'Hood #29: South LA "Secret" Food Tour

In my quest to visit every LA neighborhood this year, I just got home from a food tour of South LA (formerly known as South Central), a large neighborhood comprised of more than 20 smaller 'hoods that runs west of the 110 Freeway, south of the 10.

If you are, say, hypothetically, a middle-aged white lady who grew up in the midwest and has lived primarily by the beach since moving to LA, it's an area you probably don't know.  Your strongest association with it might even be as the epicenter of the LA Riots in 1992 or as a place that's struggled with gang violence—even though you also know it's where many people live and work and have a community and probably eat really cool food in really cool places.

Today I was one of those people eating really cool food in really cool places. 

The tour was run by Secret City Tours, which specializes in organizing tours of Los Angeles taking you to places you might not otherwise discover.  Every stop felt like a real find and I swore at each one I'd be back. Our guides John and Laura were amazing and knowledgable, so if I get any factoids wrong, the errors are all mine.  

Stop 1: F&J Bakery, a Mexican-American owned Armenian bakery in West Adams

The story goes that the original owner was Armenian, and upon his death he willed it to his two long-time cooks, who were of Mexican descent (hence the Mexicano on the sign).

We were served Lahmajune—an Armenian flatbread also called Armenian Pizza with tomato, bell pepper & spices—I got a vegetarian version with eggplant (yum) but the rest of the tour got lamb (they say also yum)

Stop #2: La TaQuiza on Figuroa in South LA

This is spittin' distance from USC and Metro's Expo Line—I'll definitely be back.

A La TaQuiza specialty: the Mulita, homemade tortillas stuffed with stuff—cheese, guacamole and mine had beans & rice ... the others had chicken.

Stop #3: Hawkins House of Burgers on Slater Street in Watts

One of the fun things about this tour is that we got to meet the proprietors—in this case, the lovely Cynthia Hawkins—daughter of the founder of Hawkins House who keeps her father's legacy alive by serving quality food at affordable prices.  I loved hearing about how they were one of the first restaurants in the community, and how they strive to reach out to people in an otherwise underserved area of LA directly across from the Jordan Downs housing project.  I don't eat beef, but the fries were fab... and I hear the Whipper burger with pastrami and a hot link is not to be missed.

Cynthia Hawkins serving up Angus-beef sliders with fixins'

Stop #3 1/2: We also stopped by Watts Towers... which I've already visited as part of this challenge but a delight to see again.

Stop #4: Watts Coffee House on 103 St. in Watts

You've got to really work to find it, tucked as it is inside an unmarked community center, but wow oh wow was the food good... mostly soul food, with a side of healthy in a charming, sit-down restaurant that's casual, comfortable & cozy.

Our intrepid guide John at Watts Coffee House with some guy you may recognize

I nearly weep thinking about what we ate: a Red Velvet Waffle with some sort of sauce that I'd like to inject directly into my soul, chili cheese grits and turkey sausage (camera shy)

Desiree Edwards, Watts Coffee House chef, owner and manager  who is clearly passionate about her neighborhood and her restaurant

In addition to the eating stops, we learned about South LA "then & now"... on Century Blvd. I was astounded to pass Kindle's Donuts.  Whaaat???!!!  If you're a Los Angelean, you know about Randy's Donuts in Inglewood.  I've lived here 30 years and never knew there was another giant donut.  Huh.

Last stop:  Harold & Belle's in West Adams on West Jefferson

Nearly four hours later, heading back to where we started in West Adams, we hit Harold and Belle's, a creole restaurant located in an area where—according to our host—many people from Louisiana once migrated.  We sat in the bar which we were told was once the entire place.  They've since expanded, and at 2 p.m. on a Saturday they were hopping.

We were served up a bowl of their Crawfish Étouffée—"crawfish tails smothered in rich and spicy crawfish gravy".  It was the first time I ever had etouffee.  I was already stuffed.  I ate the entire thing.  It was all I could do not to nab the bowl of the person sitting next to me.

I know I gushed throughout this entire blog, but I had such a great time—a wonderful group of people, truly the most knowledgable and enthusiastic guides I've ever had on a tour, and fun hotspots I'd never otherwise have encountered.  A definite highlight of my 'Hood Challenge and something I'd never have done if I hadn't set out to see all of LA.

'Hood #3: Discovering the Beauty of Watts (Seriously)

'Hood:  Watts

Today, my challenge took me to Watts, a neighborhood that was home to the famed Watts riots of 1965 and that has a reputation for having a fair amount of gang activity.  It's also where you'll find the Watts Towers, which is what I went to go see today...and which turned out to be much cooler than I'd thought they'd be.

I'd heard people mention the towers over the years, and a quick glance at the Watts Towers web site showed they offered tours every half hour Tuesday through Sunday.  I figured a Friday afternoon would be less crowded, and it's one of the benefits of being my own boss, that I can give myself the occasional afternoon off.  I also regularly celebrate casual Friday...and casual Monday, Tuesday, etc.

To get to the Watts Towers from West LA, I took the 405 South to the 105 East, exiting at Wimington (am I sounding like an episode of SNL's The Californians?).  I followed Google map directions, but I started to wonder if they were wrong because—instead of being in a business district where I'd be coming across an art museum of some sort—I was driving through a residential neighborhood, near the rail tracks.  Most of the houses were tiny, low bungalow style, so if I were in the right spot, surely I'd see towers rising above, wouldn't I?  I'll admit, as dumb as I know it is to be nervous just because I happen to be in a low-income neighborhood in broad daylight, I still wasn't wild about the idea of being lost in Watts.

I soon turned a corner, however, and there they were.  Upon seeing the towers, I realized how off my expectations had been. It was that word "tower"...I'd envisioned something massive, like the Sears Tower, or the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Watts Towers are about the height of a telephone pole.

I'd arrived just in time for a tour, which at first was just me and my lovely tour guide, Lucy.  I was actually glad when another guy showed up so I didn't make Lucy go through her whole shpeal for one person.  (Unfortunately, he turned out to be a real mansplainer, and piped in endlessly with his own tidbits of information completely unrelated to the towers throughout the tour.)

What delighted me so much about the towers is that they were a labor of love (or possibly an obsession) of an Italian immigrant named Simon Rodia, who spent 30 years starting in 1961 building them in his backyard with found materials in his spare time.

Suddenly I felt a little guilty and downright lazy about that afternoon I'd given myself off.

The Watts Towers consist of 17 major sculptures constructed of structural steel and covered with mortar and decorated with broken glass (7-up and Ginger Ale bottles seemed to be a favorite), sea shells, pottery and tiles.  Rodia built it without machine equipment, bolts, rivets, or even a ladder.  And, according to our guide, he held things together with coat hangers.

The towers stand 99 1/2 feet tall because 100-feet was the maximum height allowed for the area at the time—and after Rodia completed them, he gave the keys and the deed to his home to his neighbors and left.

My whole excursion took about two and a half hours, or the same time as seeing a movie (and at $7 for the tour, a lot cheaper).  When I got home and posted this pic to my Facebook page, a friend who'd lived in LA for 30 years and recently moved to North Carolina lamented in the comments that she'd never gotten around to seeing the Watts Towers.

I'm glad this challenge gave me the incentive to make sure that I did.