New Discoveries

With a tough week of work behind us, we decided to reward ourselves with a nice, long walk down Broadway Street this evening with our two pups. Selfishly thinking of an extra bonus, a downtown favorite, a true Bacon Hotdog, I was disappointed to learn that my usual vendor was not at her usual spot tonight. Nevertheless, our after-work walk on Broadway led us to discover other stores we don't normally notice driving down the same street. For example, there are a dozen of jewelery stores that sell very inexpensive 14kt gold jewlery, sneaker shops, a store with a variety of cowboy boots and a store in which every clothing item is $2.99! For those LA-Downtowners, do check out the Broadway shops soon because they may not be around for long if the City has its way with the proposed Broadway redevelopment.

Speaking of the City, we, along with P, our artist friend from Koreatown, headed to Masa for dinner. It was the first time for all of us at this Echo Park restaurant/bakery. What can I say? I loved the vibe and highly recommend it for late-night coffee dates. There is a "living room" section which reminds me of some great cafes in San Francisco. The tuna nicoise salad, baked minestrone and Scott Pizza were all acceptable but nothing to write home about. Yet given the wonderful vibe and its corner location on Sunset and Lemoyne Streets (prime for people watching), I will return for coffee and their Chocolate Creme Brulee which was delicious!

What does Masa mean? According to Wikipedia.com:
Masa (Spanish, from Latin massa, "mass") is a dough made by adding water to the harina (flour) of any grain. It is an ancient foodstuff, prepared and used in pre-historic times. For example, an exhibit at the Getty museum includes pottery from the Cycladic cultures (ca. 6500 BC) with decorations showing the entire bread-making process.

Masa of Echo Park
1800 W Sunset BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90026
Phone: (213) 989-1558
http://www.masaofechopark.com/