cafes — BLOG — CAITLIN MIYAKO TAYLOR

I don't know if it's a good thing that I've gotten used to driving 30-45 minutes to get coffee or a bite to eat, or if it's just sad...but sometimes, it's just nice to go somewhere local. In the past 5-10 years, Downtown Los Angeles has seen an incredible revitalization.

Cafes, coffee shops, and amazing restaurants keep popping up, and with so many new places to discover, it's hard to know where to start. That's why I recruited my mom to spend a day Downtown. She's not much of a city gal, though...her walking pace is super slow and she's not that great at finding street parking. I think she had fun, though, when I wasn't asking her to abstain from drinking her 10-shot juice sampler until I finished taking pictures of it.

After searching, in vain, for street parking, we settled for an $18 flat rate public parking structure. Gotta love the city. We made our way to

Verve Coffee

, a spot known for its signature plant-covered outdoor patio. I'd dare to compare it to a hipster Rainforest Cafe...but without the waterfall sounds effects and huge animal models. It's been a good 10 years since I've been to Rainforest Cafe though, so that comparison might be a bit of a stretch.

My point is that this spot is super, super cool.

And what better way to enjoy your coffee, than while surrounded by walls of winding greenery and insanely wealthy young adults toting enormous shopping bags from the new Acne in town and complaining about how often their parents call them??

(No, seriously. I had a minor meltdown during the first part of my time at Verve because of the people sitting at the table next to me. And yes, one girl actually complained about how often her mother called her, then continued to say that she contacts her dad via email only.)

After this slightly intimidating group left, I was finally able to take pictures of my latte and my mom's 10-juice sampler without fear of judgement. Our new table neighbors were also much more kind and welcoming; we met their dog, Kevin, an adorable chihuahua mix (this is saying a lot, as I tend to hate small dogs because they remind me of rats) that had been rescue from a junkyard.

We enjoyed the majority of our sampler (my favorites were "The Redhead," "The Pipe Cleaner," and "Hot Lei," while the "Block Rockin' Beats" and "Cream Party" were a little harder to stomach), and all-in-all, $12 is a pretty good deal for 10 juice shots and the feeling that you've done something to healthify your diet.

After our coffee and juice date, we bid farewell to our new friend Kevin to explore the new APC, Acne and Aesop stores in the area.

Let's just say that we had a lot of fun at Aesop. Maybe a little too much fun. I mean, it's really hard to say no when a lovely sales associate offers to pamper you by massaging wonderful lotions and balms into your hands. It's like a spa treatment...but free.

We left Aesop happier, cleaner and excited to start using our purchases, a favorite of which was the Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm, a deliciously hyrdating hand cream with hints of mandarin orange and lavender.

I'm so glad to have added this wonderful product to my list of summer essentials, which also includes

Bali Body's Natural Tanning and Body Oil

swear

by this stuff - it gives me a beautiful bronze glow, while helping to diminish the appearance of skin irregularities, including my eczema), and my favorite sunnies from Toms.

What are your summer essentials?

The other day, my dad and I went to go see "Snowpiercer" in West LA. The film is absolutely incredible and tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world in which the only remaining survivors live on a train that constantly travels around the earth. The treatment the train passengers receive is dictated by their wealth, and as expected, this creates a lot of problems. I don't want to give too much away, but I highly recommend this movie - you should definitely try to see it if it's playing in any theaters near you.

So what does this movie have to do with "drunken young adults and good food"? On the way to the theater, we drove by Laurel Hardware, a restaurant that has been on my "PLACES TO EAT" list on my phone for about a year now.

look at these awesome stairs!

I first learned about Laurel Hardware when I was browsing Tasting Table's website. What further drew me to the foodie spot was the fact that a certain Harry Styles goes there almost every time he's in LA. Now, I need you to really listen to me here. I know I've brought up Harry in a couple of my posts now (my May Haul video, and now, this). That being said, my obsession with One Direction has pretty much died down. But old habits die hard.

Laurel Hardware was originally a hardware store (wow, who could have guessed?!) but the space has been refurbished to perfection. And when I say perfection, I mean the place literally looks like it's come straight out of a Crate & Barrel catalog. The back patio area resembles a casual backyard setting, with couches, an olive tree, tall hedges, and a tall black picket fence. I mean, this obviously isn't your average backyard vibe. Definitely typical of West LA, though. Everything about the restaurant is actually quintessentially LA.

The $14 salad pictured above and the drunken, freshly 21-year-old adults stumbling all over the place, giggling about their tattoos and the hottest local gay clubs? Very LA. I'm not complaining though. I loved the food and the ambiance was...lively. I don't even really know what was in my salad. I know it was called the Heirloom Tomato salad and it had romaine, incredibly flavorful heirloom tomatoes, sunflower seeds, and then some cheese I didn't recognize (almost like feta, but not at briney), and a very unusual but tasty dressing.

My dad, who was originally hesitant about the restaurant and actually planned to skip dinner, ended up getting a burger. I ate his fries, and they were amazing. Perfectly crispy and well-seasoned without being overdone.

After the salad and fries, I was content, but my dad was left wanting more (a very good sign - he's hard to impress in the culinary department). He wanted to look at the dessert menu, boldly claiming that if that desserts weren't good, then the restaurant would be a complete failure in his mind. Eek.

With our (very expensive) parking meter running out (thanks, LA), we rushed to pick the chocolate brownie and buttermilk panna cotta, resolving to share the two.

Unfortunately, the brownie was covered with crushed hazelnuts, so I wasn't able to have any (I'm allergic to nuts) and my dad took that while I took the panna cotta.

Actually, that's a lie. I risked my life for a taste of the corner of the brownie that didn't look like it had any nuts on it. Whoops, there's another lie. I'm being dramatic. I'm not fatally allergic to hazelnuts. Just pretty allergic.

But I stuck to my dessert and fully enjoyed it. The panna cotta was creamy but not overwhelmingly so. That's one of the things I love about panna cotta. It's rich, of course, but not as rich as creme brulee. The blueberry compote added a summery lightness to the creamy dish, and the cookie crumble on the side tied everything together by providing a new textural component. Another touch I really enjoyed was the light drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Not too overpowering, these two traditionally savory components really enhanced the blueberry flavor.

Afraid we would be given at $70+ parking ticket for parking past the 2-hour time limit, we quickly finished our desserts and headed out for the movie, which again, I highly recommend.

Needless to say, I'll be back at Laurel Hardware soon enough (coincidentally, at the same time as Harry Styles, maybe? Just kidding). Next time, I should probably wear the most expensive, yet simultaneously young-adult hipster outfit I can put together. Did I mention I saw a mother with her teenage kids there who was wearing floral print hotpant-style shorts from Brandy Melville, and Prada sunglasses? I need to step up my game.