Los Angeles ~ CA

I first read about Priyani Ceylon Cafe, a Sri Lankan restaurant, on FoodGPS’s blog who in turn found out about this hidden gem from an LA Times article. Reading about the dishes in both those articles really intrigued me and although it took a while, I was happy to finally pay a visit there along with some adventurous friends. First, I have to say that I’m glad that I read up on Priyani before dining there. Their menu wasn’t very detailed, but the photos and descriptions of the dishes that I got from FoodGPS and the LA Times article really helped a lot when it came time to figuring out our menu. We also got additional help from husband and wife owners, Nahil and Priyani.

Our meal started with a complimentary trio of deep fried goodness, which included pattis, chicken rolls and fish cutlets.

The pattis were shaped like empanadas with a light flaky crust and filled with curried beef and potatoes.

An interesting thing about the chicken roll is that the chicken filling was first rolled into an egg roll wrapper and than the wrapper was in turn breaded and fried.

My favorite of the three was the fish cutlet, which had a nice kick to it because of the diced red peppers that were mixed into the filling. What took these fried appetizers over the top was the addition of a peppery tomato-based sauce that was just out of this world.

Next up was the Lampreis, which was also referred to as Lump Rice. It’s a mound of rice topped with eggplant curry, onion sambola, shrimp sambola, green banana curry, chicken curry and fish cutlet and then steamed in a banana leaf. This a meal in itself with a variety of wonderful flavors. The onions were wonderfully caramelized and I enjoyed the tartness of the green banana curry. A lovely hit of pungency also came from the shrimp sambola, which was made from shrimp paste. Overall, if you don’t order anything else, this is a must try dish.

Another tasty dish was their Biryani which was mildly spiced; yet, still flavorful fried rice that was cooked with cashew curry and included a side of eggplant curry. There were also yogurt-marinated chicken thighs hidden under the pile of rice and smack in the middle was a roasted egg. That cashew curry added an unexpected, but welcomed sweetness to the rice and because of its marination, the chicken was was delectably moist and juicy.

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4 pages of brand new art from Food1!

Los Angeles ~ CA

More photos on my Flickr > Click to visit

Daniel Bearer, a skateboarding pioneer, has passed away at his home in Santa Monica. One of TACO’s most prolific commenters, Danny posted excerpts from his autobiography “Defense Above All” in our comments section for a few years, which we have attempted to collect below, with some light editing, into a cohesive whole.

One of the world’s first pro skaters, sponsored at the age of 13, Danny remained passionate about skating, Los Angeles, and skating culture until the very end. He was a unique person and will be missed by his friends, family, and TACO.

A memorial service will be held at Corpus Christi Church on Sunset in Palisades this friday at 10.00 am

Defense Above All: The Danny Bearer Story

This book is dedicated to my Father, Mother and my luv, Dessarea Mary A.Bradford and the whole wide world !!!

Chapter 1
Once upon a time 1950. He was born rich; his first sleeping quarters were the top dresser drawer. They were on Ocean Park Boulevard of his young mother and father’s home in the heart of Santa Monica, California.
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Click for a big one. More at kzergabegallery.com

Betty Boop ~ Crenshaw Blvd. ~ Los Angeles

The Gogol Project ~ Bootleg Theater ~ 2220 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90057 ~ Through November 1st

“We all come out of Gogol’s overcoat.” Thus spake Dostoevsky on the influence of Russian satirist Nikolai Gogol, whose best-known short stories  The Nose, The Overcoat, and Diary of a Madman act as the current inspirations for Rogue Ensemble, L.A.’s theater company that melds puppetry, digital and lighting effects, nostalgia-bent music box strains, and equal doses of realism and surrealism. Their current play, The Gogol Project, plays through November in Echo Park at Bootleg.

As Taco readers who have loved us long-time know, Russian theater as deconstructed by local company ARTEL is one of the most visceral, dangerous acts we’ve witnessed from the audience since the days of Jesus Lizard, redefining the boundaries of how live theater can engage us. Having felt the complete opposite about this summer’s misguided Cherry Orchard adaptation at The Geer Theatre and only slightly enthusiastic about Rogue’s trip to Neil Gaiman’s Neverland in Mr. Punch, our jury entered the house already a little hung. Just to make it harder on Rogue Ensemble, we carried with us our very own Ukranian-born Russian, mirroring Gogol’s heritage, though much better crafted in the cheekbone area.

A rural lane splits Gogol Project’s stage, flanked by small houses and shops on all sides. Rogue does remarkably quick work of plunking us into a small town, in this case Nevsky Prospect. A smattering of silent leads and grotesque citizens in porcine masks (one in a paper pertrushka head) fill the stage, centered around a giant clock, which serenely changes seasons and expressions throughout the action. Rogue takes pride in its sets and kooky visuals, and they’ve greatly upped the whimsy and fantasy from Mr. Punch to constant cool effect. The play deftly balances the real and fantastic at all times, always giving us something to concentrate on, big and small.

Rogue has found perfect material in Gogol, letting satire speak for itself in clean adaptations of his political stories. Instead of sticking firmly to the master’s plots, the script weaves three stories together, Pulp Fiction-style. We meet Nevsky’s residents, witches, and ghouls slowly, before following them to their cruel fates.

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Inglewood ~ CA

many many more flicks at kzergabegallery.com