The Burger Rundown

Fancy burgers are everywhere these days. What father’s office started, other people have built on, so who has the best gourmet burger now? Here’s our rundown:

Umami Burger: Delicious, well-proportioned, interesting combinations. I’ve only had the SoCal burger with butter lettuce, oven dried tomato, spread, house made American cheese, and carmelized onions, but it’s so good I don’t want to try anything else. Although I’m very curious about the Port and Stilton burger as well. They have three locations, the Hollywood at Cahuenga and Los Feliz on Hollywood have the best ambiance.

The Counter – I’d heard great things about this place, so I had high expectations. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a let down. The atmosphere in the restaurant is nothing great. The burger itself was good, but not amazing. I will say though that I liked how you could decide everything that went on your burger, and that they have the healthy alternative of burger salads (no bun), since girls in this city shouldn’t be eating, especially not burgers, in the first place.

8 oz Burger Bar – This was one of my favorites. The design of the place is nice, just a low-key gastropub with some yummy unhealthy food, beer, and cocktails. I had the Melrose , with wild baby arugula, garlic roasted tomatoes, red onion marmalade, and Bel paese cheese added to it. Here you also have the option to make your own burger, and there are a few non-burger options too (try the short rib melt – amazing). Plus they have a great cocktail list, because sometimes a beer just won’t cut it.

Father’s Office – This is the original go-to burger place in Los Angeles , and it doesn’t disappoint. Their burger (and the only burger, at that) has caramelized onion, applewood bacon compote, gruyere, matag blue cheese and arugula on a brioche bun. But with something that good, you really don’t need any other options. They have both regular shoestring fries and sweet potatoes fries, each with their own aioli, and no ketchup or substitutions are allowed. This place has a massive beer list, some classic cocktails, and tapa options to go with your burger – I’ve had the duck salad and steamed mussels, and both were great. The scene here is always busy and filled with cute guys getting after-work drinks and dinner. Just try to snag a table before you order, because that can be a hassle. Go to the Culver City location on a warm summer evening to have your burger and beer on the huge outdoor deck.

Stout – This new Cahuenga corridor gastropub has dark lighting, wood walls, and pretty bare interior design, considering it was done by Kristofer Keith. There are nine burgers to choose from, all of which sound interesting and flavorful. I had the Six Weeker, with camembert, fig jam, mild jack, arugula, and carmelized onions. With ingredients like that, you really can’t go wrong, and my burger was awesome. You can also try out different beers by the shot to see if you like it before ordering, which is fun and appreciated if you’re like me and don’t know much about beer. However, the atmosphere wasn’t anything special, and the burgers, while good, don’t hold up to those at Umami, 8 oz., or Father’s Office.

In-N-Out – When you’re poor, but not McDonald’s poor, or drunk and too hungry to wait for your gourmet burger to arrive, just head down to your local In-N-Out. You might be on the floor all night with stomach cramps but you’ll still have cash in your wallet when you wake up.

Let out your inner demons at Villans

In a somewhat deserted area of downtown near the LA river, you'll walk down a seemingly deserted block with hardly any cars or passerby and all the buildings are old, brick, and appear empty. "I feel like we're on a set," my friend says. "That's just because we're in LA. Anywhere else and you'd just think these were old buildings." We turn the corner and out of nowhere is the bar we've been searching for! But not just any bar. With a big sign reading "Villans" in bold script, a skeleton greeting you as you walk in, and an interior that looks like a cross between a set from an old western and a noir film with a heavy hand of goth, this is unlike any other bar in Los Angeles. I didn't feel like I was on an old film lot walking to Villains, but I certainly felt as though I was on set once inside.

Crystal chandeliers with perched crows hang over the bar, an enormous black carved mirror covers the wall as you walk in, colorful glass vases line the windows up to the ceiling, and plenty of taxidermy constitute the decor. As much as I loved the quirky and bold interior, what really won me over was the food and drinks.

The menu is small but the items on it include gourmet twists on typical bar food, such as the pharaoh salad, consisting of farro, cucumber, heirloom tomato, beets, and feta cheese, and the grilled cheese, made with cave-aged cheddar and tamarind chili. The cocktail menu is inspired and allows the bartenders to show off the craftsmanship, and their $8 beer and shot combo is fun and unique. When you tire of the typical WeHo bar scene, head over to Villains for a sexy and fun rendezvous.

Magnolia Bakery - Worth The Wait?

At last, Magnolia Bakery has FINALLY opened after months and months of teasing their anxious neighbors and claiming they would be opening soon. I stopped by Friday night for the soft opening with a huge smile on my face and high expectations, and got three (yes, three) desserts to sample. I know I should be embarrassed, but they were free, I'd been waiting for Magnolia to open for what felt like an eternity, and, well, I like sweets. The desserts I picked up included a brownie, a chocolate cupcake with buttercream frosting, and slice of the snickers icebox pie. After sampling each treat, I felt a bit nauseous and fairly disappointed. The brownie was good, but brownies are ALWAYS pretty good. It was moist and chocolatey, but didn't "wow" me. The icebox pie was a weird creation that had a chocolate, crumbly crust layered with peanut butter and cream cheese, a whipped cream filling, and snickers pieces on top. All I could taste was sickly sweet creaminess with some pieces of snickers on top. I didn't know what to expect with an icebox pie, but I thought it was taste better than that! The most important test was the cupcake, and they failed on this one as well. The cake was sticky and sweet (I prefer moist but crumbly) and the frosting reminded me of the icing on cakes at Ralphs. Their buttercream was grainy (I'm assuming from the overload of granulated sugar) as opposed to creamy and didn't do much to complement the cake. I didn't even finish it, which NEVER happens with cupcakes. So, it turns out, I will still prefer to walk across the street to Joans on Third to get my cupcakes and sweets when the urge strikes. Sorry Magnolia.

Reason #1 to call in sick to work...Malibu!

The heat was overwhelming, my AC was busted, and every part of me was sweating. It was time to go to the beach, cool off, and escape from my WeHo bubble for the day. First I went to Carbon Beach to work on getting a bit of a glow (if only cancer didn't look SO good) and take a dip in the water. I highly recommend going to this beach, as it is mostly mostly the residents with homes along this strip of PCH that come here, so you don't have to deal with overcrowded beaches full of noisy kids and the general riff-raff of the city and instead are sharing the sand with entertainment executives reading through scripts.

After an afternoon of laying on the beach doing absolutely nothing other than flip sides (and magazine pages), I'd worked up an appetite and was ready for some food. I headed to the Malibu Country Mart and was happily surprised to find a cute new restaurant, La Habana Cafe, with an adorable outdoor patio perfect for a late lunch and a drink. The place was fantastic, and I will definitely be going back! We split the queso fundido, a pulled pork burrito, and each had a cold beer. The queso fundido was a delicious concoction of melted cheese with chorizo perfect for scooping into tortillas, and the burrito was generous in size, flavorful, and full of fresh ingredients. After our meal, we were ready to go to the stores and do some damage to our credit cards.

The shopping area at Cross Creek has drastically improved with some trendy boutiques. Not only do they still have Madison, Planet Blue (my favorite), Jamres Perse, and Ron Herman, but now they also have Kitson, Intermix, and Alice and Olivia. All stores carry pretty similar merchandise, but you can never have too much of a good thing, right? Cross Creek may just be the new Robertson in terms of shopping destinations....

All in all, a fabulous day! Now call in sick, head to the beach, get a drink, and do some shopping! It is summer, after all!