Culver City, Heart of Red Light Ticketland

(Flickr pic by The Damn Mushroom.)

According to the L.A. Times, the City of Los Angeles is still losing money on its red light traffic cameras. What’s more, according to the story, tiny Culver City generated nearly $2 million in revenue from its red light cameras over the past eight months, more than Los Angeles ($1.6 million)!

The lesson here, other than the obvious L.A. incompetency angle: Do not drive in Culver City. Just don’t do it. I don’t care if you find Tito’s Tacos delicious. Chances are you’ll be slapped with a red light ticket. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Culver City, Heart of Red Light Ticketland

(Flickr pic by The Damn Mushroom.)

According to the L.A. Times, the City of Los Angeles is still losing money on its red light traffic cameras. What’s more, according to the story, tiny Culver City generated nearly $2 million in revenue from its red light cameras over the past eight months, more than Los Angeles ($1.6 million)!

The lesson here, other than the obvious L.A. incompetency angle: Do not drive in Culver City. Just don’t do it. I don’t care if you find Tito’s Tacos delicious. Chances are you’ll be slapped with a red light ticket. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Rate-A-Restaurant, #166 in a series

(Flickr pic by He Cooks She Eats.

Restaurant: Fraiche

Location: 9411 Culver Blvd. (Culver City)

Type of restaurant: French/Italian

They stipulated: That you gotta drive to Culver City. Ha. Joking — as you well know, Culver City has become quite the foodie mecca, and Fraiche is at the forefront.

We stipulated: Meeting an exec for lunch, my colleage Joe and I suggested several spots — and Fraiche came up as a good, classy lunch choice.

What we ordered: I got the Pan Bagnet — seared albacore tuna, black olive, anchovy and egg sandwich ($14). For dessert, we all shared piccolo pasticerria — plate of assorted cookies ($6)

High point: Plate of cookies? Simple, yet pretty damn good, thanks to the handiwork of pastry chef Miho Travi.

Low point: Service, as noted elsewhere, is spotty. I kept getting skipped over by the waiter — basically, I had to nail him down to get my order taken. When dessert was ordered, he asked everyone at the table if they wanted coffee — except me. Then left before I could order one.

Overall impression: Named one of Los Angeles magazine’s top 75 local restaurants, Fraiche is good, and an excellent lunch choice if you’re meeting people on the west side — but I guess I’ll reserve the “better than good” debate until after I check it out for dinner. My sandwich was delicious (perhaps because it was quite salty — thank you, anchovies!) but I don’t feel like I’ve gotten the full Fraiche experience. Perhaps dinner, with wine, is necessary.

Chance we will go back: Possibly, although probably won’t be getting to Culver City for dinner anytime soon, so another lunch with execs is more likely.

For a complete list of our over 166 restaurant reviews, check out our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.

Rate-A-Restaurant, #166 in a series

(Flickr pic by He Cooks She Eats.

Restaurant: Fraiche

Location: 9411 Culver Blvd. (Culver City)

Type of restaurant: French/Italian

They stipulated: That you gotta drive to Culver City. Ha. Joking — as you well know, Culver City has become quite the foodie mecca, and Fraiche is at the forefront.

We stipulated: Meeting an exec for lunch, my colleage Joe and I suggested several spots — and Fraiche came up as a good, classy lunch choice.

What we ordered: I got the Pan Bagnet — seared albacore tuna, black olive, anchovy and egg sandwich ($14). For dessert, we all shared piccolo pasticerria — plate of assorted cookies ($6)

High point: Plate of cookies? Simple, yet pretty damn good, thanks to the handiwork of pastry chef Miho Travi.

Low point: Service, as noted elsewhere, is spotty. I kept getting skipped over by the waiter — basically, I had to nail him down to get my order taken. When dessert was ordered, he asked everyone at the table if they wanted coffee — except me. Then left before I could order one.

Overall impression: Named one of Los Angeles magazine’s top 75 local restaurants, Fraiche is good, and an excellent lunch choice if you’re meeting people on the west side — but I guess I’ll reserve the “better than good” debate until after I check it out for dinner. My sandwich was delicious (perhaps because it was quite salty — thank you, anchovies!) but I don’t feel like I’ve gotten the full Fraiche experience. Perhaps dinner, with wine, is necessary.

Chance we will go back: Possibly, although probably won’t be getting to Culver City for dinner anytime soon, so another lunch with execs is more likely.

For a complete list of our over 166 restaurant reviews, check out our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.

Baby, If You Ever Wondered, Wondered What Ever Became of Loni Anderson

I share Will Campbell’s disappointment that nope, the Loni Anderson running for Culver City’s city council isn’t Jennifer from “WKRP in Cincinnati.”

(Pic by Will Campbell via Metblogs LA.)