Silverlake Jubilee Festival

Last weekend was the Silverlake Jubilee Festival, a smaller version of the Sunset Junction, mainly located on Myra Avenue, with three music stages, one stand-up stage, a shoo-loo of food trucks, and a few crafts merchandise vendors.

Thanks to the Minty I got go to the Festival for flee last weekend. I was hoping her press badge got us more fleebies but it didn’t, and there was no real long line for us to flash her fancy badge. Anyways, let me rewind. I met up with the Minty outside of the Redline in the late afternoon. If you’re ever coming here again or attending Sunset Junction, I strongly suggest taking the Redline (stop at Vermont & Santa Monica). You don’t have to worry about parking, just the freaks on the subway.

It took Minty awhile to get her badge. It felt like we were in the “Amazing Race” but in slow-mo. I had a hangover –not due to alcohol but from sleeping too much. I stayed in bed past NOON –the first for 2010. I know that’s crazy, I didn’t even do that on New Year’s Day after a night of debauchery; I woke up at ten, made myself a Bloody Mary and hiked at the Griffith Park. My brain was hazy and all I had for the day was coffee and a butter croissant but we found the treasure chest after our third location, Mi Alma Garden, where I bought a couple frescas (prices went up $1 from the last time I was there...) from Ricky’s Tacos, and got to pass go.

We circled around the festival like hawks, figuring out which food trucks to hit up, what goods to buy, and which boys looked the best in skinny jeans (I’m just kidding, men, I mean boys, should never wear skinny jeans). The only alcohol they served was beer in the beer garden…you know just how much I love piss water… and the only green in the beer garden was the sign.

I can’t believe beer was seven bucks! Suckers! I did noticed somone posted a tip on Foursquare to look out for drink tickets on the floor... We hit the Komodo truck first. Their garlic fries are sick—worth the five bucks! The Crepe'n Around truck was nearby and we just had to order their garlic fries to see which truck was better. Nicola joined in on the fun.

Crepe ‘n Around garlic fries were ok, but they’re just not in the same league as the Komodo’s. Plus, I prefer skinny fries over regular fries. I will definitely have a crepe instead the next time around.

We needed a caffeine reload and stopped by Intelligentsia. I love their ice mocha. It’s the best. Our third food truck was Uncle Lau’s. I tried to go for food trucks that I normally don’t see in front of the Variety building.

One of the annoying things that the Minty pointed out was some trucks has a tendency to raise their prices at festivals. We noticed that Uncle Lau’s sweet potatoes fries are normally are $2 but at Silverlake Jubilee they were $3. WTH!?

I ordered the BBQ Beef Brisket slider. It was tasty, but would have been better if they served it with a Hawaiian bun after all Uncle Lau’s food supposedly from the “islands of Oahu and Maui.”

Nicola had the Pulled Pork topped with Cole slaw slider which was not so good. It was salty.

Our last food truck was Vesuvio, an Italian food truck.

They sold out on Aracini (Italian rice balls) and the chicken parmesan sandwiches so I went with the meatballs sandwich. Unlike Uncle Lau’s, Vesuvio cut their prices. Half sandwiches were $2! However, they gave us a full sandwich…maybe they saw Minty’s press badge..?

It was ok; it was $2 bucks. I can’t really complain since I don’t specialize in meatballs. I grew up on meatballs with carrots and whatever left over vegetables my mom could find. We ended the Silverlake Jubilee with drinks at Malo.

Good times!



Ricky’s Tacos
Stalk em here!

Komodo
Stalk em here!

Crepes’n Around
Stalk em here!

Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea
Address: 3922 West Sunset Blvd. LA, CA 90029
Phone: (323) 663-6173

Uncle Lau’s
Stalk em here!

Vesuvio
Stalk em here!

Malo
Address: 4326 W Sunset Blvd LA, CA 90029
Phone#: (323) 664-1011
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Cake Salon Bosco

After Park’s Barbeque, Cat, Leeanne, and I headed to Cake Salon Bosco located in the Chapman Plaza for desserts. It was our first time there, and we loved the look of the place. Cat wants to own a tea shop that looks just like Cake Salon Bosco.


The tables are cute—those are real coffee beans.

The desserts are even cuter.

They are just too pretty to eat. We ordered the raspberry milk chocolate, tiramisu, dark chocolate, and I believe the other flavor was coffee.

This is what the inside looks like:

How did the cakes taste? Well…it’s like going on a date with a hot boy. His eyes twinkle, perfect hair, dresses well, and has a killer smile that just makes you melt…and then he speaks and you realize there’s no substance, no personality, and all he’s good for is just to look at. The cakes were tasteless.

Their “Asian” Cheesecake was just as bad. It needed to be creamier; it’s more of a sponge cake that needs to soak in some more juice.

The worse part was their latte. It tasted like instant coffee. I don’t know if they have an espresso machine…maybe they used all the coffee beans for the tables instead? Cat had tea, and Leeanne had their instant “Korean” coffee, which was probably just a latte except I paid more. The total was around $30-40 –overly priced awful desserts and coffee. I guess we should have gone to Café Loft where there are Sweet Lady Jane’s desserts and makes a mean mocha…oh well, we can check Cake Salon Bosco off our list.

Address: 3465 W 6th St Ste 80, LA, CA 90020
Phone#: (213) 388-2277
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Blue Bottle Coffee Co.

My cousin and I headed to Bluebottle Coffee Company after our breakfast at the Butler & the Chef Bistro.

She knows that I’m a foodie so she took me there where they offer siphoned coffee before we headed to MOMA's 75th Anniversary exhibit. I love coffee but I’m far from a connoisseur. I can’t drink black coffee, so as much I wanted to see the contraption go to work, it would be a waste. It’s like using Patron Silver in a blended strawberry margarita instead of having it neat. Oh, plus, Bluebottle Coffee Company is similar to the Funnel Mill in Santa Monica, which I have already experienced. Bluebottle Coffee Company's is fancier than Funnel Mill's.



I stuck to a New Orleans ice coffee since it was so hot outside. They only had two interesting ice coffees. New Orleans which is served with coffee and sugar, and Kyoto, served black…and that’s why I went with the New Orleans. I was surprised of the spicy chocolate flavor in the New Orleans. The cousin went with their homemade lemonade which was a more golden color. She liked it, and I liked my coffee. I’ll take my coffee New Orleans style please!

Address: 66 Mint St., San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone#: (415) 495-3394
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FUNNEL MILL RARE COFFEE & TEA

We checked out Funnel Mill on the weekend of the disappointing GLOW show (I'm behind on my yelping...). Shaz raved about this place, "Funnel Mill is the best coffee shop ever!" so of course we had to check it out. Now, I'm not a "real" coffee drinker; I can't drink black coffee --must have some kind of sweetener, so I had the chocolate latte. The aroma was misleading; smelled like rich chocolate but tasted like a hint of dark chocolate-- nonetheless, not bad.

B had the $10 Kona and then....the $65 Kopi Luwak. We watched the Bucket List earlier, so B indulged and checked the K.L. off of his list. I took a few sips, so I too can also check drinking coffee beans that was shitted out by a mammal off my list. It was not bad. Uber dark roasted beans. I believe Kopi Luwak has 3x's the caffeine of an espresso, so if you need to wake up and have $65 to blow, get a K.L. Oh, you get a Kopi Luwak members mug with the drink.

My favorite part of F.M. was watching them make the coffee. The baristas are like scientists.

In a nutshell, if you're a coffee connoisseur, you HAVE to come here.

Address: 930 Broadway Ste A Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone#: (310) 597-4395
Rating: 4 out of 5

HAUS DESSERT BOUTIQUE

I have to agree with Theresa...we waited F-O-R-E-V-E-R for our drinks at Haus. Oddly enough our CREPE dessert came out 20 minutes BEFORE our green latte, mocha latte, and almond shake...yeah for real. The people who were seated after we ordered got their drinks before us...The call button doesn't guarantee excellent service. Btw, don't order the crepe dessert; it's gross --drench with grand marnier and lots of orange zest.

The $6.00 8oz green latte was DISAPPOINTING. They use powder...should have gone to the Coffee Bean where I would have only paid $4 for 16oz with skin milk (Haus doesn't have skim or 2% milk). Their mocha is ok, but I prefer Loft's for the same price and double the size. B enjoyed his almond shake.

I would've given Haus a 0.5, but they realized they messed up and gave us a free Tiramisu and cookies --I would have preferred them to take off the nasty crepe . Oye vey!

Rating: 3826 W 6th St Los Angeles, CA 90020
Phone#: (213) 288-5311
Rating: 1.5 out of 5

LOFT CAFE

Sorry, couldn't really give it a 4 star because the coffee is so damn expensive if you stay and the food is nothing to get all excited about--as Runt said, the turkey sandwich is just like a subway sandwich. I don't know if it's a Korean cafe thing but there are two prices -- a to go price and a stay in price. A to go price is what normal coffee costs, and a stay in price is double the cost (I've never had a free refill...but then again, I usually order a Latte or a Mocha). It's smart on their part I guess because they just want to maximize their profit without doing too much work. But come on!? $6-7 for a mocha? I can get a vodka/cran with that money. I will have to admit that their mocha is the best mocha I have had so far--not too sweet and not to bitter. The interior is great --it's a loft style --there's a 2nd floor, and the patio is cozy and cute. They have a parking lot on Serrano & 6th I believe...and they offer Sweet Lady Jane cakes - yum!

Address: 3882 West 6th StreetLos Angeles, CA 90020
Phone: (213) 383-3006
Rating: 3.8 out of 5

**Update (3/16/09): I've now accepted the fact that all coffee joints in K-Town are expensive, so I'm giving them a 4.5 out of 5 now. The parking and Wi-Fi are free.