the BEAT of the week: The Jubilee.

I can't even believe it's already Memorial Day weekend. If it snuck up on you too, you still have a chance of making the most of it with tickets to this weekend's Jubilee -- formerly known as the Silver Lake Jubilee. Probably looking to expand beyond being a simple neighborhood fest, the event this year continues to boast a musical lineup of both big and local names (Aloe Blacc, Kinky, The Soft Pack, Autolux, Abe Vigoda, and so on) plus the usual L.A. fanfare of food trucks and an all-out block party. A two-day pass ($35) gets you a free tote bag or T-shirt (until supplies last, of course), and a one-day pass is only $20!

Time to kick off the summer.

The Jubilee is taking place this Saturday and Sunday at the Sunset Junction, located at 4000 Santa Monica Blvd. in Silver Lake. Get more info on the event here.

-- Chau Tu

the BEAT of the week: Taste of the Eastside.

L.A.'s 'eastside' neighborhoods -- including that of Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Atwater Village, Eagle Rock, among others -- have become well-known for their 'hip,' young populations, a sort of nerve center thriving with those who care about all things culture: art, music, fashion.

And you can add food to that list. Among the classic eastside standards like Intelligentsia, Little Dom's and Cliff's Edge have come a slew of new restaurants and eateries in the past few years, enticing foodies and locals alike to dine on some of the best and creative foods coming out of this city.

Need to catch up? Get your forks out. This weekend is the second edition of the Taste of the Eastside, a full-on food and drink fest celebrating all that is cuisine on the Eastside. Participants this year include Elf Cafe, Good Girl Dinette, Hugo's Tacos, L&E Oyster Bar, Malo, Pazzo Gelato, Proof Bakery, Xoia Vietnamese Eats, Eagle Rock Brewery, Golden Road Brewery and Silver Lake Wine. A simple $35 gets you unlimited tastings from all the restaurants, another $10 will also buy you a flight of wines or beer. There'll also be cooking demonstrations, and the proceeds will help to benefit the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Barnsdall Park, Rose Scharlin Nursery School and SEE Los Angeles.

Time to get hip, and be well-fed while at it.

Taste of the Eastside takes place from 1pm-5pm this Sunday, May 6 at Barnsdall Park, located at 4800 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Feliz. Get tickets here (price goes up the day of the event, so purchase now!).

-- Chau Tu

the monthly BEAT: Silver Lake. Berlin Currywurst.

It's official: L.A.'s got a sausage obsession. (Keep your mind clean.) With the recent openings of restaurants like Wirtshaus on Fairfax and Papaya Dog a la New York alongside our established institutions like Wurstkuche and those bacon-wrapped dirty dogs found so conveniently on sidewalk corners late at night, there hasn't been this much excitement about sausages since Dodger Dogs.

But let's escape the L.A. hype for a bit and take a detour to Berlin -- via Silver Lake, of course. Nestled right on the Sunset Junction, Berlin Currywurst opened up earlier this year with an emphasis on simplicity: owned by an extremely nice husband-wife team; just a few benches, tables and chairs; and an easy menu of the German street food fave.

Currywurst isn't a usual dog-and-bun deal. Here you'll choose your sausage -- wursts of chicken, pork, beef, tofu -- then choose your heat level. The sausage comes cut up in pieces doused in homemade organic sauce based in ketchup and curry and your level of heat. There's bread on the side for you to dip in, and the option of delicious fries with jambalaya seasoning and onions.

Simple, cheap ($6 for just the currywurst, add $3.50 for the fries) and absolutely delicious. A ton of flavor and heat that smolders softly at first, but effectively by the end. And the perfect primer for Pazzo Gelato next door, setting the pace for making Berlin Currywurst a Silver lake must.

Berlin Currywurst is located at 3827 Sunset Blvd. in Silver Lake.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: the BEAT

the monthly BEAT: Silver Lake. Broome Street General Store.

A fantastic new addition came to Silver Lake this summer--the Broome Street General Store. They serve New York's Gimme! Coffee, and make a mean scone too.

From Rifle Paper Co. cards to Morris Kitchen ginger syrup, this is the best west coast place for great east coast goods!

2912 Rowena Avenue in Silver Lake, (323) 570-0405, facebook.com/broomestgeneral

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: Broome Street General Store via facebook

the monthly BEAT: Silver Lake. Sunset Junction 2011.

For August's edition of the monthly BEAT, we're focusing on Silver Lake, which actually just so happens to be my own new neighborhood. It's a land oft-known/ridiculed for its hipsterism, but that mainly just means there are a lot of newer, younger places popping up around town that, while carry a hype machine, could be worth your visit.

But there are also some institutions already in place, a la Malo, Intelligentsia, and of course, the Sunset Junction Music Festival and Street Fair. Taking place at the end of the month at -- where else? -- the Sunset Junction, the musical lineup includes bands and artists both local and not, both big and small. Think Bobby Womack, the Melvins, Hanson (yep), Art Brut, the Butthole Surfers, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Dum Dum Girls, alongside the Soft Pack, Lesands, Hands, Oh Darling and more. And then there's the market and food and fair stuff and general fun galore.

Tickets are only $20 per day, get them here.

The Sunset Junction Music Festival and Street Fair takes place Aug. 27-28 at Sunset Junction, located at 3700 to 4300 Sunset Blvd. (between Edgecliffe Dr. and Fountain Ave.) and 4000 to 4200 Santa Monica Blvd. (between Sanborn Ave. and Hoover St.).

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Pabst Brewing Company moving to L.A.

Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times reported that Pabst Brewing Company (since 1844) is moving their headquarters from the Chicago suburb of Woodridge, Ill. to Los Angeles this summer. Welcome to the neighborhood, and cheers!

A few favorite L.A. places to drink PBR:

The Hungry Cat (shown above), where the budget beer is served in a brown bag with ice, alongside fresh fancy cocktails like my favorite, their greyhound proper

Cha Cha Lounge (I love anyplace with a photo booth)

The White Horse Inn (just the kind of place where a PBR is the right order)

Click here for more locations

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: stylespotting.com

Eat In. Garage Pizza.

Despite being the full-fledged party city that we are, Los Angeles actually closes shop pretty early. Once bars have their last calls for the night, you're reduced to only a handful of places to hang out, especially if you try and stick to nicer 'hoods.

Here's your new favorite option: Garage Pizza. All right, it's a pizza joint, which doesn't make anything super special, but the pies are huge and the place is open until 4am -- the perfect way to truly end your night (because it's basically morning). It's a little pricier than usual pizza places, but the food really is worth it -- pizzas are loaded with yummy, fresh ingredients, and surprisingly not that greasy. The crust is right there above thin. The above there is the Game Pie.

Best time to check out the goods is on Mondays, when all pizzas are $15 from open to close -- noon til 4am.

Garage Pizza is located at 4339 Sunset Blvd. in Silverlake. And they do deliver!

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: the BEAT

Advance Notice. Silver Lake Jubilee.

It's back. The arts, music, food and neighborhood festival known as the Silver Lake Jubilee will be returning to its spot under the bridge at Sunset Blvd. and Santa Monica Blvd. for a second year of fun festivities. Most of the special info -- the 50+ bands/artists and 60+ vendors and food trucks -- have yet to be announced, but the $5 (!!) tickets are already a steal, so you have no excuse to miss out. Get them here now, and mark your calendars for May 21-22.

The Silver Lake Jubilee is taking place the weekend of May 21-22 at 1070 Myra Ave. in Silver Lake.

-- Chau Tu

Eat Out. Food + Lab.

Silverlake surely isn't lacking another great brunch spot, but that doesn't mean they don't stop popping up. And I'm definitely not complaining -- especially when it brings us places like Food + Lab.

Food + Lab already has a location in West Hollywood, but opened up its Eastside branch just a few months ago out on Sunset, down a storefront from Dusty's. And it already fits in perfectly -- a casual joint that's friendly and has stellar cuisine. All the menu choices are scrawled on blackboards against the back wall, and filled with organic and vegan choices. But you also have your usual indulgences, and an overall balanced menu featuring delicious ingredients.

Above, you'll see potato, onion, gruyere and bacon omelette, which packed with goodness and the perfect sort of accent from the cheese. The sandwich was the organic chicken with gouda, sundried tomato aioli, and arugula on cibatta bread, of which the aioli was quite amazing. And I couldn't even fit our massive bowls of coffee into the picture. But overall, the food had rich flavors thanks to fresh ingredients, and portions were perfect -- filling but not overwhelming. I'm dying to try the sunny-side eggs and Australian speck featured on the website.

Yep, just another great brunch spot in Los Angeles. Us spoiled folk we are.
Food + Lab is located at 3206 West Sunset Blvd. in Silverlake.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: the BEAT

Do It. Silverlake Contemporary Ballet.

Thanks to Kanye West and Black Swan, we've got more than our usual share of ballet these past few months. But if you're still itching for some more (hopefully not in the growing black feathers in your back kind of way), it's time to get out there and check out some live, contemporary ballet in Silverlake.

Ballet smack dab in the middle of the Eastside? It's true. The Silverlake Contemporary Ballet is an non-profit organization set to premiere this weekend with a huge production combining all the elegance of contemporary ballet, with a Silverlake twist. The night will feature live dance performances paired with music from indie/alternative artists like Jeff Buckley, Bjork and Explosions in the Sky. Local band the Jenks will be playing live too. And there'll be art, photography, video projections and more. So even if you don't consider yourself a hardcore ballet fan, this would be a great way to work your way into the world. And at $6 a ticket (currently standing room only; seated tickets have sold out), what have you got to lose?

The Silverlake Contemporary Ballet debut is taking place this Saturday at 8pm at Studio A, located at 2306 Hyperion Ave. in Silverlake. Click here for more info.

-- Chau Tu

Eat Out. Local.

Finding a place to brunch on New Year's Day is not an easy thing to do -- everyone else out there is just as hungover and lazy as you are, and wants some good food in them to start the year out right. But somehow D and I lucked out, and came upon the awesome Local, located in Silverlake.

We originally picked the place -- even though we had never eaten there before -- because we figured its vast outdoor seating would help us to getting eating soon. It definitely exceeded expectations. It's one of those order-and-then-choose-a-spot-to-sit-in places, which can be annoying (i.e. Father's Office), but people seem to move in and out fairly quickly, and the waiters and waitresses always help out with getting you a table. And speaking of the service, the guy taking our orders at the register, although trying to handle a billion requests at once, was extremely cheerful and helpful, in the most genuine way possible. He was probably the owner, and he seemed to be completely in love with what he was doing. It was quite inspiring.

And then there was the food. I'm actually pretty sad I didn't take any pictures -- but we probably scarfed it down too quickly anyway. D got the breakfast sandwich, which was the special on the blackboard that day and looked amazing, while I stuck with whole wheat pancakes with eggs and bacon. I don't think I've actually had whole wheat pancakes before, and I don't even particularly like pancakes, but these had to be some of the best pancakes I'd ever had -- whole wheat or not. The wheat gave it a nuttiness that went perfectly with the sweetness of the butter. Totally mouth-watering. We also, for total over-indulgence reasons, ordered the spicy fries, which too, were delectable.

It's also good to mention that the food is mostly locally sourced and organic, and vegetarian friendly -- it is Silverlake, after all. Feeling good and having amazing food at the same time? A great way to start out the year.

Local is located at 2943 W. Sunset Blvd. in Silverlake.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: Yelp

Eat Out. Nicky D's Wood-Fired Pizza.

Nicky D's Wood-Fired Pizza is a cozy neighborhood pizza place in Los Feliz/Silver Lake that's truly delicious. It's along a stretch of Rowena Avenue that's also home to The Coffee Table, Blair's, Edendale Grill, and L.A. Fire Station #56. The structure used to be a house, but now is a multi-level restaurant and there's also patio dining out back.

My favorite menu item is the Blonde Bunny pizza--Ricotta, Goat Cheese, Romano, and Mozzarella, with a Roasted Garlic Olive Oil Base (pictured). This goes fabulously with the Hoegaarden beer they have on tap. The more classic pizzas, like pepperoni, or vegetable/meat combinations are really good too.

Once while picking up an order, I had the pleasure of meeting Nicky himself, and he was a really nice guy. He proudly chatted to me about the pizza oven, the history of the building, and was just genuinely pleasant. This just added another reason to keep going back!

Nicky D's is located at 2764 Rowena Avenue in Silver Lake. Open 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily. Info: nickydspizza.com, (323) 664-3333.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: the BEAT

Eat Out. Malo [Sunday Brunch].

Silver Lake's Malo restaurant is well-known for its great margaritas and happy hours, but it just so happens that it's a great place to visit after those margaritas and happy hours too. The Mexican eatery recently began opening up early for weekend brunch, and the hip Eastside crowd is loving it--for good reason.

The brunch menu offers all the regular, great-for-the-hangover brunch favorites, like the breakfast burrito and chilaquiles (both seen above), but with Malo's extra attention to detail in flavor and fresh ingredients. The chilaquiles, though obviously not the healthiest meal, actually wasn't as greasy as I had imagined, and the portion was just right not to make me feel like I'd see it (or the night before) later. There were also fun and unique options like the mango and banana French toast that seem worth trying out.

And of course, with any good hangover brunch, Malo offers drinks--top-notch, of course. Their sangria is always a favorite of mine, and a mojito would probably be nice around noon. We tried the Malo Cafe, which had coffee mixed Kahula and tequila, and it was pretty strong. Made for a good wake-up call, at least.

Malo is located at 4326 Sunset Blvd. in Silver Lake. Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays, from 9am-3pm.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: the BEAT

Check It. Baltic Crossroads Art Gallery.

One of the more unique, beautiful places to get funky international items is the Baltic Crossroads Art Gallery in Silver Lake right near Sunset Junction.

Quality handmade clothes with interesting Eastonian patterns, amazing, fascinating pottery, journals, and weird music you can't just go out and find at any large chain with international items.

Everything at this place is just beautiful, and the store's owner is unreal, from another world he's very nice and happy to talk about his Baltic items with store visitors and clearly takes pride in the things sold at his store.

If you're in the market for beautiful, quality home decor or some comfy wool socks for the coming fall, this is an amazing place to check out. Pictured above are some Baltic-style footsies.

Baltic Crossroads Art Gallery is located at 3929 Fountain Ave.

-- Lauren Williams

Do It. Summer Darling at Spaceland.

It's always a good idea to take advantage of free live music, especially when it's likely that of an up-and-coming band.

Spaceland's Monday night residency program is great for this. Tonight is the last night of Summer Darling's month at the Silver Lake venue - so check them out if you haven't had a chance yet.

Spaceland is located at 1717 Silverlake Blvd. in Los Angeles. Show July 26 at 9:00 p.m. Free.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: clubspaceland.com

Advance Notice. Sunset Junction Street Fair.

The Sunset Junction Street Fair is one of L.A.'s premier local events, often featuring the coolest of indie and rock bands in the midst of a good ole fashioned street fair, and usually scheduled as a perfect last hurrah for summer.

This year's event is set to be the 30th anniversary, so big things are sure to be happening. Info is still trickling in slowly, but some of the bands have already been announced, including the ever-delightful Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, my favorite Mayer Hawthorne, Fitz and the Tantrums, the Deadly Syndrome, Red Cortez and more.

The excitement will be revving up quickly, so you may as well book August 21st and 22nd and get your tickets now, for the special pre-sale price of $15. At-door tickets will be $20 (but you probably won't want to risk a sell-out). It's an L.A. classic, and you won't want to miss out.

-- Chau Tu

Advance Notice. Silver Lake Jubilee.

Silver Lake has already hosted a few high-profile street fest concerts in the past few years, like the Sunset Junction and FYFest, but it's about to add another.

The Silver Lake Jubilee is set to take place next weekend, May 22 and 23, on Myra Ave. between Santa Monica Blvd. and Fountain Ave. This first-time fest will be hosting a slew of live (and many of them locally based) entertainment, including Foreign Born, The Growlers, The Living Sisters and The Like. Beyond that, there'll be DJs, poetry, art, local vendors, plus more than 20 food trucks on hand to keep you well-fed. It sounds like a block party gone big, and the best part is, admission is only $5, which you purchase now. (College students get buy one get one tickets too!)

Take part in a homegrown community effort, and have some fun too!

-- Chau Tu

Eat Out. Thirsty Crow Bar [Thirsty Thursdays!].

When you want a drink, you want a drink--and in those cases, the cheap happy hour at the local dive is everything you want it to be. But sometimes, you've got to class it up and get a real, fine-tuned drink at a place worth being seen at.

The new Thirsty Crow Bar in Silver Lake is aspiring to be the latter. It's taken up the former space of Stinkers, a truck stop-themed bar with too much kitsch to be a regular dive, and cleaned up its act to try and become a full, bona-fide 1920s-esque bourbon bar. With dark interiors and a big half-circle bar, tended by pin-up-style girls and well-coiffed gents in suspenders, the ambiance is warm and inviting, in that insider kind of way (complemented further by the hipster crowd).

And with an extensive drinks menu (no food, but they'll let you order in or bring your own) of intriguing-sounding bourbons, whiskeys and ales, they've definitely got the vintage feel down. The choice cocktails are the classics: mint juleps, manhattans, old fashioneds. We figured we stick to what they know best: Leslie opted for the traditional rye manhattan, while I ventured for my usual whiskey sour (but of which they bragged, "you've never tasted a whiskey sour until you've tasted ours"), and later, a mint julep.

Service was slow for the soft-open night, but you could see that's because the bartenders were still learning their surroundings. The drinks, though, were well-crafted; I do still feel like I've had a whiskey sour before, but theirs is undeniably well-balanced. Little touches like a dark cherry at the bottom of Leslie's manhattan was a nice touch.

Again, it was a soft-open night, on a Friday, but the place was packed by 8pm. Still, with high ceilings and open windows, the bar didn't feel cramped. The bartender let me know that happy hour occurs regularly from 5-8pm, but that it only entailed $1 off all drinks. Which means your cocktails are still a high $11 (usual $12 if you didn't do the math). Not quite worth rushing over from work for.

Still, the Thirsty Crow will get its hip crowd and attention, and deservedly so, as far as we could tell. Good drinks, nice ambiance, perfect for people-watching--sometimes just exactly what you need from a bar.

Thirsty Crow Bar is located at 2939 W. Sunset Blvd. in Silver Lake, and its official opening is tomorrow night.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: the BEAT

Eat Out. Black & Black at LaMill [Thirsty Thursdays!].

Coffee and alcohol. Two such wonderful vices, and yet they unfortunately only rarely ever get paired with one another. This, however, has changed, thanks to LaMill.

The hip coffee and fine grub spot in Silver Lake just recently received its beer, wine and sake license, which is definitely a sign of good things to come. Among some fancier and foreign choices, LaMill has also concocted a few specials: the Tea Champagne and the Black & Black. The former, as obvious, mixes bubbly with pomegranate tea; the latter pairs stout with the beloved LaMill coffee.

It was definitely a beer night, so my date and I only sampled the Black & Black. For having only ordered two beverages, the service took a while, but our waiter finally showed up with a pint in one hand and a bottle in the other. The pint was already half-filled with the dark liquid of the aromatic coffee, and the server then made the elaborate display of pouring the Old Rasputin Imperial Russian stout in (and I guess since there was no resulting foam, it was impressive).

And black and black it was indeed. Maybe it was the darkness of the liquid that made it seem misleading, but it was strange to sip the drink and have it not be full or dense, in the way beer can taste at times. It wasn't ice cold, either, and I'm not too sure if that was a good or bad thing. But overall, the mixture presented an intriguing, rich and complex flavor with bitter--but not unpleasant--aftertastes. It's definitely a drink to experience slowly and appreciated over time. I tried the stout on its own (since only half was used in the drink), and it had coffee undertones that really seem to make it a great drink on its own too.

Worth a try? Probably, for the curious. But you can probably just opt for the Rasputin by itself too.

LaMill is located at 1636 Silver Lake Blvd. in Silver Lake.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: theBEAT

Eat Out. Cafe Stella.

This adorable restaurant is tucked away near Intelligentsia in Silverlake on Sunset, and probably has the tastiest, most authentic French food I've ever had.

The salads are excellent, as are the soups, pastas, and I'm told the meat here is quite good. Basically everything is tasty. They serve Chimay Triple (the white label) as well as other excellent European beers. The portions however, are authentically French too so appetizers are recommended.

The ambiance is quaint, although it is about half a block up from busy Sunset Boulevard, it still has a quiet, intimate atmosphere with candles lighting tables on the tiny patio and a charming inside, decorated with a vintage theme. Following its legit Frenchness, eating here you totally feel welcome to spend as much time you need to eat and enjoy the night, which is a big plus.

But the price tag on this is a bit high; entrees in the $30 region can make this a rare experience rather than a regular excursion. Despite its cost, this is definitely a place worth checking out. They also have particular hours, only opening from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m., and 6 p.m.-11 p.m. Sunday they close at 10 p.m. -- not exactly predictable.

Cafe Stella is located at 3932 W. Sunset Blvd.

-- Lauren Williams

Photo credit: Flickr