Downtown Los Angeles

Story by Shauna Dobbie, photos by David Johnson

“W hy?” a friend asked when I told him I was going stay in Downtown Los Angeles with my husband David when he went there on business. This friend had lived there about 20 years ago and figured I must be crazy. He thought of Downtown LA as a wasteland of empty buildings and scattered denizens of evil. Over the last decade, though, the area has been gentrifying, with the empty buildings becoming lofts, cafés and trendy restaurants. In 2015, a Whole Foods—the bougie supermarket— opened, sealing the deal: DTLA is now a happening spot.

We spent a full day wandering around DTLA hunting down sites from David’s favourite Harry Bosch novels by Michael Connelly. To be clear, our “full day” started with lunch at the Grand Central Market and ended with an early dinner at Musso and Frank Grill, in nearby Hollywood. We managed to see some of the most-filmed places in that limited time.

The Grand Central Market has been on the main floor of the Homer Laughlin Building since 1917. Today it is a collection of stalls, most of them selling prepared food. There are a few Latino places, a couple of Chinese, Japanese and Jewish places, a Filipino place and one or two gourmet outlets, plus others selling barbecue or chicken or coffee. There are also some grocers and a single jewelry shop.

We opted for tacos from a place called Ana Maria, thinking they would be smallish, enabling us to try something else as well. Turns out “two tacos” is a heaping plateful of two taco fillings with tortillas on the side, so we were sated. But oh, it was so good!

The Grand Central Market is located at the bottom of Angels Flight, which is a funicular running down from Bunker Hill and dating back to 1901, when Bunker Hill was an upper-crust residential neighbourhood. The funicular would give easy access to Bunker Hill servants to purchase groceries and goods on the high street, which was actually below.

After lunch, we visited the Bradbury Building. The atrium of this building will be known to you if you are a fan of the 1982 version of Blade Runner. It’s also featured in various other movies, TV shows and music videos. Today it is overrun with Instagram influencers. It is an impressive place, topped in glass.Sunlight flows down to brighten the polished wood and black wrought iron interior. The walls are clad in tiles of yellow and pink, and running up five storeys are open iron elevator shafts. The wrought iron grillwork, made in France, wasdisplayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair before being installed.

The Grand Central Market features a diverse array of food stalls and shops.

Angels Flight funicular.

The Grand Central Market features a diverse array of food stalls and shops. Building. The atrium of this building will be known to you if you are a fan of the 1982 version of Blade Runner. It’s also featured in various other movies, TV shows and music videos. Today it is overrun with Instagram influencers. It is an impressive place, topped in glass. Sunlight flows down to brighten the polished wood and black wrought iron interior. The walls are clad in tiles of yellow and pink, and running up five storeys are open iron elevator shafts. The wrought iron grillwork, made in France, was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair before being installed.

The Iconic Bradbury Building atrium.

It was built by Lewis Bradbury, the owner of a gold mine. He wanted something grand to be remembered for. He agreed to a cost of $175,000, but construction cost ran to $500,000; some things never change. Bradbury died in 1892, before the building opened in 1893. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1971.

From the Bradbury Building, we took Angels Flight up the hill. The funicular ride is all of 315 feet, so it doesn’t take long. The cost is one US dollar. The car wasn’t full and those on board were all tourists. Was it the experience of a lifetime? Well, no, but it’s worth saying you did it. The interior comprises wooden benches along the sides, going up several stairs. The walls and ceiling are wood, too, which gives it a warm feeling.

At the top, we took a stroll, past the Broad Museum of Modern Art, which is a dizzying building with its outer “veil” creating filtered light for the works inside. We were wowed by the silver curves and angles of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. We paid tribute to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where the Academy Awards were held several times before the year 2000.

Across the street from all this glory were some hints of Downtown LA that my friend was talking about. A group of young fellows were skate-

The Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Older buildings are being turned into lofts.

boarding and doing tricks. They were rough only in style, though, and barely gave us a second look as we made our way to Grand Park, back down to where our rental car was parked. We rested for a bit, sitting on some bright pink furniture in the park and watching Angelenos around us. The park has an interactive splash pad where kids (of all ages) can play. It’s a central point for the area, hosting events throughout the year which culminate in a New Year’s Eve countdown.

For dinner that evening we went to Musso and Frank at the insistence of my husband. Musso and Frank Grill is a Hollywood institution; they’ve been serving meals there for over 100 years. If you’ve watched The Kominsky Method on TV, this is the restaurant that Sandy and Norman go to regularly, with the very old, very slow waiter. And the waiters are… of an advanced age. The menu includes such old goodies as lobster thermidor, calf’s liver and oyster stew. It’s a little like Rae and Jerry’s, but it’s twice as old, twice the price, and only half as good.

As a day on the town, it was a great success. If we’d gone earlier, we might have made it to some other sites. Little Tokyo might make you think you’re in Japan, with its restaurants and shops. Chinatown looks interesting, too. Santee Alley Flea Market might be good for cheap tchotchkes. The Last Bookstore, in addition to selling books, has such wonders as a tunnel of books. And the Central Library has a gorgeous rotunda, painted with a mural on four walls and topped by a beautiful arched ceiling. There is so much more to see.

The splash pad at Grand Park.