Elise Thompson

If you overdid it last night, head over to Rush Street in Culver City for their new brunch menu. If you are looking for the hair of the dog, they have you covered with a bottomless mimosa, a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar and anything else you can imagine. The sunny patio is perfect for early risers, and the cool dim interior is perfect for those looking to escape the heat or a hangover. High ceilings...

Sometimes near the corner of Arlington Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr, Boulevard you’ll see them huddled outside in the dim of the fluorescent light. They aren’t there to smoke a cigarette and it’s not an Alcoholicos Anonimos meeting. Soul food tacos are the objects they desire.

When is a week not a week? when it's two weeks. Err, make that three weeks. dineLA Restaurant Week is being extended Oct.18-23! The list of participating restaurants has also been reconfigured. It is much more readable now, and you are able to see which restaurants are offering lunch without having to click on their page.

Pinot Bistro on Ventura Boulevard has seen may chefs come and go, some of them spectacular and some of them so-so. Previous chefs include such notable names as Octavio Becerra, Miki Zivkovic and of course, Joachim Spichal himself. Even Suzanne Goin has worked in the kitchen. We were excited to see what the latest chef, Hugo Veltman, has been cooking up and jumped at the invitation to try their dineLA menu. The decor is the...

The last time I saw Brendan Mullen we had a proper lunch in the Snooker Room at the Cat and Fiddle. The stained glass danced across his face and his eyes were alive with delight when we talked about the fun times. He was working on a new book to be published at a later date, In spite of recent physical difficulties, he seemed content in a way. He told me about his operations and how he still could not turn his head. Brendan Mullen was never happy that the world moved without him.

Sometimes it's really nice to take a vacation all by yourself and treat yourself to a nice meal. Dining downtown at Zucca, with its high ceilings, Venetian paintings and chandeliers gives you that feeling of pampering yourself, if only for an hour. The dineLA menu at Zucca is nothing if not hearty. LAist was invited to try out their lunch menu yesterday and the blustery weathery made the soup and pasta options especially appealing. For...

Saturday night Union Station's grand ticket hall was the very grand location of Jonathan Gold's Cocktail Party to benefit Zócalo. People were giddy as they were photographed at the entry, feeling like they had the fabled golden ticket. The lighting was dim in the gorgeous art deco hall, but the room was not overly crowded. Still, the auditorium chairs set up in the middle of the room did cause some "excuse me" "pardon me"s. The...

We have salad bars and make-your-own sundae bars, even burger bars. It's about time somebody applied this idea to liquor! On weekends Rush Street in Culver City is offering a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar. They fill your glass with Ketel One vodka. You can ask for a different brand, although nobody has yet. Then the bartender meets you at the end of the bar. They may ask your flavor and heat preferences and mix it...

Walking into Nick and Stef's in downtown Los Angeles, your first impression is that it would be the perfect place for a business lunch, should you ever need to have a business lunch. The decor is unobtrusive and simple, but it is pristine. There is not a spot on a napkin, a mark on the banquette or a glass out of place. Service is charming and impeccable, bordering on the obsequious. LAist was invited to...

Photo by Naquib via Flickr It's finally here! Tomorrow Union Station will be the site of "Jonathan Gold's Union Station Cocktail Party", which makes the name just perfect. The event is a benefit for Zócalo, "a non-profit organization that builds community by broadening access to civic discourse". Here is the third and final interview in our series with Jonathan Gold: I see Rivera is on the list of participating restaurants. Do you know if...