Eat Out. Oak Tree Inn. [Guest Post]

Touted by Caltech scientists as the best Chinese restaurant near campus, Oak Tree Inn serves great fine dining for Chinese cuisine. The name might throw off a lot of people and the outside may look a little off-putting, but that's part of the restaurant's charm. It is based on word-of-mouth -- and now you have mine.

Be sure to get the peking duck, with its succulent cracked skin and the white sweet fluffy buns they're served with. The walnut shrimp is pretty spectacular as well if you want a simple seafood dish. If you can't decide what you want, the chef's specials will be able to help you out. And of course, your entrees are served family-style. Your meal is finished off with white chocolate covered fortune cookies, a sweet ending to perfect meal.

Oak Tree Inn is located on 1315 Fair Oaks Ave. in South Pasadena.

-- Muriel Nacar

Photo credit: eatoaktreeinn.com

Check It. Howie's Ranch Market [Guest Post].

Remnants of Americana culture sounds like something few and far between to the rest of the Los Angeles County, but look no further -- aside from the all-American ice cream shoppe, the local grocer has still survived the test of time.

Howie's Ranch Market, a small grocery store located on the central street of San Gabriel Boulevard, provides choice cuts of beef from Alexander's meats -- potential idea for a nice homemade dinner for two -- baked goods from Lisa's bakery, as well as high quality produce. Though it is small, it provides shoppers all they need for their grocery lists. Howie's has everything that can remind many of 1950s nostalgia. What's missing is the milkman.

Though the prices are slightly higher than say, the more corporate high end markets (Whole Foods or Gelson's), it is definitely worth the splurge for the quality and the service.

Howie's Ranch Market is located at 6580 N. San Gabriel Blvd. in San Gabriel.

-- Muriel Nacar

Photo credit: hometown-pasadena.com

Eat Out. Tasty Garden Restaurant [Guest Post].

Trying to navigate the San Gabriel Valley for Chinese food can be pretty overwhelming when you're not Chinese, or a foodie at that, but a broken engagement with a colleague somehow found me here.

The aptly named Tasty Garden Restaurant, located on the constantly bustling Valley Blvd. in Alhambra, turned out to be a fun dining experience for my friend and I. Everything inside seems to reflect a departure from the typical Chinese decor one would encounter -- I was enamored by the turquoise tile lined mirror on one of the walls -- showing that perhaps, the place was not really catering to tourists, but rather, the residents of San Gabriel Valley, students and workers alike.

Philosophies aside, the service was pleasant. The servers seemed to follow the Westernized approach to customer service where they were always accommodating and nice. And they smiled too. We ordered the popular fare on the menu: French style filet mignon, fried pork, and fried rice. My filet mignon, not really a tender piece of steak, were really chunks of beef sauteed with a flavorful sauce and topped with green onions. The fried rice was delicious as well, but really, it wouldn't be right if a Chinese restaurant screwed up on your fried rice.

Our meal ended with dessert, and boy, did I not skimp on that. Tasty Garden is known for its Hong Kong waffle (pictured above), which I indulged in. It had enough crunch, but the eggs in the batter kept it from tasting too dry. My friend ordered one of the many puddings on the menu, which was also satisfying to her sweet tooth.

From its satisfying food, its great service, and its late night hours (it's open 'til 3am Fridays and Saturdays), Tasty Garden offers a great Chinese food option in Los Angeles.

Tasty Garden Restaurant is located at 288 W. Valley Blvd, Ste. 110 in Alhambra.

-- Muriel Nacar

Photo credit: Yelp

Check It. Black Swan [Guest Post].

Perfection in art. Is it possible? Is it the purpose? Is it worth the pursuit? Darren Aronofsky's new film, Black Swan, shows the dangers of tempting that all too precious and fickle bitch that is "perfection." And while modern art eschews the perfect, a classical art like ballet has the balls to think it can achieve such a peak. Aronofsky has reached high and been found wanting in his previous film The Fountain, but here he seems to find a bastardized middle ground between that ambition and the more down-and-dirty (Dardenne Brothers-ripped-off) style of The Wrestler. It's pretty strange and powerful.

Still, Black Swan, like The Wrestler before it, is dominated by its performances. Natalie Portman occupies the flawed hero role that Mickey Rourke played so well before. But instead of drugs, alcohol and old age being the Achilles' heel of our hero, Portman's has to wrestle with paranoia, insecurity and the pains of pursuing perfection. And she is incredible. She plays Nina Sayers, a young, fragile ballerina who lives with her mother in a small New York apartment. This season, her company, under the direction of the vicious Vincent Cassell, has chosen to produce Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. The ballet is about a White Princess who falls in love with a Prince but when a magic spell turns her into a swan, the Prince falls in love with another princess who resembles the White Princess, disguised in black. The White Princess is devastated and kills herself. The parallels between Nina and the White Princess are immediately obvious, and (spoilers! [not really though]) the story unfolds just like the ballet. But the trip is INTENSE.

Eat Out. Fosselman's Ice Cream Company [Guest Post].

I'm a simple girl, and while I've been exposed to more experimental desserts, it really just comes down to that simple scoop of ice cream.

Where else can you get that than a family-operated working soda fountain on Main Street?

Opened in 1919, Fosselman's Ice Cream Company still serves their signature homemade ice cream of up to 40 flavors. In addition, the shoppe churns out malts, milkshakes, and even vends candy (Jelly Belly first started selling their jelly beans here). With its old menu and services intact, it's really easy to get lost in the nostalgia.

Even though Fosselman's retains its old-town gem reputation, the younger generation family members have established some seasonal flavors, such as heirloom tomato in August and snowballs in December. The more Asian-oriented surrounding community has had some influence, so you can still get your lychee or taro ice cream fix if you're craving something different.

Warning: To follow up on its fairly decent prices, Fosselman's is cash-only, so withdraw accordingly.

Fosselman's is located at 1824 W. Main St. in Alhambra.

-- Muriel Nacar
Muriel is a lifetime student.

Photo credit: readysetgrowla.org

Check It. The Shop at The Standard [Guest Post].

If you can tear yourself away from the magic of the Quiksilver vending machines at The Standard Downtown’s rooftop pool for a moment, you will notice the recently made over The Shop around the corner in the lobby. The psychedelic life-size jewelry box of a store shares space with Rudy’s Barber Shop and is now carrying a slew of designer goods for your getaway and/or staycation needs.

A toasting party was held the other night with mini trunk shows displaying limited edition Clare Vivier handbags (designed specifically for The Shop), Paul Frank sunglasses, paint-it-yourself TOMS Shoes and Livity hats to brave the UV in LA. Guests noshed on tasty nibbles, like hempseed brownies with salty caramel and sipped Milton Gladlys (apple honey infused vodka with sparkling water) while DJ Valida made some jams.

Labor Day staycation, anyone?

The Shop at The Standard is located at 550 S. Flower St. in downtown.

-- Nairi Najarian

Photo credit: Melissa Manning/The Look Partnership

Drink It. Intelligentsia Pasadena [Guest Post].

Three years and one summer after breaking bean in Silver Lake and Venice, Intelligentsia, the couture coffee clubhouse hailing from Chicago, flew into Old Town Pasadena on its famous brewshtick with a shoulder-bumping grand opening party earlier this month.

The 73-seat lofty-aired space, with alley and sidewalk entrance, houses communal tables, church pews, wide open street side windows and electric blue walls perfect for a quick java fix or a sit-down lunch with small plates served up via chef Matthew Poley of Heirloom LA. The double bar is manned with primly trimmed and ‘stached baristas who’ll soon be slinging a different kind of brew in addition to the house blend: Los Feliz's Covell Bar GM Matthew Kaner will offer up a selection of wines and beers for the tap happy. Nummy pastries a la Bottega Louie and Cake Monkey Bakery are served daily, in addition to talks of Poley filtering in grilled cheese nights and a whole pig roast.

Beyond the bustling G.O. party (which had a line wrapped around the back alley), it’s been a quiet stream of laptop laden studs, modelesque espresso sippers, a woman dictating a script to the mysterious caller and the occasional hipster in for a routine inspection. All in all, just your average cuppa joes.

*A sweet treat must-try: Chocolate Locket Cookies Chocolate sable cookies (courtesy of Cake Monkey Bakery) are filled with house made caramel and sprinkled with Fleur de Sel. Life changing.

-- Nairi Najarian

Photo credit: Intelligentsia

Check It. Best Worst Movie at the Nuart [Guest Post].

There are many films that vie for the title of "Worst Movie of All Time:" Manos: The Hands of Fate, Gigli, The Room, and Paul Haggis' Crash (boo!), to name a few. Yet there are a certain number of these films that develop cult followings (I'm looking at you, Battlefield Earth) and raise their status from "leave it in the VCR that you're taking to Goodwill" to "get wasted and watch with friends on low-key Saturday nights." One such film is Troll 2, and the documentary Best Worst Movie is a hilarious and sometimes troubling look at the cult surrounding this unbelievably bad film.

Best Worst Movie is directed by the child star of Troll 2, Michael Stephenson, and documents the film's journey back into popular culture after its straight-to-video release in 1990. Starting with a screening at Upright Citizen Brigade's New York theater in 2004, Stephenson follows some of the stars of Troll 2 as they take the film on the road to sold out theater after sold out theater (including our very own Nuart!).

At the center of the film is one-time actor and full-time dentist George Hardy. The father in Troll 2, George now lives in a small southern town, splitting his time between his daughter and his protein shakes. George is a kind, ever-smiling guy who is impossible not to like, laughing his way through Q&As (where he recreates his awful performance on stage for his adoring fans) and proudly boasting to his patients and friends that he was in the "worst movie of all time."

But as the film progresses, you begin to see George fall under the spell of his "celebrity." He even hosts a hometown screening of the film, making the receptionists in his office cold-call patients to ask them to attend. The visits made to some of Troll 2's cast are often sad and always utterly bizarre, and when the Italian director (who still makes films in Italy) and his wife who wrote Troll 2 show up to join in the festivities, things get seriously awkward (and funny!).

But for the most part, the film is hilarious and thoughtful. Though it never fully comprehends why Troll 2 has become such a favorite in the so-bad-it's-good line of filmmaking, the clips that they show sure make it look like a helluva good time.

Judge for yourself at tonight's Nuart midnight screening of Troll 2. Hardy and Stephenson will be there, as well as at the Friday and Saturday screenings of Best Worst Movie. I'd recommend watching Troll 2 before Best Worst Movie, or just check out the excellent "Best of Troll 2" youtube collection below.

Best Worst Movie is showing at the Nuart Theatre, located at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles, for one week starting tonight.

-- Daren Sprawls
Daren is currently unemployed, and available for birthdays and bar mitzvahs.

Check It. Mika's "Kick-Ass" music video [Guest Post].

The patron saint for lost boys and girls (who want to stay lost) assembles yet another dance-youth anthem, this time with GaGa’s RedOne tucked into his shiny tailcoat pocket.

Curly locked pop-sensation Mika helms the title-track and the promotional buzz for upcoming super-hero comedy flick Kick-Ass, due out in theaters April 16. The music video premiered yesterday and is making its way through the blog circuit faster than a speeding bullet. After all, this is a superhero movie...or is it?

The cast of pimple-faced pseudo-heroes is led by relative newbie Aaron Johnson (The Illusionist) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin’ to us). These crimefighters opt for DIY-costumes and goofy theatrics, but are on that noble quest to achieve what every nerd dreams of–chicks. You’ll find yourself wondering why Nicolas Cage is in this movie, and why his ass isn’t the one being kicked. It's a mystery that looms overhead like a Bat Signal with a blown fuse, so while I go solve that crime against cinema, enjoy "Kick-Ass."

--Nairi Najarian

Check It. 'House' at the New Beverly [Guest Post].

As someone who frequented the New Beverly Cinema during the six years I lived in L.A., I was surprised to learn that the theatre nearly closed late last decade. Luckily for movie lovers, Quentin Tarantino came to the rescue of the ailing revival house. So why not show Tarantino some gratitude by catching a showings of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s classic 1977 Japanese “horror” film House (or Hausu, as the cool kids are wont to call it) this weekend?

I put “horror” in quotes, because House isn’t a particularly scary movie. It’s definitely spooky, eerie and unsettling at times, but the film’s more surreal than anything else. That’s what happened when Obayashi, who made his name directing Charles Bronson-starring deodorant commercials, chose to base the film on a story concocted by his eleven-year-old daughter.

Six school girls (with names like Gorgeous, Fantasy and Kung-Fu) journey to the country for a quick vacation, but instead happen upon a haunted house that has no intention of letting them escape alive. Not exactly anyone’s idea of a relaxing time, but it is a perfect example of how strange Japanese pop culture can be. You’d be hard pressed to find an American film that features a bloodthirsty piano, a demonic (but still kind of cute) cat, and random but hilarious bits of nudity.

It sounds weird—and it definitely is—but the film is more than just another crazy Japanese genre flick. House is a truly beautiful film, each frame a perfectly designed and lushly colored sight to behold. The whole thing brings to mind the work of Michel Gondry, a short form auteur who also successfully made the transition to feature length director. It’s not that the work of the two is that similar, but there is a shared sensibility to it. Like the Frenchman, Obayashi is a director determined to put his imagination to celluloid, no matter how odd it may turn out. And as with Gondry, the result is exuberant film making at its best.

Despite being over 30 years old, and having developed quite the cult following, House has never made it to the United States until now. So seize the opportunity and see it this weekend.

House will be showing at the New Beverly Cinema from March 12-17.

-- Bryan Hood

Bryan Hood is a graduate journalism student who traded in the gold-soaked highways of Los Angeles for the frigid hellhole that is Syracuse, NY. He likes his mustache, misses good Mexican food, and is internationally known for being awesome. He also writes for the blog, Yo Stevie Hawksylvania.

Photo credit: Janus Films

Etc. 2nd Annual Gold Standard Food and Wine Event [Guest Post].

This past weekend I attended the L.A. Weekly's second annual "Gold Standard," a food-sampling event where attendees get to try specially chosen small dishes from 40 diverse Los Angeles area restaurants. “Gold Standard” is named for Jonathan Gold, the Weekly's Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic (and patron saint of the local foodie-blogger scene), as he is the one who chooses the participating restaurants. I, just like pretty much everyone else I know who is familiar with his work, am a huge fan of his writing, as well as his keen insight into the local culinary-culture scene.

After attending a second time, I remain convinced that “Gold Standard” is a perfect outing for those living in So Cal who (like me) consider the act of eating delicious food with friends to be among the more worthwhile and satisfying pursuits of life. Admittedly, the $60 cost is on the high side, and I found the food this year to be slightly less impressive when compared with last year's (my friend thought that this time there were fewer in the way of trendy new restaurants, a-la Animal, so maybe that's why I wasn't blown away by as many of the dishes this time). But such minor complaints aside, I definitely had a great time once again.

For one thing, the venue this year--the Petersen Automotive Museum--proved to be a lot easier to navigate than last year's site (the West Hollywood location of Smashbox Studios), which was a major complaint of many who attended. Also, Stella Artois and Bulleit Bourbon provided free custom glasses for attendees, and I was definitely not alone in my excitement at being able to go home with a gold-rimmed Stella beer glass! (What can I say; I'm a sucker for those commercials...) Most important though were the samples of food from some of Mr. Gold’s favorite local eateries, places like Jitlada, Palate Food and Wine, Wurstküche, and the Nickel Diner (who provided samples of their now infamous Maple Bacon Donut). And you could chase it all down with wine, beer and bourbon, all of which was also included in the $60 entrance fee. So really, what's not to like?

Personally, I enjoyed the frozen treats available from two of the stands providing desserts. One was that manned by the Bulgarini Gelato dudes, with their impressively authentic Italian gelato, something I've been meaning to try ever since Gold first started touting it a few years ago. Upon tasting their Chocolate with Sea Salt flavor, I was immediately transported back to the time I spent studying abroad in Florence a few summers ago. The other stand was the Saffron Spot ice cream table, which had a number of their own unique flavors of ice cream, all of which were delicious.

While at the event I was able to corner Gold briefly and ask him about Slake, the new magazine devoted to L.A. that his wife Laurie Ochoa--the Weekly's recently departed editor in chief--is heading up. I didn't find out many details, but it sounds as if they are continuing to move forward on it, and I'm really excited to read the first issue.

Anyway, if you like trying some delicious and very diverse kinds of food, and are willing to throw down a bit of money for an afternoon of some good old-fashioned gluttony, I would definitely consider looking into attending next year's event.

-- Nico Smedley

Nico, a former Los Angeles Times editorial assistant and Editorial Pages Aide, is currently living in San Diego and pursuing a career in the journalism and media industry.

Photo credit: blogs.laweekly.com

Etc. Rock stars be tired [Guest Post].

We here at the BEAT realize that great writers must always appreciate other great writers. Today we feature a guest post by my boyfriend and new blogger, Adam Hobbs. You can check out more of Adam's posts about music, life, and owls at theowler.com.

By the time this post goes up, the news about Lady Gaga canceling a recent string of dates will be old news. She will most likely have taken a nap and hopped back on her luxury Prevost to finish out her exhausting U.S. tour and head over to the UK for more back-breaking work.

Even though the unemployment rate soared to 10% in December, most of us still have to go to work every day. And it's probably safe to say that if Lady Gaga were working anyplace else in the U.S., she would have maxed out on sick days and now would be dipping into her vacation balance to stay home and recover.

After doing a little research however, I'm finding out that being a touring musician is in fact, incredibly exhausting. News doesn't lie and here's a list of canceled dates that I was able to pull off the web after Googling "cancel exhaustion":

Jan 1, 2010 - the xx

Sep 1, 2005 - Queens of the Stone Age

June 9, 2004 - The Vines

August 17, 2005 - Transplants

April 2, 1977 - Elvis Presley

August 17, 2006 - Keane

Aug 18, 2005 - Eminem

Oct 25, 1975 - The Carpenters

Sep 18, 1996 - The Cranberries

Oct 16, 2009 - Sugababes

Nov 3, 1976 - Dolly Parton

Jun 26, 1991 - Black Crowes

Jun 5, 1995 - Travis Tritt

Jul 9, 2007 - Amy Winehouse

Sep 2, 2005 - The Rakes

...the list goes on and on.

So when the Byrds sang, "if you wanna be a rock'n'roll star," they should have added things like, 'drink coffee' and 'get eight hours of sleep a night' to that list of to-dos.

-- Adam Hobbs

Photo: Me & Gaga: You can't see her eyes, but she's sleeping right now. I hope.

Check It. Paper Birds [Guest Post].

We here at the BEAT realize that great writers must always appreciate other great writers. Today we feature a guest post by our talented colleague, Nairi Najarian.
Time. The chase for more hours, minutes, seconds in a day never ends. Never allows for satisfaction with what we've accomplished, always leaves us pining for just another moment. We are the White Rabbits, and Time, well, still the Crocodile. In this Wonderland, the caterpillar no longer asks of us "Who are you?", it is the Facebook who now beckons, "What's on your mind?" No more the mirror-images of Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum, than our Twitter twins calling for a re-tweet 140 characters long.

Nikon Festival's "A Day through your Lens" also wants a 140 out of you. A 140 second status update of your day. A live-action tweet. A minute and twenty to tell the world "What's happening." And the top prize for the winning lenscrafter? A cool $100,000. The Office's Rainn Wilson is a judge.

With the stunning "Paper Birds," finalists Shoushan Tavlian and David Falossi accomplish something the other films do not. Something even we, in our everyday, desperately wish to do.

Slow time down.

The daunting prospect of an assigned limit to the film is instantly forgotten upon hearing the first gorgeous aches of the piano. The world created is poignant with colors, music, places and a lovely girl existing in it all. Even when the viewer is transported into the cacophony of nameless streets, cars and pavement, the elegant thread with which our lovely girl bids us to follow is still trailing ever so delicately through the lens. The film auteurs weave us a patchwork of moments leading into moments. A fabric innocent of schedules, appointments and deadlines. A fabric of...time... equal to what we most revere in art, and that's timelessness.

Watch "Paper Birds" and other 140 intervals of time here, and don't forget to vote for your favorite.

-- Nairi Najarian
Nairi is writing amok over at Fête Cheese.