Rate-A-Restaurant #192: Tomato Pie

Restaurant: Tomato Pie Pizza Joint

Location: 2457 Hyperion (Silver Lake)

Type of restaurant: Pizza

We stipulated: As I continued to slowly creep through Friday evening traffic, I called up Maria and suggested that we meet somewhere for dinner. I’d been in the mood for pizza — and suggested one of the many newish joints that had popped up in Silver Lake and vicinity in recent times. We looked at Garage Pizza and Tomato Pie — but chose Tomato Pie, perhaps because of its nicer logo.

What we ordered: Evan got a slice of cheese pizza, while Maria and I split a medium Pesto Pie ($14.50) — fresh garlic pesto base, chicken, sundried tomato and artichoke hearts. Also: An order of 10 hot wings — baked, not fried ($6.50).

High point: Pizza was solid — and heats up well for leftovers. The baked wings were nice too, and boasted a decent spice.

Low point: Even though we were the only ones there, service was slow — so much so that the wings came out at the same time as our pizza, even though it’s an appetizer.

Overall impression: Tomato Pie makes a decent pizza, but I’m not quite sure it’s worth the slightly expensive prices.

Chance we’ll go back: Probably not any time soon. For economical pizza, we usually hit Crispy Crust… and for sit-down pizza, Casa Bianca.

For a complete list of our more than 190 restaurant reviews, check out our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.

FREE L.A.: Free Coffee Day at Lamill

(Flickr pic by TraceyRose).

Los Angeles mag’s Eat blog has the skinny (or is it venti?) on Lamill Coffee Boutique’s Free Coffee Day on Tuesday, June 24.

That’s right — free coffee all day Tuesday at Lamill, which is celebrating six months in L.A.

More details:

“We are very grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from the Silver Lake neighborhood since we opened in January,” owner Craig Min says, “and this is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the community.”
…
LAMILL will also be hosting a charity, Bikes to Rwanda, in support of the coffee growing communities in the country. Coffee production is the main crop grown in Rwanda, and it nearly ceased after 1994 due to a protracted civil war in the region. As production started up again a few years ago, growers were asked by visiting, grateful coffee purveyors what was needed most to help their communities recover, and the answer was “bicycles.”
…
Other festivities on Free Coffee Day will include an opportunity to “Meet the Roasters,” a special area where visitors will be able to meet with some of LAMILL’s coffee roasters, taste samples and learn some of LAMILL’s trade secrets that make it one of the top coffee roasters in the country. Also featured with be an area to “Talk About Tea,” where guests can learn more about LAMILL’s exclusive tea company, Sungarden Specialty Tea.

Free Coffee Day goes on all day on June 24, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lamill is located at 1636 Silver Lake Blvd. in Silver Lake.

FREE L.A.: Free Coffee Day at Lamill

(Flickr pic by TraceyRose).

Los Angeles mag’s Eat blog has the skinny (or is it venti?) on Lamill Coffee Boutique’s Free Coffee Day on Tuesday, June 24.

That’s right — free coffee all day Tuesday at Lamill, which is celebrating six months in L.A.

More details:

“We are very grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from the Silver Lake neighborhood since we opened in January,” owner Craig Min says, “and this is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the community.”
…
LAMILL will also be hosting a charity, Bikes to Rwanda, in support of the coffee growing communities in the country. Coffee production is the main crop grown in Rwanda, and it nearly ceased after 1994 due to a protracted civil war in the region. As production started up again a few years ago, growers were asked by visiting, grateful coffee purveyors what was needed most to help their communities recover, and the answer was “bicycles.”
…
Other festivities on Free Coffee Day will include an opportunity to “Meet the Roasters,” a special area where visitors will be able to meet with some of LAMILL’s coffee roasters, taste samples and learn some of LAMILL’s trade secrets that make it one of the top coffee roasters in the country. Also featured with be an area to “Talk About Tea,” where guests can learn more about LAMILL’s exclusive tea company, Sungarden Specialty Tea.

Free Coffee Day goes on all day on June 24, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lamill is located at 1636 Silver Lake Blvd. in Silver Lake.

The Staircases of Los Angeles

(Flickr pic by Cory.)

Five years ago we talked up Los Feliz’s Radio Walk and Prospect Walk staircases in the Franklin Hills. Back when Franklin Avenue actually lived on Franklin Avenue, we used to hike those steps all the time for exercise.

The L.A. Times this week reminded us that there are staircases all over the city — and they’re popular among hikers and exercise fiends. The paper writes:

The “Music Box” staircase, which shoots straight up from Vendome Street to Descanso Drive, is one of 52 stairways in 46-year-old writer Dan Koeppel’s personal 16.2-mile stair hike — comprising 4,182 steps, with a 7,445-foot elevation gain.

The walk hopscotches up and down a matrix of city-owned steps around Silver Lake and Echo Park, just north of downtown Los Angeles, and offers up dazzling overlooks of East Los Angeles, Griffith Park Observatory, the Hollywood sign, the Silver Lake Reservoir and downtown Los Angeles. The overall effect is a little like taking a local historical garden tour while going full throttle on a StairMaster.

Bob Herzog, co-chairman of the Silver Lake History Collective, notes that the steps around the older parts of the city were built mostly in the mid 1920s, and led down to Red Car transit points. The Red Cars are long gone, of course, but the stairs remain.

The Staircases of Los Angeles

(Flickr pic by Cory.)

Five years ago we talked up Los Feliz’s Radio Walk and Prospect Walk staircases in the Franklin Hills. Back when Franklin Avenue actually lived on Franklin Avenue, we used to hike those steps all the time for exercise.

The L.A. Times this week reminded us that there are staircases all over the city — and they’re popular among hikers and exercise fiends. The paper writes:

The “Music Box” staircase, which shoots straight up from Vendome Street to Descanso Drive, is one of 52 stairways in 46-year-old writer Dan Koeppel’s personal 16.2-mile stair hike — comprising 4,182 steps, with a 7,445-foot elevation gain.

The walk hopscotches up and down a matrix of city-owned steps around Silver Lake and Echo Park, just north of downtown Los Angeles, and offers up dazzling overlooks of East Los Angeles, Griffith Park Observatory, the Hollywood sign, the Silver Lake Reservoir and downtown Los Angeles. The overall effect is a little like taking a local historical garden tour while going full throttle on a StairMaster.

Bob Herzog, co-chairman of the Silver Lake History Collective, notes that the steps around the older parts of the city were built mostly in the mid 1920s, and led down to Red Car transit points. The Red Cars are long gone, of course, but the stairs remain.

Silver Lake Gym Scores Impromptu Drive-Thru

If you regularly work out at the Body Builders Gym on Hyperion in Silver Lake… well, you might want to call ahead today. As you can see above, a Mercedes driver wound up plowing through the gym’s front window on Sunday morning.

When we passed by at around 10 a.m. Sunday morning, the car was still in place, and cops and firefighters were milling about. Thankfully, the driver managed to avoid that big powerline pole right there — although how he/she did it, who knows. Were they already driving on the sidewalk? And how drunk are you to plow into a business window, and at such an odd angle?!

Maria’s Thursday Three

1. Tony’s Creole Seasoning: We recently discovered this seasoning at a recent visit to our friends Pang-Ni and Ian’s place. A dash of it on our eggs gave it a good zing. Apparently, there are plenty of creole seasonings out there but make sure to get the Tony’s brand. As they say in Louisiana, “Please pass the Tony’s.”

(Flickr pic by Formwerks.)

2. Yolk: Love this Silver Lake store apparently under new ownership. It had a good vibe inside and they even let BT ride around the store with a modern scooter on display without any warnings. Filled with products for the home and kids, some nice greeting cards and gift products, you can find stuff priced just right if you need to get a gift for someone.

3. Runway: Unless he falters real bad with his collection, I think Christian will be the winner of Project Runway. Chris is the dark horse, Jillian is judges’ favorite, Rami is excellent but a bit one-note but Christian is fierce.

Maria’s Thursday Three

1. Tony’s Creole Seasoning: We recently discovered this seasoning at a recent visit to our friends Pang-Ni and Ian’s place. A dash of it on our eggs gave it a good zing. Apparently, there are plenty of creole seasonings out there but make sure to get the Tony’s brand. As they say in Louisiana, “Please pass the Tony’s.”

(Flickr pic by Formwerks.)

2. Yolk: Love this Silver Lake store apparently under new ownership. It had a good vibe inside and they even let BT ride around the store with a modern scooter on display without any warnings. Filled with products for the home and kids, some nice greeting cards and gift products, you can find stuff priced just right if you need to get a gift for someone.

3. Runway: Unless he falters real bad with his collection, I think Christian will be the winner of Project Runway. Chris is the dark horse, Jillian is judges’ favorite, Rami is excellent but a bit one-note but Christian is fierce.

An Early Look at LA Mill Coffee

(Flickr pic by Brainylagirl.)

We stopped by the new LA Mill coffee shop in Silver Lake on Saturday to see what all the buzz was about.

Based in Alhambra, LA Mill provides coffee to some of Los Angeles’ best restaurants and prides itself on its top-notch beans (which it travels the globe to procure) and coffee roasting. The Silver Lake store — still in testing phase, which is why it’s only open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for now — offers up food in addition to java.

But on Saturday afternoon, we were in the mood for some coffee. We called up our pal Jess, who happened to already be at the close by Silver Lake park, and met up at LA Mill’s Silver Lake Blvd. location.

(Flickr pic by Majiscup.)

Designed by Rubbish Interiors’ Scott Mangan, the LA Mill store is classy, although smaller than I expected (hence it almost constantly being crowded). We took our coffee order to go and walked back to the park.

(Flickr pic by HeCooksSheEats.)

Like Intelligentsia Coffee, LA Mill’s coffee comes only in smaller sizes (no Venti big gulps here): 8 oz. and 12 oz. only. Maria took an 8 oz. vanilla latte, while Jess and I relied on the barista’s recommendation: The organic Ethiopian drip.

It’s good coffee. And yes, I even tasted the “hint of blueberry” that LA Mill promised. But it’s not cheap: The bill for the three relatively small drinks came to $10.28.

I guess quality doesn’t come cheap. Here’s LA Mill’s philosophy on scouting out the good stuff:

LA MILL goes to great lengths to find single origin beans that are distinct and delicious. Take our Ethiopian, for example. While most Ethiopian coffee is lemony, ours has more sweetness, due in large part to the more fully ripened cherries in the region where we buy the beans. Our Columbian makes its home high in the clouds of the Narino region; it’s the altitude that gives it a fruity complexity and a wine-like finish.

Climate alone doesn’t guarantee great coffee. That’s why we only work with estates and cooperatives whose cultivation, harvesting and processing are up to our high standards. We’re picky that way, Get used to it.

LAMILL COFFEE BOUTIQUE
1636 Silver Lake Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323-663-4441

An Early Look at LA Mill Coffee

(Flickr pic by Brainylagirl.)

We stopped by the new LA Mill coffee shop in Silver Lake on Saturday to see what all the buzz was about.

Based in Alhambra, LA Mill provides coffee to some of Los Angeles’ best restaurants and prides itself on its top-notch beans (which it travels the globe to procure) and coffee roasting. The Silver Lake store — still in testing phase, which is why it’s only open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for now — offers up food in addition to java.

But on Saturday afternoon, we were in the mood for some coffee. We called up our pal Jess, who happened to already be at the close by Silver Lake park, and met up at LA Mill’s Silver Lake Blvd. location.

(Flickr pic by Majiscup.)

Designed by Rubbish Interiors’ Scott Mangan, the LA Mill store is classy, although smaller than I expected (hence it almost constantly being crowded). We took our coffee order to go and walked back to the park.

(Flickr pic by HeCooksSheEats.)

Like Intelligentsia Coffee, LA Mill’s coffee comes only in smaller sizes (no Venti big gulps here): 8 oz. and 12 oz. only. Maria took an 8 oz. vanilla latte, while Jess and I relied on the barista’s recommendation: The organic Ethiopian drip.

It’s good coffee. And yes, I even tasted the “hint of blueberry” that LA Mill promised. But it’s not cheap: The bill for the three relatively small drinks came to $10.28.

I guess quality doesn’t come cheap. Here’s LA Mill’s philosophy on scouting out the good stuff:

LA MILL goes to great lengths to find single origin beans that are distinct and delicious. Take our Ethiopian, for example. While most Ethiopian coffee is lemony, ours has more sweetness, due in large part to the more fully ripened cherries in the region where we buy the beans. Our Columbian makes its home high in the clouds of the Narino region; it’s the altitude that gives it a fruity complexity and a wine-like finish.

Climate alone doesn’t guarantee great coffee. That’s why we only work with estates and cooperatives whose cultivation, harvesting and processing are up to our high standards. We’re picky that way, Get used to it.

LAMILL COFFEE BOUTIQUE
1636 Silver Lake Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323-663-4441