Flip-side Los Angeles

Article by: Donna Wheeler, March 2008

Bohemian Rhapsody

The hills that rise sharply east of Sunset Boulevard have been home to the city's subversives and free spirits for close to a hundred years, ever since openly gay, cross-dressing vaudevillian Julian Eltinge moved in and held the hottest pre-talkie parties in town. Despite none-too-shabby real estate prices, these steep streets retain an insouciant air - Volvo 240s are parked on the curb and coyotes outnumber people come nightfall. They also boast more Modernist masterpieces than you can poke a highly considered stick at; 20th-century greats like Neutra, Schindler, Soriano, Lautner and the heirs of Frank Lloyd Wright built beautiful, boundary-breaking houses for their radical clients from the early 1930s onwards. There are no key sights - this is residential on a very human scale - but a walk around will delight those with a keen eye. Visit Neutra Place, and the resident stoner guy (who's unfazed by form-follows-function dictates and lives in a pretty hacienda-style on the non-Neutra side of the street) may magically appear to give you an impromptu tour of 'The Colony', pointing out the house shot as Jack Black's in The Holiday.

Sundown, Sundown

As the hub of LA's indie rock scene, Silver Lake boasts some of the city's best loved live venues. Down on the flat, you'll find a strong line-up of local, domestic and international acts most nights of the week at Spaceland and the Silverlake Lounge (2906 Sunset Blvd; tel: 323 666 2407). The latter does double duty as a Latino drag joint on the weekends, one of the few reminders of the area's flavour before the rock gods lugged in circa 1990. Pre- and post-gig drinks can be had at the Tiki-Ti, one of Sunset's surviving 'tropical drink' bars; or try cold margaritas and warm tacos at Malo. If you're after somewhere to settle in on a week night, 4100 Bar (4100 Sunset Blvd; tel: 323 666 4460) has all one could want in a local: a Penguin Classic-wielding doorman, a blisteringly efficient, straight-talking, free-pouring barkeep, dim lighting and a jukebox jam-hot with 80s underground hits. Although it's technically in Echo Park, the Echo and big sister Echoplex are worth the short trip along Sunset. Catch a visiting anti-folk act or try out Wednesday's Dub Club. With live bands, sound systems and DJ toasting action, (including occasional greats such as Michigan & Smiley), the night attracts a large and fabulously diverse crowd of art school types, hippies, alternatinos, fly girls and the odd Jamaican elder statesman. Just be prepared for the security pat-down on your way in. Silver Lake is still home to a large gay population, and despite the rapid disappearance of the Stonewall-era rough-trade dives, there's still a collection of laid-back venues like Akbar and MJ's that provide a counterpoint to the woo-woo drinks and silver shorts of WeHo.

Up The Junction

It's the site of the loud and legendary Sunset Junction Street Fair, but for the rest of the year, Sunset Junction is Silver Lake's Chablis-swilling, ewe's milk ricotta- scoffing heart. Tucked away in a rust-red anti-mall, The Cheese Store of Silverlake sells artisan cheeses from across the US along with a select range of international wines. Next door petit, chaotic Café Stella caters for a Eurotrashed crowd, with Franco-staples a-plenty. The ubiquitous truffle fries, served in the back bar, are perfect for soaking up the night's excess. Up front is coffee palace Intelligentsia, a thinking person's Starbucks and recent transplant from Chicago. It's cute and has the crèma down to an art, so it's more the pity about the roast. But the grips and script editors in residence from dawn to midnight don't seem to mind. Just down the road, those who rock the Casbah (3900 Sunset Blvd; tel: 323 664 7000) are also oblivious to the pish served up as latte. Still, there's peppermint tea, delicious tartines, lovely Moroccan tunics for sale, and a staff member sporting a Sebastian Flyte post-dissipation look - who needs coffee?

Mas e Mas!

A few Silver Lake restaurants may have entered $35-steak territory, but while the LA Times breathily boasts of the city's celeb chefs, Los Angeles is not a true food town. Save your fine dining dollar for New York, Sydney or Toulouse. Take the opportunity instead to eat your fill of some excellent and often surprisingly authentic Mexican cooking. Alegria (3510 Sunset Blvd; tel: 323 913 1422), a bright and cheery spot despite its strip mall location, does great mole, tampiquenas and citrus marinated, sautéed fish tacos, as well as super papaya agua frescas. There's La Playita Siete Mares (3143 Sunset Blvd; tel: 323 664 4604) for more fish tacos, this time of the deep-fried Ensenada variety: they'll be what you really, really want come 3am. Or it's back to Malo for fresh homestyle platos that won't leave you overstuffed. If the masa gets a bit much, try Pho Café (2841 Sunset Blvd; tel: 213 413 0888), an unsignposted (but not entirely undesigned) shop front serving signature soup and rice vermicelli dishes for under $7; wash them down with Red Stripe beer. LA loves its certified farmer's markets, and Silver Lake is no exception. It's far from flashy but has seasonal produce, including flowers, at reasonable prices.

Magic Bus

Go on. Lest you have any doubts, riding the Met was once a compulsory component of Mike Davis' Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) course. As the LA chronicler suggests, it gives you an entirely different perspective on the city. Star Silver Lake architect and Beastie Boy-crony Barbara Bestor calls the 99c stores and strip malls dotted along Sunset 'Pop Art cathedrals'; like the SCI-Arc kids on the bus, you might just get to love the 'everyday urbanism' of the Eastside. The trip along Sunset to Downtown is defiantly everyday and definitely urban. Bonus: the bus is a far more reliable bet than finding a random taxi if you've had one too many dirty martinis on the roof of the Standard Downtown or a long night of whatever at the Echo. When you do drive, leave the Hummer back on La Cienega. Borrow a friend's biofuel-converted Mercedes or hire a Honda hybrid. You'll feel just a little more like a local.