If you're looking for a little more culture in your concert schedule these days, there's a cool new flamenco group from Sevilla called Son De La Frontera coming to the Echoplex next month, on February 28th. Founding member Raul Rodriguez (far right in pic) guested on Ojos de Brujo's Techari, and the group is something of a hybrid themselves, although less so than Ojos, because they add a Latin American twist to traditional Spanish flamenco. Rodriguez is the son of a funky postmodern Spanish singer Martirio (this video is great), and plays a small guitar called a tres from Cuba, instead of the typical Spanish guitar, which helps gives Son De La Frontera a unique sound. more ›

And who said culture doesn’t exist in Los Angeles? Check out these events for a little learning, a little entertainment – or both. more ›

Every Friday, LAist is taking you on a trip down to Orange County to uncover the unique dining experiences that await adventurous eaters willing to explore beyond the county line. Here in LA, we are blessed with embarrassing riches when it comes to Latin American food. Just about every country is represented by at least a couple of places that truly embody the cuisine and spirit of the local culture. Venezuela is no different.... more ›

The San Fernando Valley has possibly one of the most astonishing arrays of Latin American food in the entire country: you can't go a single block down Van Nuys Boulevard without passing any number of taquerias, pupuserias, casas de mariscos, and carnicerias. And it's not just Mexican food, either: one of the best little spots I've eaten at recently is a Honduran restaurant on Burbank in Sherman Oaks: El Katracho. The LA Times called... more ›

In conjunction with the exhibition , the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will be screening a series of selected classics of Latin American cinema this weekend. Best of all, thanks to a generous grant from the Getty Foundation, all of these screenings are 100% FREE! Make the trip to the LACMA this weekend and enjoy films rarely seen on the big screen in this country. Two of the screenings will feature interviews and an audience Q&A with the filmmakers. Check the complete schedule below for all the details. more ›

photo via KTLA more ›

Last Saturday, my friend and I headed downtown (a bit late) to check out Night Vision: MOCA After Dark. We made a spur of the moment decision to go, after wandering around aimlessly a bit, eating Pinkberry (the reason being only one of us could get in to see What We Do Is Secret, and that just wouldn't be fair). So we found ourselves driving around and around and around looking for parking, ultimately... more ›

Some mornings, you wake up in a wandering mood: after a strong cup of coffee and a survey of the weather, we decided to peek beyond the veil of the early morning haze and venture southeast. We forsook the freeways for the more scenic route of Sunset Boulevard, through Hollywood east to Western, then south, south, south beyond the 10, through K-town and past endless strip-mall Iglesias de Dios and pupuserias. Wonderful! As we... more ›

Yes, like Ventura's split from its original name (San Buenaventura) or San Diego's true Spanish meaning (a whale's vagina), Los Angeles comes from a much larger city name - El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula (The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula). And like other rare departments in the landscape of city government (Port of Los Angeles or Neighborhood... more ›

Oh Mel, oh Mel, oh Mel. What the fuck is your problem, you crotchety man? They sent your derelict ancestors to Australia for a reason, but apparently yours forgot to pack soap. At a late-night screening at Cal State Northridge Thursday, Alicia Estrada, assistant professor of Latin American Studies at CSUN, pressed Mr. Mel Gibson on what she felt was an inaccurate portrayal of Mayan culture in his latest bloody flick, Apocalypto. She reportedly wondered... more ›

Today's not just any Tuesday. It's Mardi Gras -- Fat Tuesday -- Shrove Tuesday -- Carnival. Whatever you want to call it, it's a day to rock yer socks off. And since we're not in Rio or in New Orleans right now flashing for beads and drinking Dixie Beer on the street, LAist has thought of a few places to celebrate around LA today: - Amoeba Records starts its festivities at 4 PM with... more ›

It’s Blue Monday at Silver Lake Wine from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. No RSVPs required for tonight’s triptych wine tasting with cheese from the Cheese Store of Silver Lake. more ›

"Well, they have that in Canada!" No, we're not talking about sub-zero weather, moose, or Aero chocolate bars (although the chocolate is tasty). We're also not (yet) talking about the motion picture industry. more ›

TUESDAY more ›

On Monday we plan on being in someone's backyard, beer in one hand, grilled meat product in another, head turned skyward to look at falling bits of colored light (or we could head out to some of these spots for more intense fireworks and Fourth-of-July action). So we've got the holiday covered. What about the rest of the weekend? Here are some quirky, cultural, and historical things going on around town--lots of them are FREE, too--that might be worth checking out this long weekend. Or, you could just stay home. We'll never know! more ›

This weekend, the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) presents Fridamania!, a celebration of the life of renowned artist Frida Kahlo. The event will showcase scenes from the new Broadway musical about Kahlo, Viva la Vida, which was written by Rita Ortez-Provost, Arturo Mesquite and Alan Goodson. There will be a screening of the PBS documentary The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo, as well as a dinner featuring some of Frida's own recipes from the cookbook Frida's Fiestas, prepared by Las Tarascas Restaurant, including chiles rellenos, papas en salsa verde, and tamales Oaxaqueños. Tickets are $55 for Front Row Seating, $45 for Preferred Seating, and $35 General Seating (MOLAA members save $10 per ticket.) Copies of the documentary on DVD and the cookbook will be available for purchase as well. more ›

LAist promised that we'd let you know when we went to check out Ciudad, Milliken & Feniger's downtown abode for inventive Latin American food. In fact, we're such keepers of our words that we even made our reservation via OpenTable.com, which earned us some more dining points. We'd been excited about this trip for some time now; we've been fans of the Border Grill for years, and were waiting for just the right time to head to the corner of 5th and Figueroa. The meal had a brilliant start, with their savory flatbread crackers and bread we dipped in their truly tasty tapenade, and our deliciously pink Guava-Cachaca (liquor made from sugar cane) cocktail. Our server was on her game (in thankful contrast to the patron reviews left on the Citysearch profile) and seemed to be training someone, although why this doesn't seem to get mentioned anymore in restaurants is a mystery to us. It left us feeling like we had a server and her hovering, silent, helpless shadow, and, much later, when the level of service began to dwindle, and the shadow was spotted serving on his own, we wondered why two people now couldn't manage the job of one. more ›