Ashleigh Layne

I ask you, ladies and gentleman, is there anything better than trick or treating? Is there anything more sublime than getting into costume, grabbing a pillowcase and taking to the streets in a search for free candy? I'm going to be bold enough to say that Trick Or Treating is the most joy-inducing, yet wholesome, activity on Earth and one of the great pleasures of being an American. But this pleasure, this delight, this euphoria,...

Strobe lights. Fog. Serial killers. Screams. God damn, I love Halloween. Not only do I love dressing up in costume, eating lots of candy and carving out Jack-O-Lanterns, I love all the frightening fun Halloween entails. And for me the pinnacle of spooky good times always involves a haunted house. But there's a problem. I've been to Knott's Scary Farm and Halloween Horror Nights so many times that they have lost the element of...

I love Tito's Tacos, and you love Tito's too. The lyrics to their jingle could not be more true. Everyone loves Tito's, that's why you always have to wait in line for at least thirty minutes before you can even order. Tito's is an establishment, a landmark, which is why we deal with all the crowds and chaos when we eat there. But why am I talking about Tito's Tacos, which closes at 11:30...

Dear CPK, What the fuck? Wait...let's try that again. Okay. Let me start by saying I've been a big fan over the years, and have visited your flagship Beverly Hills location too many times to count. You guys used to have this killer menu with great, creative, original dishes that could be described as nouveau comfort food. Take for example, your Potato Leek Soup, Garlic Shrimp Pizza or my all time fav--the Tandoori Chicken...

I love the fair. Absolutely love it. Why you ask? Well, it could be the awesome carnival rides. Or it could be the adorable animals. Or it could even be taking those "Olde Tyme" photographs with my friends (oh, you know that you love to dress up in Saloon outfits and pose with a shotgun!). But honestly, there is only one thing that revs me up for the fair. One thing that gets me dreaming...

Greek food. Its fresh, cool Mediterranean flavors are exactly the kind of thing I crave on a hot July day. But man is it hard to find some good, authentic Greek food in LA. Sure there's Daphne's right by my house, but that's about as authentic to Greek food as Baja Fresh is to Mexican. So where can one go for a fun, flavorful midsummer night's Greek meal? The answer is simple: Sofi. Sofi...

Okay so we all know of my love for Bharat Bazaar right? Well my love just got a little deeper and I thought y'all should know about it. A few days ago I went to Bharat for lunch and got three dishes I knew I loved: lentils, chickpeas and vegetable balls (like meatballs but not). But I noticed everyone in front of me was ordering something called "jackfruit." Jack what? Fruit? Is it sweet?...

Within the lines of Culver City lie two Indian markets that also serve up vegetarian dishes on the cheap. For years I have driven by India Sweets and Spices (on Venice and Bagley) and Bharat Bazaar--aka Samosa House, don't ask why it has two names-- on Washington and Berryman. I had heard both were specialty markets offering imports from India and Britain, and I had also heard they both had counter service where they...

Sometimes, when the world seems harsh and cold, I long for the comfort foods that my Italian mamma used to make me. I crave a hot bowl of her minestrone soup, and a plate rigatoni Bolognese smothered in Parmigiano-Reggiano and made with so much love you can taste it. Ah, yes the comfort foods of my childhood. Only one thing--I didn't have an Italian mamma. I had a Jewish American Princess mamma, and literally...

I think we can all agree that food does much more for the body than fill it with nutrients; food can nourish the soul, thrill the senses, and sometimes transport us to faraway lands faster than a Concord jet. Koutoubia, a little Moroccan restaurant in West L.A., serves food that does just that. You could drive by this place for years, as I have, and never take much notice to the small, slightly embellished,...