ShopEatSleep

Blogger Prom: This year’s Blogger Prom, dubbed Hollywood Confidential, is taking place this Wednesday, Sept. 22, at Yamashiro restaurant. Since I’m on the planning committee, I haven’t been posting on ShopEatSleep as often as I usually do — an event as big as Blogger Prom takes a lot of work! There’s going to be all kinds of fun stuff, including good eats from Chef Brock at Yamashiro, tastings from Barrie Lynn The Cheese Impresario, Coolhaus, Crumbs Bake Shop and other yummy and generous sponsors. There will be giveaways and gift bags galore, so if you’ve received an invitation and haven’t responded yet (this is an invite-only event!), do it now! You won’t want to miss this.

Pinkberry: The ever-present purveyor of tart frozen yogurt is now offering a take-home container that holds the equivalent of five small servings (prices range from $9.95 to $10.95, depending on the store). You can also purchase toppings to go for $1.95 per container, too. I’m not too sure how the froyo would hold up if placed in a home freezer, but I guess it could work if you were having a party and were planning on eating it soon. The fruit bowl is also a new offering; from the description, it sounds like a reverse cup of froyo, with mostly fruit topped with what Pinkberry is calling Swirly Whip, which is made from the Original tart flavor.

Eat, Breathe, Shop at FIG, Fred Segal Couture and Exhale: Spend more than $500 at Fred Segal Couture and get a complimentary week at Exhale Spa in the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows as well as a complimentary FIG Fit breakfast at the hotel’s FIG Restaurant. The FIG Fit menu features health-conscious items such as scarlet quinoa with diced apples, and house-made power bars blended from dates, acai, gogi, pomegranate and hemp seeds. Exhale combines fitness and movement with spa and healing therapies, and if you sign up for one of Exhale’s memberships, you’ll get a $100 credit to Fred Segal Couture. It’s a pretty nice cycle.

It’s Blogger Prom time again! This year’s party will be held on Wednesday, September 22, 2010, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the iconic Yamashiro restaurant, which will be the perfect backdrop for our new theme, “Hollywood Confidential.” Think the Golden Age of Hollywood (glitz! glamour!) mixed in with some film noir (“Sunset Boulevard,” “The Maltese Falcon“). The costume possibilities, historical references, breathtaking views and good-old-fashioned fun will be endless!

Just check this out:

View from Yamashiro. How Hollywood is that?! From e*starLA.

Be sure to check the Blogger Prom website, Facebook page and Twitter feed for more information on our venue, food and drink, and other goodies!

I’ve been wanting to try The Mercantile in Hollywood since it opened about five months ago, so when I saw a $20 prix fixe offered via Blackboard Eats, of course I snatched it up. Then, as is par for the food course, I went to dinner here with some foodie friends. Good times!

And not only was the company enjoyable, so was the food (save for one hiccup, but I’ll get to that later). We started with a bottle of Plan Pégau on the recommendation of our server, who was very knowledgeable about the food and drink, and it was a great recommendation.

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Eat My Blog: On Saturday, Dec. 5, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Zeke’s Smokehouse in West Hollywood, a whole bunch of food bloggers are getting together to sell their homemade baked goods to benefit the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank. Enjoy everything from macarons and carrot cake cookies to mini bundt cakes and bacon brownies with bourbon caramel sauce for $1 to $3 each. Participating bloggers include Diana of Diana Takes a Bite, Anjali of Delicious Coma, H.C. of L.A. and O.C. Foodventures, Anisha of Food is My Nish, Liz of Food, She Thought and Jo of My Last Bite, among many others. Check out the menu here.

Space 15 Twenty One Year Anniversary: Get your shop on Saturday at the hiptastic Space 15 Twenty in Hollywood, where you’ll get 20 percent off at all stores from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. There’s also a party of sorts, with DJ Ana Calderon, a “very special guest band,” giveaways, raffles and hors d’oeuvres from Umami Burger. For some reason you have to RSVP, so do that to rsvp@space15twenty.com.

Unique Los Angeles: This is a two-fer event. On Saturday and Sunday, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., pay $10 and get entry for both days to this shopping event featuring independent designers — and a free tote bag, drink ticket and access to workshops. There will be clothing, accessories, stationery, housewares, artwork, screenprints and more. New this year is a special “green” room with more than 50 eco-friendly designers. Unique will be at the California Market Center downtown, and parking will be $6 with validation (a steal, considering I’ve paid $20 to park here for fashion shows!).

Spa Luce

Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with Goldstar to come up with a locals-only stimulus plan dubbed “Locals Only Hollywood Offer,” or LOHO, which is catchier anyway. The LOHO promotions range from 15 percent off at the Pig ‘n Whistle to 50 percent off spa treatments at Spa Luce in the Renaissance Hotel. And just in time for Halloween, Dearly Departed Tours are 50 percent off, too. There’s even a 25 percent off deal for all Farmers Market merchandise (yeah, it’s not really in Hollywood, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, OK?). These offers are good through Oct. 31, so get on it!

[UPDATE: To book activities/events, click on the Goldstar link above, then on the “Hollywood: LOHO” link in the left-hand navigation bar to see what’s still available.]

[UPDATE #2: According to a Hollywood Chamber of Commerce representative, to redeem discounts at restaurants, spas or anything else not listed on Goldstar, you’ll have to inquire with the individual retailer and show proof of residency within the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and/or Riverside.]

I love Spacecraft's light fixture!

Last week the folks over at Spacecraft, the architectural design firm based in Hollywood responsible for many of Tinseltown’s hippest bars and restaurants, threw a party at their offices because…well, just because. When you have a fully stocked bar in your office, why not throw a party?

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• Rush Street’s Christmas in August: On Friday (that’s today!) and Saturday, Aug. 14 and 15, the restaurant that is a little bit of Chicago in Culver City is holding a Christmas celebration. Why? They say it’s an homage to a summer camp tradition, but I wouldn’t know anything about that since I’ve never been to summer camp. Sounds like the restaurant is trying to capitalize on recession spenders’ nostalgia, eh? Anyhoo, expect nights full of holiday food and cheer, including Christmas tree decorating and Santa on Friday, and a white elephant gift exchange on Saturday. Dinner will feature holiday favorites such as maple-roasted turkey breast with cider gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and glazed brussels sprouts. Friday night’s festivities start at 5:00 p.m., and Saturday’s start at 7:00 p.m. Drink specials on Saturday, too.

• L.A. Sake Festival: With a karaoke room, how can a sake event be bad? On Sunday, Aug. 16, taste from more than 100 sakes, including some in cocktail form, at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. There’s also an introduction to sake class from a pro so you’ll understand what you’re tasting. Or just chug and sing, whatever.  Entrance fee is $50.

• Gnosh Pit at Verdugo Bar: This is where I’ll be Sunday, Aug. 16. The Glassell Park bar will be home to the vegan culinary stylings of Hot Knives, two former line cooks and current food bloggers who will be serving up “pulled pork” sandwiches, curry seitan bahn mi, homemade potato chips, cole slaw, and beer — yes, beer — popsicles. Get the food for about $4 each from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. [Full disclosure: Evan George, one-half of Hot Knives, is a former colleague of mine. No, we didn’t work at a restaurant together; we worked at a newspaper. Nuts, I know. So go to this event and support local journalism at the same time supporting local eats!]

Blogger Shop Day at Space 15 Twenty

I haven’t been out for a day of wandering and shopping (well, window shopping!) in ages, so when I saw there were some interesting events happening over the weekend, I recruited Esther of e*starLA to check them out with me.

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After being open for a couple of months, I’ve finally made it to BoHo, the Spacecraft-designed and Adolfo Suaya-owned restaurant that’s “a little bohemian, a little Hollywood.” Since it’s usually packed on weekend nights, I was a little surprised that it seemed kind of slow last night, but I guess you can’t expect too much on a Monday night. Anyway, on to the food.

The good: My table, which included e*starla, enjoyed all of the food we ordered. I had the potato pizza, which included fingerling potatoes, spinach, roasted garlic, mozzarella, ricotta and grated reggiano. We also had the Pile o’ Ribs, the meat of which was tender and fell off the bone easily. The fries were decent. And we had an order of the beef shortribs, which were braised in Rogue chocolate stout and guajillo chiles and came with spaetzle. That might have been my favorite dish, actually. We were impressed by the list of 25 microbrews, and I had a Raspberry Sunset cocktail made with framboise lambic beer, lemonade and muddled mint. It was good, even if there wasn’t much alcohol in it. That’s probably why it was only $4. The waitstaff was friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

More, with photos

Just opened:

• Tavern From Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne (AOC, Lucques, Hungry Cat) comes the ladies’ newest creation, a restaurant/lounge/marketplace, in Brentwood. Yes, it did open today. I called.

• Pourtal A high-tech wine bar in Santa Monica, Pourtal offers wine via preloaded punch cards and electronic dispensers. Fancy.

To open in the near future:

• Trader Vic’s The Beverly Hills institution moves downtown to L.A. Live. Scheduled to open Saturday, May 2.

• La Grande Orange Cafe The Santa Monica location is scheduled to open May 7. Food being tested and staff being trained, according to tweets from @LaGrandeOrange. Pizza will be added to the menu at the new location, with Pasadena getting pizza some time this fall.

• Playhouse and Sweet Love Hangover The nightclub/24-hour restaurant taking over the Fox Theater space on Hollywood Boulevard is now slated to open June 11. We’ll see. This is like the third or fourth time the opening date has been pushed back.