We have mostly gone to old favorites during our visit to Burbank (high horse/base camp cafe; the commissary, Porto’s) and environs but last night my brother showed us some new (or new to us) spots including Salazar, in a neighborhood near Silver Lake called Frogtown (was told once that realtors come up with these neighborhood names, at least in Chicago) and Wanderlust, an ice cream shop in Atwater Village, run by south Asian entrepreneurs that has concocted exotic flavors, some with south Asian sounding names (Vietnamese rocky road, sticky rice and mango).
Salazar is in a dark quasi-industrial area near a highway but has a hip yet welcoming vibe, with a spacious concrete outdoor eating space with trees and tarps. (we never saw an indoor space).
The food is affordable, moderately inventive tacos and family style sides of roasted spicy corn, black beans, guacamole, and an assortment of margaritas. Wanderlust doles out small scoops of its ice cream with exotic names and tastes.
These places struck me as distinctly LA, which was refreshing after a visit to upscale “Old Pasadena” area where the old Spanish-style buildings are distinctly Pasadena (although not quite nlike the plaza in n Kansas City) yet house many of the same shops in our new hometown of Chicago,
some in our Lincoln Park neighborhood. That’s one difference about living in Chicago, vs. Des Moines where we had fewer of the lifestyle chain brands and big box shops that homogenize many major cities now. In Pasadena, we did find a few small and quirky independently owned shops selling Kamala election gear and vintage Chanel (north of Colorado blvd, the main drag on Holly near Raymond) and a flea market in more funky south Pasadena, on Mission Street near the train station, with its the small charming bungalows. And Pasadena’s long straight fancier residential streets lined with Spanish style houses with red stucco tile roofs, towering palms, bright red Bougainville, and lush green lawns scream California.
On a busy Sunday we returned to Pasadena for distinctly Pasadena experiences – lunch at the charming Thai restaurant Daisy Mint (sautéed eggplant, string beans with crispy tofu, large pieces of chicken satee) and the glorious Huntington Gardens (especially the Chinese and Japanese gardens).
TakeBetsywithyou 