate.”  Naturally, the restaurant specializes in waffles.  They have 10 different kinds of waffles alone.  The menu also includes other breakfast foods served all day like the waffles, sandwiches, burgers, salads, vegetarian entrees and sandwiches, steak, milkshakes, and desserts.

I started with a non-dairy strawberry milkshake.  When he brought it, J. said something like “presenting an amazing creation, a non-dairy shake.”  I would have to agree with him.  It was delicious, tasting just like the regular dairy version.  I drank most of it quickly because it had been so long since I last had a milkshake.  I had forgotten how they tasted.  J. was good about telling me exactly what foods had dairy.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t have a waffle because they had milk in the batter.  I chose the Un-BLT under the vegetarian section.  They make it with “fakin’ bacon” that is a soy-based bacon.  They served it fairly quickly.  The fakin’ bacon looked more like white and red deli meat than bacon and it wasn’t crispy but it still tasted a lot like real bacon.  The rest of the sandwich was good especially the slightly toasted sourdough bread.   On the oval-shaped plate with the sandwich was a large pile of thin onion rings.  With my sandwich I had a choice between these onion rings, waffle fries, and coleslaw.  The rings were crispy, slightly sweet, and thoroughly delicious.  Between these, the sandwich, and the shake I couldn’t finish everything and my wife had to help with the rings.

For their orders my wife and my sister-in-law split a sticky bun waffle and a bowl of chili mac.  The waffle was two thick squares of nine inner squares each.  It looked more Belgian than regular and was coated with syrup and sprinkled with nuts.  My wife enjoyed her portion but my sister-in-law said they made it better at a past time she went there, giving it more syrup coating and providing more syrup on the side.  They especially enjoyed the chili mac that came in a small but deep bowl.  It consisted of chili mixed with large shell pasta and topped with melted cheese.  The chili looked like it had small chunks of meat and some chopped green pepper.  My wife believes the chili would taste good even without the pasta and it’s available on the menu that way.

After all that good food we were too full for dessert.  The restaurant had gotten more crowded while we were there.  Who knew that a restaurant could be based on a single breakfast food?

On Saturday, May 31 to the early hours of Sunday, June 1, we saw Swervedriver at the Music Box at the Fonda in Hollywood.  I first heard of Swervedriver around 13 years ago when my brother put some of their music on the mix tapes he gave us for Christmas.  He described them as “good driving music” with their long instrumental sections heavy on guitars and bass between lyrics.  Swervedriver haven’t put anything out for at least 9 years.  The lead singer/ guitarist, Adam Franklin, has done at least one solo album and some work with another band.  After a long hiatus, Swervedriver reunited for a tour this year.

The Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theater is about one block from the Red Line subway station at Hollywood and Vine.  After having dinner at The Waffle (see previous review) we walked back to Hollywood Boulevard, passed the Pantages Theater where it seemed like most people were going to see the musical, Wicked, turned right past an $8 parking lot and got in line near the Music Box.  The line seemed fairly short given that it was 7:50 pm, 10 minutes before the doors were scheduled to open.  We were practically in front of the theater.  The guys behind us were there to see Film School, one of the opening acts.  They didn’t seem to know who the headliner, Swervedriver, was.  The guy in front of us had on a white jersey with black lettering, red trim, and the name “Satan” on the back.  We heard him mention to one of the guys behind us that he had bought his ticket for $30 and they were now selling them for $20 at the door.  As we waited some venue employees went down the line giving out purple wristbands to those who wanted to buy alcohol from the bars inside, checking ID’s before giving the bands.  The line moved forward at 7:57 pm and split into two lines: one for those with tickets and the other for those one the guest list or those needing to purchase tickets.  At 8:05 pm, the doors opened.  We went through security that consisted of a cursory frisking and entered the theater.

The venue is a fairly small theater that seems more like it should be showing movies or plays than concerts.  In fact, my wife and I had seen the comedic play, Late Night Catechism, there nine years ago.  I think the theater was called something else back then, probably just the Henry Fonda Theater.  I didn’t remember it being particularly colorful back then.  But this time the interior had lots of color.  The walls were painted a shiny dark blue with red and gold trim, and some green along the stairwell walls, sills, and the swirling wave designs along the walls of the main theater.  In the lobby and upstairs were some frescos of what looked like modern art: intersecting curved lines combined with dark green, light green, and white colors.  At the far end of the lobby they were selling merchandise for Swervedriver and the two opening acts: Xu Xu Fang and Film School.  They also had an Adam Franklin solo CD.  We bought some Swervedriver badges.  The lobby also has the only public restrooms in the venue.  Inside them were those attendants who hand you a paper towel and expect a tip in return.  They also sold candy and toiletries.  I avoided the tipping “obligation” by not accepting a towel after washing up.  It’s supposed to be better for the environment to let your hands air dry anyway.  Besides, what if the attendant’s hands weren’t clean?

The theater itself consists of a wide floor space narrowing as it got closer to the stage.  The walls keep the dark blue with red and gold trim pattern.  A large bar selling drinks was at the back wall opposite the stage.  On either side of the stage were these elevated deep alcoves.  In the one to the right hung a banner with the venue’s “coat-of-arms”, a design with the name “Hollywood” on top in a crown, “Music Box” in the middle shape, outlines of cockatoos on either side, and “Fonda” on the bottom.  This coat-of-arms was also projected onto the red curtain over the stage and upstairs on a wall in the outdoor section.  In the alcove to the left of the stage two young DJ’s sat at a small table and picked out the canned music to play before and between the performances of the bands.

The ground floor of the theater had no seats so we went upstairs to check if the balcony was open.  The concert did not have assigned seats.  Upstairs were two red couches along the wall with the doors to the balcony.  The employee near one of the doors said the balcony wasn’t open and whether it would open depended on the eventually number of attendees.  There were more stairwells on the side going further up but they were blocked off with velvet ropes.  There were also stairs in the back leading to the roof.  On the roof were a small bar and some chairs and tables.  This was where the attendees could smoke.  The roof had a pretty good view of south Hollywood.  One small (off limits) outdoor stairwell had a large iron 5-pointed star as its landing rail.  There was a large iron lizard sculpture along another outdoor wall.  We returned to one of the red couches on the second floor and waited for them to open up the balcony.

We ended up sitting on the couch through the first two opening bands.  The couch was very comfortable and we could hear the music fine through the PA system.  It was an ideal spot for people-watching.  The other attendees were either our age or older.  Some looked like they might be our parents’ age.  The attendees were mostly Caucasians with a few African Americans.  They were mostly men and many women there were part of male-female couples.  A few women came with female friends or with groups.  Some attendees came from other cities such as the guy in front of us in line who came down from the Bay area.  Another came up from Orange County.  I guess we came all the way from central SGV.  The attendees’ outfits ranged from casual to stylish to vintage.  In addition to that guy’s Satan jersey, there were many Swervedriver T-shirts.  We saw someone wearing a New Model Army T-shirt and another in a Curve T-shirt.  One guy wore a Lakers T-shirt with the message “It’s Gasol Good.”  Another wore a T-shirt for the Hard Rock Café in Makati, Philippines.

As we waited, more and more people entered the venue.  There weren’t many places to sit and some people tried to sit on the sills below mirrors that were across from where we sat.  Every time they did the venue employees would go over and tell them they couldn’t sit there.  I counted at least 19 attendees asking about balcony seating.  One said he had two artificial hips and another said he had a bad back.  Both problems would make it difficult for them to stand up for the entire concert.  The age of the attendees really showed and the song “Help the Aged” by Pulp that played as part of the canned music seemed very appropriate.  But everyone got the same answer:  not enough people.  From overhearing conversations with someone who seemed like a manager, we learned that they didn’t have enough attendees to afford the liability insurance to open the balcony.  They needed an attendance of 800 and by 10:10 pm they only had 500.  The concert was far from sold out, though the floor seemed fairly full when we eventually went down to watch the headliner.  I guess Swervedriver have been away too long.  We heard that they when they played at Coachella in late April that their tent was only 1/3 full.

The DJ’s played some pretty good music such as “Step into My World” by Hurricane #1, “Accuracy” by The Cure (who coincidentally were playing a show at the Hollywood Bowl that same evening; perhaps this partially accounts for the Swervedriver show not selling out), and “Let there be Love” by Oasis.  The first opening band, Xu Xu Fang came on at 9:05 pm and the quality of the music got worse in my opinion.  They consisted of four male guitarists (at least one a bassist I assume), a female keyboard player, and a female singer.  She was tall with dark hair, wore dark clothing, and had a low voice.  The stage was covered in smoke with orange and red lights shining through it.  The music was very loud, heavy, and dirge-like.  It could be described as “drug enhanced.”  A few songs combined heavy guitar sounds with lighter keyboard sounds.  They ended at 9:40 with a song that included lots of wailing from the lead singer.

More canned music played and at 10 pm, the second opening band, Film school, came on.  They consisted of two male guitarists, a female bassist, a male drummer, and a male keyboard player.  One of the guitarists sang lead and the bassist sang background.  Behind the band on stage they projected avant guard film images at the same tempo as their music.  At least they were consistent with their name.  They sounded more upbeat than the previous band.  Their beats were faster and the songs more anthemic.  They actually sounded a bit like The Cure.  The keyboard created atmospheric textures reminiscent of the Cure album Disintegration.  Despite being lighter than Xu Xu Fang, the songs still sounded heavy like those on the Cure album Pornography.  Film School’s lead singer also had a yelping voice like early Robert Smith.  Their set ended at 10:40 pm.

At 10:45 pm we left our comfortable places on the couch to stand before the stage.  For the past two hours or so the couch had been the best seat in the house since we didn’t mind not seeing the opening bands.  We did see many attendees unable to find places to sit as the theater got more crowded.  But now that the openers were finished we figured we’d go down while many other attendees went up to the roof to smoke before Swervedriver came on.  The scheme worked and we found some good places about 20-30 feet from the stage.  The DJ’s played “Black Night Crash” by Ride, a shoegazer band from the same era as Swervedriver.  They then played “A Hard Day’s Night” by the Beatles from a much earlier era perhaps to appease the older crowd.  As we waited, the floor got more crowded but they did not open up the balcony.

At 11:12 pm the lights dimmed and the curtain rose to reveal Swervedriver.  They consisted of a drummer, two guitarists, and a bassist, all male.  They looked as aged as the audience.  The lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Adam Franklin, had cut off his dreadlocks a while ago.  The others looked skinnier than Franklin, but no younger.  But they didn’t sound older.  They started off the set with “Sci-Flyer” with its long instrumental beginning heavy on guitar.  Spotlights of red, orange, and blue shined in the background.  They followed with the more vocal “Sandblasted”.  The next song, “The Birds” was faster with more easygoing vocals.  They seemed to be hitting their stride.  During the applause that following someone yelled, “Welcome back!”

Franklin and the guitarists switched to different guitars, the first of many such switches, though they were all electric guitars.  They played “Duel”, a song I knew well since my brother put it on a mix tape he gave me many years ago.  The anthemic song showcases their reputation for “great driving music.”  The next song, “Blowing Cool” featured a heavier guitar and bass sound.  The lights shined designs of spinning spokes.  That took them to the powerful beginning of the next song, “The 99th Dream.”

The band members hardly spoke at all between songs only saying “Thank you” to the applause.   But that was fine with us because they sounded great, as if they were part of a currently burgeoning music scene rather than a relic of a past one.  They continued with “Behind the Scenes of Sound and Times.”  It had a characteristic long instrumental beginning but was unique in its use of feedback and steel guitar-like sound.  A heavy drum beat began the next song, “The Other Jesus.”  They contrasted that with the faster start of the next song, “Juggernaut Rides” only to go back to the heavy drum beginning of the next song, “She’s Beside Herself.”  This song built itself up with the drummer playing a march like beat, then adding the guitars, and eventually the bass at a point when it seemed like they “kicked” the song “up a notch.”  At the start the bassist seemed to be taking a break but he was actually getting ready to join in about a third of the way through.  The spotlights created outlines of purple and blue clouds in the background.  They next song, “Girl on a Motorbike” seemed to tell a story.  It sounded more “driving” than the others as was appropriate given its title.  The then got more anthemic with “Rave Down.”  The song seemed to get louder as it played and it sped up at the end.  The spotlights created spinning green lines in the background.  We couldn’t identify the next song.  It had a rockin’ start, slowed then, and then got explosive again in a hurry.  They song segued into a slower, more atmospheric instrumental that brought a the set to a close.  With bows and thank-you’s they left the stage.

The cheering, clapping, and stomping were nonstop.  No one left as far as I could tell.  Swervedriver returned and the cheering got louder.  With a “Thank you very much” they went straight into the explosive beginning of “Son of a Mustang Ford.”  This was the song they didn’t play when my wife saw them ten years ago.  She’d been hoping to hear it then and now, after a long wait, her wish was granted.  They followed it with the bluesy “Duress” with its instrumental beginning heavy on the drums and its use of feedback.  As they finished playing, the drummer stood up and said, “Los Angeles, thank you very much!”  They then left the stage for the final time.  It was 12:45 am, June 1, 2008.  The curtain came down implying that there would be no more encores.

Swervedriver didn’t play the song I knew best by them, “The Last Train to Satanville” from another mix tape that my brother gave me.  But they still sounded great and I gained greater appreciation for the songs I didn’t know as well.  The concert was like stepping into a time machine.  The band, the other attendees, and we had aged but that evening brought us back to a younger era.