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DECEMBER 2, 2013 I VOL. 42 I #48

The Most Exciting Chef In Downtown At Alma, Ari Taymor Does Things His Way See story page 8

photo by Gary Leonard

Frank Gehry on Grand Avenue | 6 A Fantastic Magic Flute | 13 Watch City Living on DTTV New Episodes Every Monday @ 9am on DowntownNews.com

THE VOICE OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

2 Downtown News

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AROUND TOWN

Metro’s Downtown Art Trek

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rt isn’t limited to Downtown’s museums.

That’s what the Metropolitan Trans­ portation Authority wants you to know. This week, the transit agency kicks off another round of its free guided art tours of Metro station art. The opening winter installment of Metro Art Moves takes place on Thursday, Dec. 5. The 90-minute tour starts at 5:30 p.m. at the information kiosk inside the Alameda Street entrance of Union Station. The tour will highlight some of the diverse artworks at Metro stops in Downtown. The trek will roll through Pershing Square, and attendees get some discounts, too: Those who present a valid TAP card will receive $1 off skating at the Downtown on Ice rink. Flashing a TAP card will also net discounts at establishments on the tour route such as Traxx at Union Station and Cole’s French Dip. Additional information is at metro.net/art or (213) 922-4278.

FIGat7th Getting Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works

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he FIGat7th shopping center continues to fill up. Brookfield Properties, which owns the outdoor mall, announced last week that it has inked deals to bring a Victoria’s Secret and a Bath & Body Works to the project at Seventh and Figueroa streets. Both are owned by Limited Brands, and plans call for the stores to

December 2, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS open in early spring 2014. Victoria’s Secret will occupy 8,400 square feet of space. In addition to selling its lingerie, pajamas and other goods, a portion of the store will hold a freestanding PINK shop, targeting women in college. Bath & Body Works, which sells soaps, bath products and more, will fill a 2,570-square-foot space.

Edward Hogan, national director of retail leasing for Brookfield Office Properties, said the leases continue the effort to provide a diverse array of shopping and eating opportunities in the mall, which underwent a $40 million renovation before reopening last year.

TAKE MY PICTURE GARY LEONARD

Star Apartments Opens

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he Star Apartments has been one of the most eagerly awaited Skid Row projects in years, thanks to the groundbreaking design by Michael Maltzan and the use of prefabricated housing units. Now, the wait is over. Nonprofit developer Skid Row Housing Trust said it has received a certificate of occupancy from the city and move-ins have begun. About half of the $19.3 million development’s 102 apartments were filled by the end of November, and the remainder are expected to be occupied this month, according to SRHT Housing Development Director Dana Trujillo. The building at 240 E. Sixth St. is also awaiting its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification; Star Apartments is expected to notch the platinum designation within the next few months. The project is unique in its use of prefabricated apartments — each unit was built off-site and trucked in, then attached to the building’s superstructure.

Amenities include a running track, basketball court and offices for on-site social services.

Forest Whitaker & Kenneth Turan

LA Press Club Awards

The project has a total of 15,000 square feet of community space.

Big Sixth Street Viaduct Meeting This Week

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he Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project is one of the biggest developments slated for Downtown Los Angeles. This week, area stakeholders will get to hear the latest on the $400 million endeavor. City officials will host a public meeting from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5, in the community room of Boyle Heights City Hall, at 2130 E.

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November 24, 2013

First St. Construction on the replacement for the historic bridge connecting the Arts District and Boyle Heights is slated to begin in 2014. Work is not expected to be completed before 2018. The project was necessitated by a weakening of the concrete in the current bridge, which was built in 1932. The design from Downtown-based HNTB calls for a “Ribbon of Arches” that will echo the sweep and style of the 81-year-old bridge’s original look.

In addition to getting an update, there will be a report from the development’s Project & Public Art Advisory Committee. Additional information is at 6stbrp.nationbuilder.com.

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December 2, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

EDITORIALS

Urban Scrawl by Doug Davis

Perversion in the Library

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alling the news about what is happening at the Central Library difficult to stomach is an understatement. Saying it is shocking is accurate, but even that doesn’t get the feeling right.

No, the illicit sexual activity taking place in public areas of this jewel of Downtown Los Angeles, this building where people of all ages and from all backgrounds come together, needs a much stronger description. Probably the closest we can come to capturing it in a single word is by calling it a perversion, because several definitions of the word apply. It is not only a giant step away from the intended use of the library, it’s a corruption of the intended use.

Los Angeles Downtown News last week reported that the LAPD has been cracking down on a surge of sexual activity in the building. While police officials acknowledged that some incidents have taken place in restrooms, they said that other times the behavior occurs in public areas. The implication is that some encounters are happening amidst the stacks of books in the quieter corners of the sprawling, eightstory edifice.

The LAPD has staged 14 undercover operations, resulting in nine arrests of people engaged in lewd acts. It’s good that the crackdown, which began six months ago, is underway, but this should only be the start of the official response.

The LAPD, the Los Angeles Public Library (which oversees Central and other library branches in the city), and any other appropriate entity need to move quickly to put the hammer down on this kind of behavior. The Central Library is the quintessential public space in Downtown, and it needs to be a safe zone for everyone, including the thousands of children who come to the Financial District building every month.

While everyone knows that people can do unusual things when it comes to satisfying sexual urges, we can’t begin to make sense of why an individual would ever think that acting this way in the library borders on acceptable. Police officials said the arrests have all been for encounters between men, and that the bulk of the incidents involved one person masturbating while another one watched. While we don’t care what consenting adults do in the privacy of their homes, it boggles the mind to think that the library has become a cruising zone for people with this particular prurient desire.

Police could not explain how the building has become a hot destination for illicit sex. However, it is clear that the number of unseemly acts extends beyond those nine arrests. The undercover stings would not have occurred unless problems had first been reported by library workers or visitors. We doubt the stings are catching everyone engaged in this behavior.

We understand that slamming the door on this activity will require a certain expenditure of public resources. However, it is hard to think of a place in Downtown that more people rely on as a safe haven, a respite from the city. An LAPL representative said that 145,000 people visit the building every month.

They deserve to be protected once inside.

It’s time for those in charge to do whatever it takes to halt this activity and return the Central Library to its safe haven status.

The Future of Cal Plaza Three

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ack in the late 1970s and early ’80s, the potential of Bunker Hill seemed unlimited. Gleaming office towers were sprouting from the ground and, in the process, reshaping the look and functionality of Downtown Los Angeles, turning it into an office mecca. Two of the defining structures were the California Plaza towers on Grand Avenue. A third high-rise was planned.

Then came the recession of the early 1990s. Just as in the more recent economic downturn, construction and investment ground to a halt. An office tower never materialized on the site of Cal Plaza Three. Instead, it remained an undeveloped, hilly piece of land.

In recent years its greatest notoriety came from the goats that were occasionally dispatched there to eat away the overgrowth.

Now, there’s a potential bright future for the strategically located property. The key word is potential, because at this point no one can say for sure when, if or even what would happen. That’s not a bad thing — considering the size and location of the parcel, the best thing is to proceed thoughtfully and let the market evolve.

City and other officials should not be in any rush to find a developer for the land.

The parcel, listed as 361 S. Hill St., is one of the key pieces of undeveloped land that had been owned by the now-defunct Community Redevelopment Agency. CRAs across the state were shut down by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2012 as part of his effort to shore up the state’s budget. Now, the CRA’s successor agency is in the early stage of looking at what to do with this and more than 100 other properties (many of which are in Downtown).

It is hard to come up with a piece of land in the CRA portfolio better positioned for success than this one. In addition to being just east of the first two phases of Cal Plaza, it is south of Angels Flight and across the street from the Grand Central Market. It is a short walk from both Pershing Square and the Civic Center. As Downtown grows, the property will be at the nexus of the business and residential communities.

Thus, it is crucial that whatever happens here be the right move, even if the definition of “right” remains fuzzy at this time. Currently the only thing that is clear is what the property should not become: a six- or seven-floor residential structure.

Those mid-rise buildings are going up on empty lots across Downtown. In many situations that is fine, and the hundreds of residents in each project will benefit area businesses and restaurants. However, as many in Downtown have discussed, certain parcels need to be preserved for high-rise uses, whether of the office, hotel or residential variety. The key word is density, and in some locations it is a necessity for the future of the community.

This is one of those parcels.

The question, then, is how to achieve that desired density for Cal Plaza Three, and that’s where the lack of a current solid answer could be frustrating. If nothing else it inspires an air of uncertainty, and the business community abhors uncertainty.

The CRA successor agency is going through a complicated process to dispense with the 119 properties the agency once owned.

Some will be held for government use and others will be transferred. The Cal Plaza Three site is part of a batch that, according to the current plan, will eventually be put on the market and sold to the highest bidder. It appears that the soonest this could happen is in 2015.

Then again, that might not be the case. As Los Angeles Downtown News reported last month, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office has submitted a proposal to the CRA successor agency to acquire the parcel from the agency and redefine it as a “future development” property. The details for what exactly would happen and how this would occur need to be worked out.

So what happens now? Good question. The important thing is that the community pays close attention to the process. It will be interesting to see who starts sniffing around the 104,947-squarefoot parcel, and what they propose for the site. The future selling of the land — if that is what occurs — should proceed in a transparent manner. The public deserves to know what is going to happen here, and considering that the site is a former CRA holding, the community must be allowed to weigh in long before shovels touch the earth.

Opportunities like Cal Plaza Three don’t come along very often.

We look forward to seeing how the sales situation progresses. And if it all takes a while to figure out, that’s OK.

December 2, 2013

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Downtown News 5

Doing It for the Kids New Inner-City Arts Head Bob Smiland Claims to Be the ‘Happiest Man in Los Angeles’

By Donna Evans rt was never on Bob Smiland’s radar.

Helming a nonprofit? Yes. Living and working Downtown? Absolutely. But despite having mapped out a life plan at 30, the 57-year-old former paint manufacturing business owner hadn’t imagined finishing out his professional career immersed in the arts.

Now, four months into a job as president and CEO of Inner-City Arts, Smiland is as quick to show off the ceramic tray he made with a group of 8-year-olds as he is to tout the fundraising campaign he conceived for the Skid Row facility: DTLA 5000 is a grassroots effort to find 5,000 donors for the institution within three years.

Behind the wrought-iron gate at 720 Kohler St., a few yards from people sleeping beneath blankets on the sidewalk, Smiland walked a visitor through the one-acre arts education campus. There is so much to take in at the facility that Smiland said it took him two months to find the Willow Walk, a foliage-covered archway draped in grapes. It is one of 14 edible plants on the property.

The nonprofit organization was founded in 1989. It started when Bob Bates, a teacher, was meditating and heard a spiritual voice advising him to “build an art space for kids.” With the help of developer Irwin Jaeger, he did just that in a 4,800-square-foot leased space on Olympic Boulevard in Skid Row.

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In 1993, Inner-City Arts moved into a 10,000-square-foot former auto body shop on Kohler just south of Seventh Street. The third phase of the campus, a $10 million expansion designed by architect Michael Maltzan, was finished in 2008.

Some 10,000 elementary, middle and high school students come to the campus each year for intensified art education. Through artbased strategies, the kids develop communication, critical thinking and collaboration skills, Smiland said. Most of the participants attend nearby public schools. Twice a week for seven weeks, the kids take a variety of classes including visual and performing arts, ceramics and animation.

Tapping into their creativity is a way for the students to feel empowered, said Smiland, who succeeded Joseph Collins as president. Collins had been at the top for a mere 15 months, at which point it was determined by all involved that it was not a good fit. Before Collins, Cynthia Harnisch had helmed Inner-City Arts for 12 years.

In his first month at Inner-City Arts, which has 35 employees and a $3.7 million annual budget, Smiland embedded himself with a third-grade ceramics class. He felt the quality of instruction was impeccable. Plus, he made a tray, a pot and a flying pig.

“It took my mind off the rest of the world and let me be in my own creative space,” he said.

Inner-City Arts President and CEO Bob Smiland was hired in July. He helms a Skid Row institution with 35 employees and a $3.7 million annual budget.

photo by Gary Leonard

It’s that kind of thinking that reaffirms Bates’ confidence in the school’s top guy. Bates is still with Inner-City Arts, serving as a teacher and artistic director.

“Bob is a man of great integrity with a wonderful presence based in sensitivity, not ego,” Bates said. “He wants to be of service to these kids. I believe he will do a lot of good for our city and our school.”

Downtown Man Smiland was born at California Hospital in Downtown and raised in Pico Union. He attend­ ed the University of California at Berkeley, where he was an offensive lineman on the football team.

He grew his family’s small Smiland Paint Company to an $88 million business with more than 400 employees, and proceeded to run it for 25 years. After selling the Lincoln Heights factory, he worked as chief sales and marketing officer for Monrovia Nursery Company. He retired from that position in 2012.

Throughout his professional career, Smiland kept a hand in the nonprofit world. Over the course of three decades he was a volunteer and board member at a variety of education and youth services organizations, including the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA and the South Pasadena Board of Education. In 2010, he co-founded Extera Public Schools, a charter schools organization that serves elementary school-age children in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles.

After leaving Monrovia Nursery, Smiland began contemplating where to finish out his career. He moved from South Pasadena, where he had raised four children (they are all now in their 20s), to Downtown and bought some properties in the Arts District. He regularly patronizes area businesses including sausage purveyor Wurstküche and coffee outlet Handsome.

“I do take claim to being the happiest man in Continued on page 10

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6 Downtown News

December 2, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

Frank Gehry Back in the Fold of Revised Grand Avenue Plan Developer Related Hopes to Break Ground on $650 Million Project in 2015

By Jon Regardie he Related Companies, the developer of the long-delayed project to reimagine Grand Avenue as a hub of residences, hotel rooms, restaurants and retail complementing Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, took a major and surprising step forward last week: On Monday, Nov. 25, the company submitted a new conceptual plan for the project and, for the first time in years, Gehry is back in the fold.

Just as importantly, the proposal aims to develop the entire parcel at once. In January, Related had elected to pursue a phased approach, starting with a residential tower, then adding other elements as the market evolved.

The new proposed $650 million development would rise on the site known as Parcel Q, which is currently a parking structure across the street from Disney Hall and Eli Broad’s under-construction, $140 million art museum. Bill Witte, president of Related California, said it would be anchored by a residential tower and a hotel. Although he cautioned that plans are in the early stage and could change, he said the former building would likely be between 420 and 480 feet tall, and would have 380-450 units; they would be apartments with some forsale condominiums on the upper floors. Twenty percent of the units would be set aside as affordable housing, he said.

Related is negotiating with the upscale SLS chain to create an approximately 300-room hotel, he said. That building would be shorter, in

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the range of 350 feet.

The development would also create a stacked mix of shops and restaurants that would be situated around a central plaza that opens to Grand Avenue, The goal, said Witte, is to break ground in 2015 and open in 2019.

Witte said that plans to tackle the entire block, instead of taking a phased approach, became feasible over the summer, when negotiations picked up with a hotel operator.

“In order to develop the whole block at once, we needed the hotel anchor,” Witte said in an interview with Los Angeles Downtown News.

“Now we appear to be close to having that and are planning accordingly.”

Addressing the entire site at once, he said, also allowed Related to begin working again with Gehry. Witte noted that he and Related Chairman Stephen Ross began speaking with the architect about that possibility during the summer. Ross met with Gehry in September to discuss the plan.

The new proposal has been delivered to the Grand Avenue Authority, a joint powers panel of the city, county and the successor agency of the now defunct Community Redevelopment Agency. Witte said that members of the panel have been briefed on the change in concept, and that the proposal has been “very favorably received.”

Recession Blues The shift is the latest in a long, twisting path for the project.

rendering by Gehry Partners

The revised design for the Grand Avenue plan envisions a hotel with up to 300 rooms and a residential tower with as many as 450 units, along with stacked levels of shops and restaurants and a courtyard that opens to Grand Avenue.

The plan was hatched early in the millennium, when the city and the county, which each own parcels on Grand Avenue, began discussing how to maximize the land. In part the goal was to capitalize on the momentum of Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, which opened in October 2003.

The JPA was formed, and after an extensive bidding process Related was selected to develop the parcels, with Gehry handling designs. In February 2008, city, county and redevelopment officials approved updated designs for the first phase of what was then a $3 billion project. At the time, the goal was to

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December 2, 2013

Downtown News 7

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Downtown, it’s not just big business anymore!

photo courtesy Matthew Imaging

Architect Frank Gehry with L.A. Phil Music Director Gustavo Dudamel at the 10th anniversary concert for Walt Disney Concert Hall in October.

open the initial elements in 2011.

The recession, when lending markets froze, thwarted that vision. As a groundbreaking was pushed further and further back, Related instead adopted a piecemeal approach. It ultimately relinquished one parcel to Eli Broad; his art museum, being designed by the New York firm Diller, Scofdio + Renfro, is slated to open next year. Related also is constructing a $120 million, 19-story apartment building directly south of the museum.

Witte said that the progress of The Broad “definitely increases the visibility and marketability of the whole area.” He noted how the context of the entire neighborhood — including the apartment tower and Grand Park, which opened in 2012 after Related paid $50 million up front for the Grand Avenue development rights — has changed.

“A former bleak bridge will be the streetscape,” he said. “It is very different from when we started this eight years ago. Back then very little had happened Downtown in general.”

As part of the effort, Gehry is designing a gradual slope that will extend down to Olive Street, in the back of the project, through the central plaza. That will spread the stores and restaurants over several levels. Witte would not reveal which potential tenants Related is speaking with, but did say that the restaurants would be at a variety of price points.

Gehry took an expansive view of the future of the area.

“Our plan is to enrich what we consider the emerging arts and cultural district in Los Angeles,” he said in a prepared statement.

“What’s been missing is the excitement and fun of a hotel, nightclubs, restaurants, shops, places to hang out. Now our plan has the potential of becoming an incredibly dynamic partner to the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the other arts and cultural institutions on Grand Avenue.”

Witte noted the importance of having Gehry involved again, pointing out that, in addition to designing Disney Hall, the architect has been looking at the street for more than two decades.

“Frank brings an ability not just to design this block, but to think outside the box on what the area could become, how it would link to the Music Center, the things we, the city and the county all want to achieve,” he said.

The new Gehry plan arrives after some previous designs were blasted by figures including County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who chairs the JPA. Witte said that those designs, by the firm Gensler, were intended only as site planning for the parcel, and were not meant to be built.

He also touted the backing the development has received throughout the years, even during the slow period, from Downtown Los Angeles stakeholders.

“Despite the various ups and downs, we are really appreciative of the support we have gotten from the Downtown community, the neighborhood council, CCA, Grand Avenue stakeholders, labor unions and others,” he said. “They never wavered from their support. It has been great to have that.”

Witte said the next step is to get the blessing on the plan changes from the JPA. After that, the parties will return to the negotiating table to formally move from a phased project to a single-phase development. If that is approved, Related and Gehry will begin working on more refined schematic designs. regardie@downtownnews.com

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December 2, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

The Most Exciting Chef in Downtown Plenty of People Rave About Ari Taymor’s Food at Alma, But if You Hate It, He Understands “

photo by Gary Leonard

Ari Taymor, 28, opened the 39-seat Alma last year on Broadway. It has since become one of the hardest reservations in Downtown and was named Best New Restaurant in America by Bon Appétit. Last week, Taymor stopped allowing diners to order whatever they want. Now Alma serves a tasting menu only.

By Eddie Kim his is a place that you’ll either love or just [expletive] hate,” Ari Taymor said on a Friday afternoon at his Broadway restaurant Alma.

There’s an arrogance in that statement that might stem from youthful ambition — Taymor is just 28. Or perhaps it’s from accolades — the hole-in the-wall in August was named the Best New Restaurant in America by the food bible Bon Appétit.

Taymor, who has a lean face and glinting brown eyes, talks fondly of how the food at Alma just “tells their story.” He’s OK with the cooking being “confrontational” and admits that it’s not for everyone, partially by design.

That idiosyncratic streak extends to the restaurant’s setting. The 39-seat eatery at 952 S. Broadway sits on a dusty, nondescript block. There are neither tablecloths nor a real staff of waiters; half the time Taymor delivers the plates himself.

“I don’t really know how to cater to people’s expectations,” Taymor said, almost sheepishly. by “This is all I know.”

L.A Taymor’s approach . D is unusual in the o n tow need for profits food business, wherewthe nN ews of familoften leads to menus with lots Re ade iar, crowd-pleasing dishes. However, rs he is taking his personal approach even further, trying something usually undertak-

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en by chefs with years of experience: On Nov. 29, Alma shifted exclusively to serving tasting menus. It continues only to offer dinner — never lunch — on Tuesday through Saturday from 6-10 p.m.

This means that people will have no idea what they will eat when they make a reservation (if indeed they can score one). Once seated, they’ll get what Taymor selects: five courses for $65, or a $110 meal with 10-15 courses, depending on the evening (a vegetarian option is also available).

“It makes sense for us because the kitchen’s too small to serve a real à la carte menu,” Taymor said. “And I think the diners are ready to let us run the show.”

Learning Curve The food at Alma — which means “soul” in Spanish — eludes easy description or categorization. The arrival of a dish often reveals playful interpretations of ingredients using a wide palette of cooking techniques.

Sometimes the food is simple but clever. One popular snack is a tiny English muffin half topped with milky burrata cheese, a nugget of sea urchin roe, a dab of caviar and licorice herb: flavors of the land and sea, swirling in perfect harmony.

Other times, a dish is a head-scratcher, such as the menu listing of “sweetbreads, pig trotters, peach, carrot, vadouvan.” Though it risks being too ambitious,

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December 2, 2013 it works to alarming effect. The soft sweetbreads benefit from the crunch of crisp pig’s foot, and both ingredients pair nicely with the sweet-and-savory foundation added by roasted peaches and carrots and a silky peach puree.

Unlike many chefs, Taymor didn’t have much of a relationship with food while growing up in Palo Alto — “I ate a lot of fast food,” he said.

During college at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., he studied international affairs, then took an interest in nutrition and public health. Thoughts of medical school hovered.

A leg of lamb at Berkeley’s Chez Panisse in 2007 changed everything, kick-starting dreams of life as a chef. So Taymor picked up some odd kitchen jobs, then found a way into Suzanne Goin’s upscale Los Angeles restaurant Lucques as an intern.

At 21 and never having experienced a professional kitchen, Taymor struggled to keep up and stay motivated. He was, in retrospect, “lazy and annoying.” His bad attitude soon got him fired.

“I thought, ‘This is too hard, I’m not cut out for this, these people are all crazy,’” Taymor said.

“I left there with no intention of ever cooking again.”

The feeling was short-lived. He got a job at a community kitchen in Berkeley, which allowed him to develop basic cooking skills in a more relaxed atmosphere. He would go on to help open San Francisco’s Flour + Water, where he spent months learning how to make pasta.

Then, one day in 2009, Taymor had an experience equivalent to the leg-of-lamb epiphany.

This time, it was via his television.

“I saw a restaurant on a PBS special,” Taymor said, “with the chef in his garden, and I saw

Downtown News 9

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM the food and the space and I just thought, ‘I gotta go.’”

That restaurant was La Chassagnette in Arles, France. Taymor found a phone number and called about a job several times a week for six weeks. Finally, he heard back from chef Armand Arnal.

“He told me to come whenever I wanted,” Taymor said.

In April 2010, he packed his bags and flew to Europe.

Rocky Start He didn’t fly alone: His friend Ashleigh Parsons, whom he met at a San Francisco yoga session in 2008, went with him. They worked at La Chassagnette together — Taymor in the kitchen, Parsons with the front-of-house staff.

They went their separate ways after returning in September; Parsons attended Harvard to earn her Masters in education, while Taymor returned to San Francisco to work at Bar Tartine.

Still, they kept in touch, tossing around ideas for a small restaurant with a garden and a community outreach program. Taymor, meanwhile, worked with chef Kim Alter to open Plate Shop in Sausalito in March 2011. Then came a trip to Denmark, a chef gig in Santa Cruz and a stint at Saluté Wine Bar in Santa Monica.

Finally, in February 2012, Taymor started Alma as a pop-up in Venice, then moved it to Silver Lake. That summer, he got a call about the Broadway space. He and Parsons signed the lease, pulled together $50,000 and opened Alma in June.

Though the restaurant is riding a wave of praise, it hasn’t always been easy. Taymor has a fiercely uncompromising vision and is demanding of his staff. He admits that cooks have walked out on him several times, including in

most eye-opening experience. The restaurant sat on a large farm that grew everything for the kitchen, including rice and olives for oil. Ingredients were served only when they were perfect.

That helps explain Taymor’s purist streak. He gets palpably annoyed when he talks about compromising.

“The dishes here are so simple that when an ingredient isn’t perfect, it just throws things off,” he said. “It just pisses me off.”

Now, a new challenge awaits. Restaurants that serve only a tasting menu are few and far between in Los Angeles. It happened at Trois Mec in Hollywood, which Ludovic Lefebvre, Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook opened this year.

The new Orsa & Winston in Downtown, from Josef Centeno, also follows that path.

Still, there’s a big difference: Those restaurants came from chefs who cultivated customers over years or more than a decade. Taymor, by contrast, has been running his own kitchen for only about 18 months.

Taymor said ditching the à la carte menu will help the small kitchen focus its money and efforts. The average price per person was already $65, he said. The only difference now is diners get a better experience.

“We can use every single product we get,” he said. “There’s no waste with tasting-menu only, and hopefully people trust that we know what we’re doing.”

Time will tell if, indeed, he and Parsons have earned that trust. For now, the tiny restaurant in a gritty stretch of Downtown will continue pumping out finely honed, wildly creative dishes that are equal parts bewildering, fascinating and surprising.

It’s all they know, after all. eddie@downtownnews.com

the middle of service.

He attributes the encounters to being about honesty.

“Mistakes are OK, but you can’t try to hide anything. It’s about integrity, and as soon as you lose that, it’s over,” he said. “I’ll pick people apart if I see that. I wish I could stop myself, but I can’t.”

Parsons, who serves as general manager at Alma, has watched the fiery perfectionism grow over the years. She has also had a front seat on the restaurant’s evolution, recalling the evenings shortly after opening when no one came through the door.

Through it all, Parsons was impressed by how Taymor didn’t waver or change the concept.

“What he’s doing is very different, and it’s scary or strange to some people,” she said. “Not everything he does is perfect, but that’s all part of the process of what we’re trying to do here.”

Natural Instincts Taymor is one of the few chefs in Los Angeles who has access to a garden that grows produce exclusively for his restaurant. The space in Venice is run by Courtney Guerra, and the two meet regularly to take stock of what ingredients are hitting their peaks.

Still, Taymor wants to go even more local.

The Historic Core resident is searching for a rooftop in Downtown to start a garden closer to Alma. He’s had no luck thus far.

“People like the idea, but they worry about monetization,” he said. “It’s frustrating, because it would be great for the community.”

The love affair with gardens and farm-to-table cooking has much to do with Taymor’s time under mentors such as Alter and Rustic Canyon’s Jeremy Fox. Still, La Chassagnette was the

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10 Downtown News

December 2, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

INNER-CITY ARTS, 5

City Living THIS WEEK CHECK OUT

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Love Dance at Your Neighborhood Studio

Los Angeles,” he said.

The position at Inner-City Arts came about quickly. He applied for the job in April and was hired in July.

Smiland is not the only one who is pleased with his arrival. Estela Lopez, executive director of the Central City East Association, said his energy and enthusiasm are perfect for Inner-City Arts, which CCEA has long supported, she said.

“Having Bob on board has been a delight,” Lopez said. “He is thoroughly dedicated to his mission, first and foremost, of opening up the hearts and the minds and the lives of children through the arts. He’s also thoroughly committed to Downtown.”

That commitment has prompted Smiland to shake things up a bit for next fall’s gala: Instead of holding the school’s biggest fundraiser of

the year on the West Side, Smiland is bringing it back to the Central City. He won’t disclose where, but said it will be a new venue.

Then there is the new fundraising campaign, DTLA 5000. Smiland said he chose the acronym DTLA because it conjures images of a new and “hip” Downtown, the kind of place people want to live and work.

Over the next three years, he said, Inner-City Arts is looking to raise $500,000. By the end of that period, he’s aiming for annual donations of $500,000, rooted in $100 per-person gifts. The money would be earmarked for studio expansion, as well as additional instructors.

As Inner-City Arts moves forward, Smiland won’t be just an employee there, but a neighbor. He can be seen in the area walking his two dogs, Zep a yellow lab, and Tepi, a boxer.

“Zep tepi,” Smiland pointed out, is an inscription in the Pyramids that means “new beginning.” donna@downtownnews.com

Approximately 10,000 elementary school students a year take ceramics, animation, performing arts and other classes at InnerCity Arts.

The Magic Flute at the LA Opera

WATCH IT ON DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM,

NEW EPISODE EVERY MONDAY AT 9AM

photo by Gary Leonard

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December 2, 2013

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

Downtown News 11

Restaurant Buzz More Restaurants, Cooking Classes and Other Downtown Food Happenings

By Eddie Kim ip to Be Square: Behold, you can now grab a bite to eat at Pershing Square! The Little Square Café, which opened in the last week of October, is serving buildyour-own rice bowls. Customers can choose white or brown rice, a variety of vegetables and a protein (including chicken, beef or tofu). Owner Brian Choi said he wants to offer diners an easy and affordable meal (bowls are $6.50) that actually fills you up. “Even though salads are popular, they kind of leave people hungry,” he said. “We thought this was a healthy alternative that would be satisfying for a lot of people.” The cafe also offers milk tea boba drinks; there is outdoor seating for about 40.

At 532 S. Olive St. or (323) 230-9784.

H

Winning the Loteria: Chef Jimmy Shaw’s Loteria Grill has racked up plenty of glowing reviews since opening at the Original Farmers Market in 2002. Now, Shaw is bringing a fast-casual take on the restaurant to the food court at FIGat7th, along with a new Mexican sandwich restaurant. The Downtown Loteria Grill will serve various takes on classic regional Mexican cuisine, including specialty tacos and heftier entrees like sea bass in a spicy Morita sauce.

The new Torta Co., which Shaw is opening with his brother Andrew, will delve into sandwiches packed with all manner of fillings: turkey in mole, pulled pork, chorizo, Oaxacan cheese and more.

Both establishments are slated to open Dec. 13.

At 735 S. Figueroa St. or figat7th.com/taste.

Chill Out: Also new to the FIGat7th lineup is Pazzo Gelato. The shop, which has locations in Silver Lake and Echo Park, had its grand opening on Monday, Nov. 25. It offers high-quality gelato and sorbettos in a wide array of traditional and cutting-edge flavors, from chocolate hazelnut to Guinness Extra Stout to avocado with cayenne pepper. Pazzo uses local and organic ingredients to make its icy desserts, and also serves coffee and pastries.

The Downtown location is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to to 8 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

At 735 S. Figueroa St. or figat7th.com/taste.

Party Planning: The notion of cooking a big meal for a holiday party scares some people. Border Grill chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger want to help alleviate your fear. The duo is hosting two holiday cooking classes on Sunday, Dec. 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

They’ll demonstrate a full menu of holiday dishes, from tequila-spiked punch and smoked mussel photo by Gary Leonard ceviche to main courses like the seared calamari Ice skaters and other visitors to Pershing Square no longer have to leave the park to get something to with chorizo and oregano-braised lamb shank. eat. The Little Square Café opened there at the end of October.

The class costs $75 per person and includes a multi-course lunch, cocktails and a recipe booklet Scott Kamalski said at the DLANC session. to take home. Reservations are recommended.

At 460 S. Spring St., (213) 622-2222 or buzzwinebeershop.com.

At 445 S. Figueroa St., (213) 486-5171 or bordergrill.com.

Pour Them: The Buzz Wine Beer Shop at Fifth and Spring streets has been offering a top-notch selection of hard-to-find wines and beers since opening in 2011. Curiously, however, Buzz has never been able to serve full glasses because of a condition on its alcohol license capping individual servings at two ounces (normal pours for wine are six to eight ounces; beers are around 12 ounces or more). Now, Buzz is trying to lose the restriction, and on Nov. 19 the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council voted unanimously to support the bigger pours. Though the state department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has the final say, Buzz’s blemish-free track record as a business should help lead to the unlocking of the condition in coming months. “We just want to be like every other business that has the alcohol license we have, which gives us the right to serve regular pours,” co-owner

Wine 101: The world of wine can be intimidating to newbies and experienced drinkers alike. Thankfully, the folks behind LearnAboutWine are hosting an “Intro to Wine” class at the Arts District market Urban Radish on Saturday, Dec. 7. The session will teach attendees how to taste wine in a critical way, how to pair wine with food, how to purchase and store bottles, and more. Attendees will taste seven different wines, from a fresh Buttonwood Sauvignon Blanc from Santa Ynez to a bold Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley’s Silverado winery. Students also get cheese plates to enjoy with their drinks. Tickets to the 3-5:15 p.m. event are $65.

At 661 Imperial St. Tickets at learnaboutwine.com.

Got any juicy food news? If so, contact Restaurant Buzz at eddie@downtownnews.com.

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12 Downtown News

December 2, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

DT

CALENDAR

t a h T y The Pla p U w o r G o t s Never Want

Before Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Wendy, there was Boy, Black Stache and Molly. At least, that’s the premise of Peter and the Starcatcher, which opens at the Ahmanson Theatre this week.

‘Peter and the Starcatcher,’ the Peter Pan ‘Prequel,’ Flits Into the Ahmanson

By Kylie Jane Wakefield veryone knows the story of Peter Pan: Boy doesn’t want to grow up. Has adventures in Neverland with Wendy and her brothers. Tangles with Captain Hook and helps save Tinker Bell. Tries to avoid the crocodile who swallowed a clock. And so on.

J.M. Barrie’s book and the later film versions are beloved, but as is often the case, there’s a story behind the story. That is revealed (in a completely fictional way) in Peter and the Starcatcher, a Tony Award-winning play that opens this week at the Ahmanson Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles.

Based on the novel Peter and the Starcatchers

by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, the familyfriendly production opens Wednesday, Dec. 4, as part of a national tour. The show, directed by Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, runs through Jan. 12, 2014.

Starcatchers is a prequel to Peter Pan, with characters who are slightly disguised stand-ins for the well-known figures. Barry and Pearson’s version of Peter is called, simply, Boy, while his foil is Black Stache, who is supposed to be an early rendering of Captain Hook. Then there’s Molly, who is similar to Wendy.

According to Megan Stern, who plays Molly,

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the play has important differences from the movie and book versions.

“Peter Pan and Neverland are the childhood fantasy world and they’re a little lighter,” she said.

“Peter and the Starcatcher is the reality where the characters come from. There’s a grittiness to it.”

John Sanders, who played Black Stache on Broadway and is in the touring version, also points to the backstory that Barrie’s readers never saw. He notes that it is funnier than many might expect.

“It does show how he became the bad guy,” Sanders said. “He’s a fop and he’s the kind of guy who is determined to be ruthlessly evil and fails at it hilariously.”

Starcatcher was adapted into a play by Rick Elice, who wrote the books for the musicals Jersey Boys and The Addams Family. One of the show’s signatures is its rapid changes: Though there are more than 100 roles, a mere 12 actors portray all of them.

Adding to the challenge, Stern is the only woman in the cast; men play the other female parts.

Despite the gender imbalance, much of the plot is driven by Molly.

“Molly’s kind of the heroine in this story in many ways,” said Stern. “She’s a great role

model and I think it’s more special that she’s the only girl in the show. My guess is that they wanted to highlight how special this girl is.”

Paging Vaudeville The show contains some original songs and dances, though it isn’t classified as a musical. Still, it captured a Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play, one of five Tonys it received.

Though Peter and the Starcatcher fared well on Broadway, it debuted in California. It moved to the Off-Broadway New York Theater Workshop in 2011, and the following spring made the jump to the Great White Way. The nationwide tour began in August in Denver. Stops on the run that extends through next June include Providence, Baltimore and Chicago.

The show is a sort of vaudevillian comedy, said Sanders, and is reminiscent of the Monty Python brand of absurd humor. According to Joey deBettencourt, who plays Boy, it is also an exciting action thriller, though one where the thrills aren’t too scary — the play is recommended for ages 10 and up.

Just as in Peter Pan, the theme of imagination is big. That extends to the audience’s imagination, said Sanders. The point is made early in

Peter and the Starcatcher.

“The whole ensemble walks out on stage and invites the audience to go on a storytelling journey with them,” said Sanders. “We tell it by transforming everyday objects into anything we need to tell the story with. We use chair legs as swords and ropes as the waves of the ocean and doorways and stairways. Plastic kitchen gloves are used as birds. It’s fun in that way and celebrates the idea of being a kid and what it’s like to use your imagination.”

The play and Barry and Pearson’s book have received such strong responses that, not surprisingly, a film adaptation is in the works.

The cast may have the challenge of landing in different cities every few weeks, but deBettencourt thinks that the universal themes, the push of imagination and the show’s originality help it succeed no matter where the curtain rises.

“It’s funny, fast paced, and you get beautifully acted moments, creative staging and visual effects, and some songs,” he said. “It’s a super unique and creative performance. It’s unlike anything else you’ll see around right now.”

Peter and the Starcatcher plays Dec. 4-Jan. 12, 2014 at the Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-4000 or centertheatregroup.org.

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Downtown News 13

Magic Flute Rebooted An Animation-Fueled Adaptation of Mozart’s Opera Soars

By Marc Porter Zasada rom its first performance on Sept. 30, 1791, Mozart’s Magic Flute has been the special effects opera. A musical canvas on which artists painted crazy pictures, it opens with a prince battling a dragon. As he seeks the enlightenment values of Wisdom, Courage and Virtue (definitely capitalized by the composer), he encounters magical beasts, a bird-man, a bird-woman, trials by fire and water, and the Queen of the Night.

The music itself is peppered with special effects: the highest note sung by a coloratura soprano, a trio of boy sopranos, the duet of “papa-pa” sung by Papageno and Papagena.

The production of Magic Flute originated at the Komische Oper Berlin and created by the cutting-edge British company 1927, and running in Downtown at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion through Dec. 15, takes those special effects to new and fantastic heights. It uses the latest in projection technology to create a series of whimsical, animated tableau that mix 1920s silent-movie kitsch with greeting card silliness and Nightmare Before Christmas pop-art.

Silent-movie style titles are substituted for the spoken dialogue between arias, and the scenes are often laugh-out-loud funny.

Eye-popping imagery can obscure the music, and as often happens in avant-garde productions, singers can find themselves becoming mere extras to the effects. In this case, however, the young, high-energy cast seems to delight in the combination of film and stage, effortlessly hitting the complex animation cues

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while staying in touch with the audience. It’s an exceptionally strong ensemble, held together by ever-masterful conductor James Conlon and chorus master Grant Gershon.

Acoustically, it doesn’t hurt that a solid wall backs up the singers, guaranteeing audio projection into the not-always-vibrant Chandler.

Up-and-coming soprano Janai Brugger provided the musical highlight on opening night, bringing a stunning passion and control to her Pamina, Prince Tamino’s would-be lover, even while being attacked by cartoon dogs or posing in an animated snowfall. Her “Ach, ich fuhl’s” was superb. Tenor Lawrence Brownlee made for an engaging and robust Tamino, despite having to perform in whiteface and peer into all that high-intensity, high-res projection.

The biggest effects are reserved for the Queen of the Night, who appears as a three-story tall spider. One felt for Erika Miklósa, who performs the Queen in productions around the world. Here she is forced to sing stock-still and swathed in a white straightjacket as the animated segments are projected onto her body and around the stage. She nevertheless manages to thrill with her two big arias and her coloratura force and precision.

The “three ladies” who serve the Queen are wonderfully and hilariously sung by Hae Ji Chang, Cassandra Zoé Velasco and Peabody Southwell. Bass Evan Boyer struggles a bit to bring energy to his bearded and top-hatted Sarastro, but is admirably grave and mysterious.

It was interesting to see how this production played with the traditional themes of Magic

In a scene in L.A. Opera’s high-tech Magic Flute, the First Lady (Hae Ji Chang, left) and Second Lady (Peabody Southwell) make Papageno (Rodion Pogossov) mute.

photo by Robert Millard

Flute, and yes, some good stuff gets lost in the translation.

Papageno, for example, is the comic heart of Magic Flute, working as a foil to all the serious Enlightenment themes, and the nonstop goodness of the priests who minister at the quasiMasonic temple that initiates Tamino into its ranks. Papageno bumbles, fumbles and gets drunk even as he tries to follow his master to the heights of human virtue.

In traditional productions Papageno is a bird-man, dressed in feathers, playing pan pipes. Here he’s not a bird-man, but a straightup Buster Keaton, accompanied by, of all things, an animated black cat. Robbed of his feathers by the costumer, his pan pipes by the director, and his best lines by the silent-movie titles, Russian baritone Rodion Pogossov still manages to be funny, songful and engaging.

But when he meets his bird-mate, Papagena (the delightful Amanda Woodbury), some of

the traditional charm is missing, and the echo of his pan pipes in the orchestra is entirely out of context.

However, the physical “magic flute,” usually an awkward and underutilized prop, here gets a spectacular upgrade to a nude, animated fairy, charming not just a few costumed beasts onstage, but a whole heavenly zodiac. The “magic bells” appear as a chorus line of animated women. All the temple initiates, including Pamina, imitate artistic director Suzanne Andrade’s flapper hairdo.

Even the drunkenness brings about Disneystyle pink elephants. You wouldn’t want this symbolism to dominate the opera for the next two centuries, but just for a moment, here at the dawn of the digital age, the change is joyfully welcome.

The Magic Flute plays through Dec. 15 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-7219 or laopera.com.

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14 Downtown News

December 2, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

DT

CALENDAR LISTINGS EVENTS

Lots of Holiday Music and Lots of Jokes Are in Downtown

By Dan Johnson | calendar@downtownnews.com

SPONSORED LISTINGS Shop Downtown LA for the Holidays Whether you live or work in Downtown L.A., you can get your holiday shopping done right here! Check out the list and map of 25+ boutiques and shops, as well as daily holiday events, and restaurant recommendations. Shop local this holiday season. You’ll find unique gifts for everyone on your list and you’ll have fun too. DowntownLA.com/ Holidays

For more traditional yuletide fare, the first performance of the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s Festival of Carols sounds out on Saturday, Dec. 7, also at 2 p.m. The immense collection of highly tuned voices will be regaling the audience at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with a comprehensive collection of Christmas carols and other holiday tunes. As an added bonus, organist John West will be hopping on the pipes, delivering some further seasonal majesty to the heartfelt spectacle. At press time tickets were still available for this week’s show and an identical program on Dec. 14. At 111 S. Grand Ave., (323) 8502000 or laphil.com.

FRIDay, DEcEMbER 6 Grammy Nominations Live Nokia Theatre, 777 Chick Hearn Court, (213) 763-6030 or nokiatheatrelalive.com.

Dec. 6, 7 p.m.: The Arcade Fire season begins early this year as the Grammy nominations are broadcast live from Nokia Theatre where Drake, Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis, Robin Thicke and Keith Urban will also be performing. All that talent in one room.

SuNDay, DEcEMbER 8 The University of MMA: Fight Night 4 Club Nokia, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-7000 or clubnokia.com.

4 p.m.: Enjoy an evening of puppies, flowers, poetry and romance. No, wait, we’re completely wrong. Fight Night 4 will have a lot of people getting beat up as crowds cheer.

Blue Whale 123 Astronaut E. S. Onizuka St., (213) 620-0908 or bluewhalemusic.com.

Dec. 3: Jam Session hosted by Thelonious Monk Institute Ensemble.

photo by Jason Stang

ROCK, POP & JAZZ

Not to dissuade the chatty Cathys among us from attending the Baroque Conversation event hosted by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m., but the “conversation” at the Colburn School’s Zipper Hall is more a metaphor for intimate chamber music than an invitation to gab on and on about that time you tried escargot in France.

Concertmaster Margaret Batjer will join five performers, among them LACO Assistant Concertmaster Tereza Stanislav (shown here) in a program featuring works by Cazzati, Scarlatti, Corelli, and others whose names don’t end in “i.” At 200 S. Grand Ave., (213) 621-2200 or laco.org.

photo by Ken Hively

It wouldn’t be the holidays without a dose of Tim Burton’s macabre claymation wit. Fortunately, the Los Angeles Conservancy is providing that on Sunday, Dec. 8, with a matinee screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas at the fabulous Orpheum Theatre.

All of Halloween Town will be assembled on the big screen to ditch the redundant ghoulishness of tradition and embrace the joyous sensibility of holiday giving and lighthearted festivity. Showtime is 2 p.m. (doors open at 1:15), which means you’ll have time to go for a skate in Pershing Square afterwards. While in the theater, also enjoy the Sound Stage Barbershop Quartet as they unleash some four-part harmony Christmas carols. At 842 S. Broadway, (877) 6774386 or laorpheum.com.

For those keeping track at home, yes, it has been a century since Italian futurist Luigi Russolo stated that the urban ear had grown accustomed to a new soundscape of pure noise. He did this in his manifesto The Art of Noise, and to celebrate this prodigious anniversary, REDCAT is hosting the Orchestra of Futurist Noise Intoners. This dissident band of well-organized musicians come armed with an odd assortment of hand-cranked noise makers with timbres representing varying degrees of repetitive and somewhat abrasive music. They’ll be packing the house on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 8:30 p.m. with thoughtful patterns of sound to encourage listeners to reassess the modern sonic sphere. At 631 W. Second St., (213) 237-2800 or redcat.org. photo by Javier Sanchez

ThuRSDay, DEcEMbER 5 Gary Vaynerchuk Gensler, 500 S. Figueroa St., or business.livetalksla.org.

7:45 p.m.: Join entrepreneurial narrative expert Gary Vaynerchuk in a breakfast discussion about telling one’s story in the digital age.

Michael Connelly at Aloud Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7500 or lfla.org.

7:15 p.m.: Crime fiction writer, and former L.A. Times journalist Michael Connelly, discusses his latest bit of pulp noir, The Gods of Guilt.

Why Won’t Angelenos Vote?

Grand Central Market, 317 S. Hill St., or zocalopublicsquare.org.

7:30 p.m.: UCLA Professor Franklin Gilliam, labor advocate Tracy Zeluff and campaign data aficionado Paul Mitchell discuss the inability of our dear city’s populace to engage in electoral politics.

William Leavitt Art Lecture MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., (213) 626-6222 or moca.org.

7 p.m.: Los Angeles’ own William Leavitt drops by to chit-chat about a piece of his work, “Warp Engines,” that was recently purchased by MOCA.

If you enjoyed the inoffensive, highly accessible comedic stylings of the films Taxi and Fever Pitch, you’ll love Jimmy Fallon’s Clean Cut Comedy Tour. On Thursday, Dec. 5, the host of “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” himself will be barnstorming Club Nokia to provide fans with a night-long glimpse at the things he uses to make the country laugh. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and, along with Fallon, yuks will be delivered by Julian McCullough, Nate Bargatze, Nick Thune and Seth Herzog. At 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-7000 or clubnokia.com.

photo courtesy Jimmy Fallon’s Clean Cut Comedy Tour

WEDNESDay, DEcEMbER 4 Holes in My Shoes Downtown Independent, 251 S. Main St., (213) 617-1033 or downtownindependent.com.

7 p.m.: Comedian Perry Kurtz hosts a vaudevillian tribute to variety shows. Proceeds benefit Homeboy Industries.

photo copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.

MONDay, DEcEMbER 2 L.A. County Tree Lighting Music Center Plaza, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-7211 or musiccenter.org.

5 p.m.: In keeping with the majesty of the holiday season, the Music Center will be illuminating its Christmas tree with help from the chamber music organization Brass Pacifica, school choirs and others.

Send information and possible Don’t Miss List submissions to calendar@downtownnews.com.

December 2, 2013

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Dec. 4: Daniel Szabo Trio.

Dec. 5: Richard Sears Trio.

Dec. 6: Charlie Hunter + Scott Amendola.

Dec. 8: Joey Sellers’ Jazz Aggregation.

Bootleg Bar 2220 Beverly Blvd., (213) 389-3856 or bootlegtheater.org.

Dec. 2, 8 p.m.: Lo-fi surf rock with December residents Froth.

Dec. 3, 8 p.m.: Audience members should feel obliged to experience a poignant moment during Bright Light Bright Light’s set.

Otherwise, you may upset the delicate sensibilities of the Londonbased singer-songwriter.

Dec. 4, 8 p.m.: Early 2000s Seattle indie group The Long Winters will be playing their 2003 album When I Pretend to Fall alongside tourmate/former band member Sean Nelson of Harvey Danger fame.

Dec. 4, 9:30 p.m.: Bits of Milli Vanilli pastiche are apparent in BC Kingdom.

Dec. 5, 8 p.m.: North Carolina transplants Hi Ho Silver Oh offer up their noodling indie rock.

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Downtown News 15

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700 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Free Parking Next to Restaurant Tel: 213.617.2323

Dec. 7, 8 p.m.: When the Escondido guitarist slyly relates an anecdote in which a fan tells him the band’s music sounds like “desert sex,” what he really means is that he’s super into Chris Isaak.

Dec. 8, 7 p.m.: Barring an unknown Thanksgiving tragedy, the Peach Kings will be back yet again.

Club Nokia 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-7000 or clubnokia.com.

Dec. 5, 8:30 p.m.: If you indulge in humor from time to time, you will definitely chortle or perhaps guffaw at Jimmy Fallon’s Clean Cut Comedy Tour.

Dec. 6-7, 8 p.m.: Country duo Florida Georgia Line is proud to present music from nowhere that says nothing at all.

Escondite 410 Boyd St., (213) 626-1800 or theescondite.com.

Dec. 2, 9 p.m.: Yonatan and Brian Walker launch into December with some live jazz.

Dec. 3, 10 p.m.: The explosions are mostly metaphorical with Boom Boom Boom.

http://issuu.com/ladtn Follow Us on ISSUU

Dec. 4, 10 p.m.: Lest your eyes deceive you, Lightnin Woodcock and the Vibrometers are two distinguished and professionally oriented rock and funk bands, respectively.

Dec. 5, 10 p.m.: Thomas Crowell & Old Gold get the place pumped up for Leeann Skoda.

Dec. 6, 9 p.m.: Blackwater Jukebox join Zach & Bridget in inaugurating this most festive Friday.

Dec. 7, 10 p.m.: If it’s Saturday, you’ll likely see Charlie Chan & The SOB’s with Johnny Moezzi & The Drones.

Dec. 8, 9 p.m.: Honky Tonk Sundays has given RT N the 44s the home away from home (with a full bar) that they always craved.

Exchange LA 618 S. Spring St., (213) 627-8070 or exchangela.com.

Dec. 6, 10 p.m.: We don’t really know what more to say except an “artist” named Hot Mouth is playing tonight.

Dec. 7, 10 p.m.: If you’ve lost all reference on life, perhaps the desensitizing, image-centric high decibel wash of Cedric Gervais’ set will help you forget the essential existential dilemma that haunts you.

Grammy Museum 800 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 765-6800 or grammymuseum.org.

Dec. 4, 8 p.m.: There’ll be a Q&A with singer/songwriter Butch Walker during his evening at the Grammy Museum. Perhaps you could ask him if he’s proud of working with Taylor Swift, Pink, Train, Katy Perry, Fall Out Boy and Keith Urban.

Ham and Eggs 433 W. Eighth St. or hamandeggstavern.com.

Dec. 4, 9 p.m.: Suzan and Kissing Cousins.

Nokia Theatre 777 Chick Hearn Court, (213) 763-6030 or nokiatheatrelalive.com.

Dec. 7-8, 8 p.m.: Vicente Fernandez’s spawn, Alejandro Fernandez, promises a rollicking good time.

Nola’s 734 E. Third St., (213) 680-3003 or nolasla.com.

Dec. 8, 11 a.m.: Sunday brunch with The Crew.

Continued on next page

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16 Downtown News

LAST WEEKS ANSWERS

Continued from previous page Orpheum Theatre 842 Broadway, (877) 677-4386 or laorpheum.com.

Dec. 6, 8 p.m.: The Tedeschi Trucks Band are another electric Americana rock band extolling the virtues of a simplistic old-time fiction.

Redwood Bar and Grill 316 W. Second St., (213) 652-4444 or the redwoodbar.com.

Dec. 2: Black Water Jukebox.

Dec. 4: Brother Wild Band.

Dec. 5: Prince (the band from Texas), Spokenest, Madison Bloodbath, Benny the Jet Rodriguez and Ross Hughs.

Dec. 6: Pearl Harbour, Rad Waste, The Mecolodiacs and The Rebel Set. Los Angeles Downtown News Dec. 7: Veterans Charity Event with Virginia City Revival, Alley 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 Cats, S.O.B., Evil Beaver and The Neurotics. phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 Dec. 8: 3 Balls of Fire, The Rebel Set and The Trabants. web: DowntownNews.com • email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News

CROSSWORD

December 2, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

twitter: DowntownNews

Seven Grand 515 W. Seventh St., (213) 614-0737 or sevengrand.la.

Dec. 2: The Chuck Boogie features an exceedingly sufficient quantity of Hammond organ.

Dec. 3: The Makers will again be spending their Tuesday night at Seven Grand because they’ve got no place else to go!

Dec. 4: Rick Taub’s Midnight Blues Review educates audiences with a gentle reminder that while there will be no pop quiz at the end of the review, all of life is a test.

Staples Center Editor PublishEr: Sue Laris 1111 S.&Figueroa St., (213) 742-7326 or staplescenter.com.

GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin Dec. 3, 8 p.m.: Consummate performer Beyonce returns to tell ExEcutivE Editor: Joncontemporary Regardie womanhood while being you all about authentic stAFF writErs: married to Jay Z. Donna Evans, Eddie Kim coNtributiNG Kathryn MaeseSeattle has gone from Dec. 4, 7 p.m.:Editor: In just over two decades, coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer, producing grunge and Sir Mixalot to being proud of Mackelmore Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield & Ryan Lewis. Go pop some tags.

Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard

Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin

AccouNtiNG: Tara LaPlante

ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie stAFF writErs: Donna Evans, Eddie Kim coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer, Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield

AdvErtisiNG dirEctor: Steve Nakutin clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Yoji Cole, Josie Damian, Catherine Holloway sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez

Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins

circulAtioN: Danielle Salmon distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla

PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard

Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m.: KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball features a lineup packed with performers that would make all sensible people wish they were born in the 1700s. Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Enrique and Robin Thicke are just the tip of this iceberg.

The Smell 247 S. Main St. in the alley between Spring and Main or thesmell.org.

Dec. 6: Santa Youth, Verbs, Walelu and DPDR. Dec. 7: Heller Keller, Coup Pigeons and Hex Horizontal.

Dec. 8: Sanglorians, Nicole Kidman, LA Takedown and Wil Donegan.

FILM Downtown Independent 251 S. Main St., (213) 617-1033 or downtownindependent.com.

Los Angeles Downtown News Dec. 6, 4, 7 and 10 p.m., Dec. 7, 10 a.m., 1 and 4 p.m., Dec. 8, 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News twitter: DowntownNews ©2013 Civic Center News, Inc. Los Angeles Downtown News is a trademark of Civic Center News Inc. All rights reserved.

The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles.

One copy per person.

AccouNtiNG: Tara LaPlante AdvErtisiNG dirEctor: Steve Nakutin clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Yoji Cole, Josie Damian, Catherine Holloway sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez circulAtioN: Danielle Salmon distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla

Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie stAFF writErs: Donna Evans, Eddie Kim coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer, Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield

©2013 Civic Center News, Inc. Los Angeles Downtown News is a trademark of Civic Center News Inc. All rights reserved.

The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles.

One copy per person.

Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard AccouNtiNG: Tara LaPlante AdvErtisiNG dirEctor: Steve Nakutin clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Yoji Cole, Josie Damian, Catherine Holloway sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez circulAtioN: Danielle Salmon distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla

Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin

Los Angeles Downtown News 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com • email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News

twitter: DowntownNews

ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie stAFF writErs: Donna Evans, Eddie Kim coNtributiNG Editor: Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jeff Favre, Greg Fischer, Kristin Friedrich, Kylie Jane Wakefield Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard AccouNtiNG: Tara LaPlante

Los Angeles Downtown News 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 phone: 213-481-1448 • fax: 213-250-4617 web: DowntownNews.com email: realpeople@downtownnews.com facebook: L.A. Downtown News twitter: DowntownNews ©2013 Civic Center News, Inc. Los Angeles Downtown News is a trademark of Civic Center News Inc. All rights reserved.

The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles.

One copy per person.

AdvErtisiNG dirEctor: Steve Nakutin clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Yoji Cole, Josie Damian, Catherine Holloway sAlEs AssistANt: Claudia Hernandez circulAtioN: Danielle Salmon distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla ©2013 Civic Center News, Inc. Los Angeles Downtown News is a trademark of Civic Center News Inc. All rights reserved.

The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles.

One copy per person.

December 2, 2013 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.: The third installment of anime cult classic Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Historic Core Film Series Farmers and Merchants Bank at Fourth and Main streets.

Dec. 2, 8 p.m.: The third installment of this gratis month-long screening series inside the OBD’s Farmers and Merchants Bank features Gremlins. Keep them away from water, please.

IMAX California Science Center, 700 State Drive, (213) 744-2019 or californiasciencecenter.org.

Explore the remnants and wisdom of an ancient empire in Mysteries of Egypt.

Ice and polar bear enthusiasts will likely dig To the Arctic 3D. Experience the gripping story full of hope, crushing disappointment and triumph in Hubble 3D. Regal Cinemas 1000 W. Olympic Blvd., (213) 763-6070 or lalive.com/movies.

Through December 5: Black Nativity (11:10 a.m., 1:40, 4:20, 7:10 and 10 p.m.); Frozen (1:20, 4:10, 7 and 9:50 p.m.); Frozen 3D (11:20 a.m., 2, 4:50, 7:40 and 10:30 p.m.); Homefront (11:30 a.m., 2:10, 5, 7:50 and 10:40 p.m.); Oldboy (11 a.m., 1:50, 4:40, 7:30 and 10:10 p.m.); Delivery Man (1:10, 4, 6:50 and 9:30 p.m.); The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (11 and 11:40 a.m., 12:20, 1, 2:30, 3:10, 3:50, 4:30, 6, 6:40, 7:20, 8, 9:40, 10:20 and 11 p.m.); The Best Man Holiday (1:30, 4:40, 7:40 and 10:50 p.m.); Thor: The Dark World (12:50, 3:40, 6:30 and 9:20 p.m.); Bad Grandpa (11:30 a.m., 1:50, 4:20, 6:50 and 9:20 p.m.); Gravity (12:10 p.m.); Gravity 3D (2:40, 5:10, 7:50 and 10:10 p.m.).

THEATER, OPERA & DANCE Bob Baker’s Holiday Spectacular Bob Baker Marionette Theater, 1345 W. First St., (213) 250-9995 or bobbakermarionettes.com.

Dec. 7-8, 2:30 p.m.: This seasonal classic brings the true meaning of Yuletide cheer to new dimensions as puppets dance through a winter wonderland and into your memory forever.

The Magic Flute Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-7219 or laopera.com.

Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 8, 2 p.m.: James Conlon and the L.A. Opera present the U.S. debut of this adaptive fusion between Mozart’s opera and film animation. See review p. 13.

The Nisei Widows Club The David Henry Hwang Theatre, 120 N. Judge John Aiso St., (213) 625-7000 or eastwestplayers.org.

Dec. 6-7, 8 p.m. and Dec. 8, 2 p.m.: Comedy reigns supreme and a gaggle of four Nisei widows bond together after one loses her son. The quartet travels to Hawaii, a trip “which unleashes the inner cougar in all of them.” Oh my. Through December 8.

Peter and the Starcatcher Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-4444 or centertheatregroup.org.

Dec. 3-5, 8 p.m., Dec. 7, 2 and 8 p.m. and Dec. 8, 1 and 6:30 p.m.: David Barry and Ridley Pearson’s epic novel prequel to Peter Pan finds its way to the stage. See story p.

12.

REDCAT Studio Fall 2013 REDCAT, 631 W. Second St., (213) 237-2800 or redcat.org.

Dec. 7, 8:30 p.m. and Dec. 8, 7 p.m.: REDCAT hosts a collection of experimental performance work in this two-day festival dedicated to the abstract and unorthodox. ¡Ser! Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., (213) 489-0994 or thelatc.org.

Dec. 6-7, 8 p.m. and Dec. 8, 3 p.m.: A woman struggles to find herself in a world of love and soccer that stretches a narrative between the two American continents. Through December 8.

The Steward of Chirstendom Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., (213) 972-4444 or centertheatregroup.org.

Dec. 3-6, 8 p.m., Dec. 7, 2:30 and 8 p.m. and Dec. 8, 7 p.m.: Brian Dennehy stars in a drama about an outcast Roman Catholic in the days of the struggle for Irish Independence.

MORE LISTINGS Hundreds of listings of fun and interesting things to do in Downtown Los Angeles can also be found online at ladowntownnews.com/calendar: Rock, Pop & Jazz; Bars & Clubs; Farmers Markets; Events; Film; Sports; Art Spaces; Theater, Dance and Opera; Classical Music; Museums; and Tours.

2YOUR EVENT INFO

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LA Auto show bonus Cash $500 Black Friday $500 Net Cost $17,299 USAA $750 5 at this price

$15,995 2012 Chevy Cruze LT .............................. $16,995 Turbo, DOHC, Gold, Only 40K Miles. UC1428R/ C7329704 2012 Chevy Captiva Sport LT ............... $19,995 3.0L V6, Silver/Black, Only 39K Miles. UC1306R/ CS631519 2011 Chevy Impala Sedan ....................

Black, 3.5L V6, Low Miles, Loaded. UC1250R/ B1312181

888-319-8762 1801 S. FIGUEROA ST. • MBZLA.COM

LEASE FOR ONLY

329

$

per month for 36 mos

Plus tax, 36 Month closed end lease on approved credit through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. $2,499 CAP reduction, $795 acquisition fee. Excludes title, taxes, registration, license fees, insurance, dealer prep and additional options No security deposit required. 25¢ per mile in excess of 30,000 miles. Offer good on all with MSRP $33,925.

$30,729 2012 Mercedes E350 Coupe .................

Certified, Palladium Silver, Nav., 16K Miles. 140191-1/ CF136899 $43,871 2012 Mercedes GL450 ...........................

Certified, Prem. Pkg. 2, DVD System, Low Miles. 6856C/ CA761882 $54,972 AUDI OF DOWNTOWN L.A. 2012 Mercedes C250 Turbo Sedan ......

Certified, Blk/Gray, Sport Pkg, Nav., 23K Miles. 6915C / CR197091

888-583-0981 1900 S. FIGUEROA ST. • AUDIDTLA.COM

NEW ’14 AUDI A4 2.0T

LEASE FOR ONLY

379

$

per month for 42 mos

+ tax 42 mo. Closed end lease on approved credit. $0 Sec. Dep. $0 Down plus first month payment, license and registration, and bank acquisition fee. Must qualify for the New Owner Appreciation or Audi Loyalty Rebate of $1000. $0.25 per miles over 10,000 miles/year. 1 at this offer EN003135.

$16,579 2012 Audi TT Turbo ................................

Certified, Ibis White, AWD, 30K Miles, Loaded. ZA10743/C100787 $34,436 2012 Audi Q7 3.0T ..................................

Certified, Grey/Black, Super Chrgd., 17K Miles. A140194-1/ D004269 $48,992 PORSCHE OF DOWNTOWN L.A. 2005 Lexus LS430 ...................................

Silver/Blk, Ultra Luxury Selection, Rear AC. A14103-3/5013721

888-685-5426 1900 S. FIGUEROA ST. • PORSCHEDOWNTOWNLA.COM

NEW ’14 PORSCHE CAYMAN PDK

LEASE FOR ONLY

549

$

per month for 27 mos

Plus tax 27 month closed end lease. Rates based on approved Tier 1 credit through Porsche Financial Ser Services. $4995 down payment excludes tax, dmv fees, $895 Bank Acquisition fee, first payment and docudocu ment fees. .30 cents per mile over 5,000 miles per year. No security deposit. 1 at this price EK172755.

$56,810 2011 Panamera Gran Turismo ..............

Certified, Ruby Red, 20” Whls, PDK, 30K Miles. ZP1618-1/L014778 $60,898 2011 Porsche Carrera 4S .......................

Certified, Silver/Black, PDK, Chrono, 15K Miles. ZP1663/BS754609 $86,893 2012 Porsche Cayman S .........................

Certified, Blk/Blk, Nav., Bose, 19” wheels, 19K Miles. CU780068

18 Downtown News

FUTURE KOREAN AIR WILSHIRE GRAND

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

December 2, 2013

December 2, 2013

DT

CLASSIFIEDS

EMPLOYMENT

REAL ESTATE RESIDENTIAL

General lofts for sale

TheLoftExpertGroup.com Downtown since 2002

Bill Cooper

213.598.7555

U.S. GOVT JOBS NOW HIRING Civil Service / Postal Clerks No Experience. Job Security. $20-75 an hour and Benefits CALL NOw! (855) 631-0850

FOR RENT

CleaninG CoNCEPTo’S CLEANING Crew. Professional, experienced, cleans apartments, homes, offices and restaurants.

Call for a quote. 323-459-3067 or 818-409-9183.

loft/UnfUrnished

old Bank District The original Live/Work Lofts from $1,295 Cafes, Bars, Shops, Galleries, Parking adjacent. Pets no charge Call 213.253.4777 LAloft.com

To place a classified ad in the Downtown News please call 213-481-1448, or go to DowntownNews.com Deadline classified display and line ads are Thursday at 12pm.

FORfor RENT All submissions are subject to federal and California fair housing laws, which make it illegal to indicate in any advertisement any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income or physical or mental disability. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

insUranCe Save $$ Free car insurance quote. 20 companies. 1-877855-8111. XEGU3: PATToN. 323-354-5257

AUTOS & RECREATIONAL pre-oWned

DoWNtoWN l.a. aUto groUp

SERVICES

Over 1000 vehicles on Sale Now!

Nearly Every Make & Model

health SPECIALS! 4 mani’s & Pedi’s for oNLY $99! 3 Facials or 3 massages for only $99. Buy our specials tomorrow but use them when you want! Enjoy yourself more than once! 818-574-9882 Downtown Los Angeles.

apartments/UnfUrnished

health & fitness

$1,200/mo 2bd/1ba in Chinatown. minutes from Downtown.

Newly paint, range, refrigerator, carpet. Laundry on-site. one parking space. 433 Cottage Home Street 818-716-7297.

FREE TRAINING At Tapout Training & Fitness Center (DT Los Angeles) www.tapout.la FREE CLASSES .... RESISTER HERE ... http://www.tapoutla. com/freetrial.php 213-748-7552

SENIoR APARTmENTS 62 + Studio $873 1 Bedroom $929.

Balcony, Full Kitchen, A/C, Clubhouse, BBQ, Resource room, Laundry, SEC 8 o.K. Visit GSL SAN LUCAS.com 213623-2010.

GET LEAN, Toned & Confident With Parker-Brooks, LA’s #1.

Source For In-Home Personal Trainers. All you need is an empty space, we’ll provide the equipment. www.parkerbrooksfitness. com (310) 499-1479

LOFT LIVING Your number 1 source for Loft sales, rentals and development!

D ow n t ow n n ew s . c o m

Visit us online

dtlamotors.com 2005 NISSAN ARmADA SE 5.6L V8, Silver/Blk, Leather, only 38K miles. NI4111 / 5N706134 only...$15,999 call 888-8385089 www.downtownnissan. com

2008 PoRSCHE CAYENNE GTS Certified, Sand White/Black, 4.8L V8, Low miles ZP1556 / 8LA73049 oNLY....$50,898. Call 888-685-5426 www.porschedowntownla.com 2008 VW JETTA PASSAT 2.5S Certified, 5cyl PZEV., Gray/Blk, only 10,115 miles ZV1959 / CC059045 only...$18,980 Call 888-781-8102 www.vwdowntownla.com 2009 AUDI A5 2.0T QUATTRo Certified, Turbo, Gray/Black, AWD, 35K miles A13424D-1 / AA065553 oNLY....$32,995 Call 888-583-0981 www.audidtla. com 2009 CHEVY mALIBU HYBRID 4DR. Gray/Gray, Great mileage, AC, Loaded F13074-1/ F131890 oNLY....$13,995 Call 888-3047039 www.felixchevrolet.com 2009 mERCEDES CLK350 AmG Certified, White Stone, 3.5L, low miles 5940C / F270087 oNLY....$25,991 Call 888-3198762. www.mbzla.com

the LOFT expert!

Downtown since 2002

Bill Cooper 213.598.7555 TheLoftExpertGroup.com DRE # 01309009

Bill Cooper 213.598.7555

TheLoftExpertGroup.com BRE #01309009

________________________________________________

Name: Address: City Phone: Cash $ Credit card #: Exp. Date:

All ads run for 2 weeks.

Ads may be renewed after two weeks for 50% off the original price of the ad.

With a circulation of State Check $

Zip Credit Card $

LEGAL fiCtitioUs BUsiness name

ITEMS FOR SALE tV/eleCtroniCs/CompUters Discount 50% Registered Software: Pro Tools 10, Rosetta Stone, Business, Survalance, Graphics. Email - shpatton01@ yahoo.com, 323-354-5257

Fictitious Business name statement FILE No. 2013216934 The following person is doing business as: 1)SoUNDTRoNIX 2)JImI FRISCo AND ASSoCIATES, 1225 South Union Avenue #47, Los Angeles, CA 90015, are hereby registered by the following registrant: JAmES DEFRISCo,1225 South Union Avenue #47, Los Angeles, CA 90015.

Your “One Stop” Loft Design Specialist!

•16,000 square foot architectural salvage warehouse open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays 10am-5pm (Just 5 mins.

From Downtown LA) • $500,000 of architectural and antique merchandise at Fair Prices and Good Value. Large inventory of salvaged wood, doors and windows in stock!

• Custom fabrication service offered on site.

Silverado Salvage and Design

Ad Prices FREE! $11.50 $14.00 $16.50 $19.00

2011 PRIUS II Black $18995 only 25K mi. AutoTrader ID# 102835451 (323) 410-7815

HERBALIFE.Com order Code: 090290539 Patton 4life.com Code: 7233774: PATToN 323354-5257

This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant has not begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein.

This statement was filed with DEAN C. LoGAN, Los Angeles County Clerk on october 17, 2013.

NOTICE—This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et. seq. Business and Professions Code).

Pub. 11/18, 11/25, 12/2, 12/9/2013.

2401 E. 27th Street / Vernon, CA 90058 • 323-277-4771 • www.silveradosalvageanddesign.com

Ad Copy: _________________________________________

12 words, 2 weeks 15 words 15 words 15 words 15 words

domestiC aUtos

misC. items

WE SPECIALIZE IN SALVAGED WOOD TABLES WITH AN INDUSTRIAL ATTITUDE AND SLIDING LOFT DOORS!

TM

Do you have something to sell?

• Items under $300 • Items $301 to $500 • Items $501 to $1200 • Items $1201 to $2000 • Items $2001+…

For a complete list of our pre-owned inventory, go to www.DTLAMOTORS.com

2011 NISSAN SENTRA 2.0S SEDAN Certified, Red Brick Pearl/Silver, 30mpg, CU0827R / L651168 oNLY....$11,995 call 888-845-2267 www.carsonnissan.com

Voted BEST Downtown Residential Real Estate Agent!

(Marketplace and Automotive Categories ONLY)

Downtown News 19

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM

47,000,

our classifieds get results!

________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

is your teen experiencing • School problems?

• Conflict at home or with friends? adolescent support group now forming ages 13-17 low fee

Call marney stofflet, lCsW

(323) 662-9797

4344 fountain ave. (at sunset), suite a los angeles, Ca 90029

Children’s Performing Group

Sunshine Generation Singing, dancing, performing and fun!

For boys & girls ages 3 and up!

________________________________________________

Restrictions: Offer good on private party ads only. Ads must be pre-paid by cash, check or credit card. Certain classifications excluded. Deadline: Thursday at noon for next issue.

SunshineGenerationLA.com 909-861-4433

Corporation Bldg. For Lease Creative Office Space 724 S. Spring St. LA • 900 to 1500 sqft.

• Elegant tiled flooring and polished concrete floors • Brand new A/C, bathrooms in each unit • Spectacular views of Downtown • Great Location, restaurant on the ground floor

Please call (213) 627-6913 Furnished single unit with kitchenette, bathroom.

Excellent location.

Downtown LA. Weekly rate $275 inc.

Monthly from $600 utilities paid.

(213) 612-0348

Fully furnished with TV, telephone, microwave, refrigerator.

Full bathroom.

Excellent location.

Downtown LA. Weekly maid service.

Monthly from $695 utilities paid.

(213) 627-1151

20 Downtown News

December 2, 2013

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS

Two California Plaza is pleased to announce that it is

LEED Platinum certified ®

LEED® or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a green building tool, and an internationally recognized mark of excellence, providing building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

www.twocalplaza.com

•

350 South Grand Avenue

•

Los Angeles

For more information, or to schedule a property tour, please contact:

www.cushwake.com

Norman S. Mitchell Senior Director (213) 629-6516 norm.mitchell@cushwake.com CA Lic. #00339426

Richard B. Grande Senior Director (213) 629-6552 rich.grande@cushwake.com CA Lic. #1056963

Steven E. Marcussen, MCR.h Executive Director (213) 629-6550 steve.marcussen@cushwake.com CA Lic. #00656631

Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc. • CA Lic. #00616335 • 601 South Figueroa Street, 47th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 • (213) 955-5100