Month: May 2024

Where to find the best affordable meals in Los Angeles

Where to find the best affordable meals in Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

The cost of living in Los Angeles seems to increase by the day. Prices for necessities like housing, gas and groceries have all risen, while wages remain largely stagnant. For many, dining out has become a luxury, and even casual options may take you by surprise when you get the final bill. L.A. restaurants are facing many of the same challenges and still weathering the effects of the pandemic, as well as issues such as loss of business from last year’s writers’ and actors’ strikes. A minimum wage increase to $20 an hour for California’s fast-food workers has many worried that value-minded mega-chains will be forced to raise menu prices, while another state law set to take effect on July 1 will prevent restaurants from adding unadvertised service fees and other costs to the end of a bill, which some restaurant owners predict will result in significantly higher menu prices. Despite these hurdles, many local restaurants are still committed to providing quality food at prices that diners can afford. A recent quest to find meals …

Where to find the best modern Indian restaurants in Los Angeles

Where to find the best modern Indian restaurants in Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

There’s never been a better time to try Indian food in Los Angeles. Traditional cooking from across the subcontinent is abundant here: crispy, paper-thin dosas filled with warmly spiced potatoes, Mumbai-style street foods like tangy chaat and spicy vada pav, heaping bowls full of meat-laden biryani and copper pots of bright red chicken tikka masala. And in recent years, more local Indian chefs have highlighted regional South Asian cuisine alongside creative spins on traditional dishes that fold in California produce and draw from the diversity of communities that call this city home. On Melrose Avenue, chef Anmoldeep Khinda of Roots Indian Bistro pulls from his childhood growing up in Los Angeles as he reimagines Indian flavors with dosa quesadillas and chalupas made with spicy channa, along with Indian-inspired takes on pasta that his father Paramjit Singh first began serving to Angelenos at Ciao Pasadena in the ’90s. “We’re embracing the culture around us and not just seeing it as one cuisine but one that can mesh with others,” says Khinda. Similarly, when the Mahendro family …

With “Hind’s Hall” Macklemore finally delivers an allyship effort that isn’t embarrassing

With “Hind’s Hall” Macklemore finally delivers an allyship effort that isn’t embarrassing

Published by Sam Flores

Macklemore is corny. People have been saying that for years. His corniness worked when “Thrift Shop,” his megahit with Ryan Lewis, put them on the global map in 2012. It was less acceptable when the duo strutted off with Grammys for best new artist, best rap song and best rap performance for “Thrift Shop,” along with beating Drake, Jay-Z, the artist formerly known as Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar to take home best rap album for “The Heist.” Even Macklemore knew better, while also suspecting that letting the world know he agreed with most hip-hop fans that Lamar should have won might be worth something. He was right. It earned a headline-generating diss from Drake in Rolling Stone and made him the modern poster child for Black music appropriation. That image was not ameliorated in 2016 with the release of the nearly nine-minute “White Privilege II,” an unlistenable corn-cob stab in the auditory canal doubling as a rumination on the Movement for Black Lives. The thing about corniness, though, is that it is in some respects …

Best bra shops with private fittings in Los Angeles

Best bra shops with private fittings in Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

After visiting the bra shops of Los Angeles, I learned that every chest is a country of its own, and there’s a committed and generous world of bra fitters in our city who understand all topographies. Gone are the Judy Blume nightmares of being groped by a brusque fitter telling you what your bust will never be. These bra shops work hard to make sure anybody with breasts that need support feels good in their body. If something doesn’t fit, it’s not us — it’s the bra, and they know there is another one out there that will fit. Each fitter I met wanted their customer to be happy with their purchase, knowing they would be wearing it for hours, that bras truly are a foundational part of our wardrobes. They reminded me that we deserve to be comfortable as we move through our day, and they understood that a bad bra can be like a tiny, quiet demon, hexing us relentlessly. A lot of us don’t even know these shops exist, or if we …

“Hacks”: Deborah Vance is Tom Cruise-approved, joining the list of celebrities with the moist cake

“Hacks”: Deborah Vance is Tom Cruise-approved, joining the list of celebrities with the moist cake

Published by Sam Flores

Rosie O’Donnell, Tom Hanks and Angela Bassett are on the list. Brooke Shields used to be on it but not anymore, and according to a 2023 interview with People magazine, she doesn’t know why. Graham Norton has been on the list for years, but his crew kept him in the dark, enjoying his rich reward themselves. We’re talking about the coveted dessert known as the Tom Cruise cake, a treat that materializes every holiday season on the doorsteps of hundreds of the friends, associates, and anointed randoms deemed worthy by Hollywood’s Last Real Movie Star.  As of the third season premiere of “Hacks,” this celebrity confectionery clique includes Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), a comedian long scorned by Hollywood who after decades of highly lucrative self-imposed exile is once again the toast of L.A. The cake’s casual presence on a side table in her Montreal hotel room is simply another indicator that she’s made it. Again. But it’s how the show introduces the status symbol that underlines what a bad mama Deborah knows she is. Contrary to most stars who worshipfully gush about the exclusive goody on Instagram or rave about it during late-night appearances, Deborah leaves …

A timeline of Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s long-running beef

A timeline of Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s long-running beef

Published by Sam Flores

The steadily festering tensions between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, two of the biggest names in rap, culminated explosively over the weekend with a series of scathing diss tracks released from both sides. The songs, released in quick succession, were riddled with allegations of pedophilia, domestic abuse, body modifications, parentage and more. Though the artists’ longstanding beef stretches back for more than a decade, it’s been largely characterized by indirect subtleties in songs, coupled with generally unfriendly public-facing rapport. Drake and Lamar’s feuding could be said to have emanated in part from their contrasting career trajectories: Drake has enjoyed considerable commercial success, churning out chart-topping hits since breaking onto the scene with his first album, “Thank Me Later,” produced in partnership with Young Money Entertainment. In contrast, Lamar, while not as much of a hitmaker, has produced conceptually profound lyrics about the idiosyncracies of the Black experience that speak to family, love, religion, socioeconomic struggle, growing up in Compton, California, and more. Lamar made history in April 2018 when he became the first hip-hop artist to …

The best couch stores for sofas made in Los Angeles

The best couch stores for sofas made in Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

Direct-to-consumer is big these days when it comes to purchasing a sofa. But with so many options to consider — chaise or no chaise? Performance fabric or linen? Foam or down cushions? Extra deep seating or regular? — it’s hard to imagine purchasing a big-ticket item like a sofa sight unseen (even with a flexible return policy). And we didn’t even mention pets and kids. According to interior designers Amanda Leigh and Taylor Hahn of House of Rolison, with more people working from home than ever, back support is crucial when “sitting with a laptop or Zoom” on a sofa. “You want to be able to nestle into it after a long day at work,” they said in an email, “but it’s never fun to have to fluff your sofa pillows after every use.” It’s also important to consider the scale of the room and the intended use of the sofa, according to Shawn and Tina Taylor of Dacotah Studio. “Measure the available space, leaving enough room for traffic flow and other furniture. Also, think …

How to Get Rid of Butt Acne, According to Dermatologists

How to Get Rid of Butt Acne, According to Dermatologists

Published by Sam Flores

While facial acne may be the most common type of acne, pimples can pop up anywhere — including your chest, back and even your butt. Yes, you read that right. Butt acne (also called buttne) is really a thing and it can be totally frustrating. Besides making sitting or wearing tight pants uncomfortable, the area can also be tricky to reach — and therefore hard to treat. Thankfully, there are things you can do to get rid of buttne, including a handful of preventative measures. To find out exactly how to treat blemishes on your behind, I spoke to dermatologists. Keep reading to discover what they said about how to get rid of butt acne, and the best products you can use to do it. Want more from NBC Select? Sign up for our newsletter, The Selection, and shop smarter. The best butt acne treatments of 2026 Ready to treat your buttne? These body washes and spot treatments are specifically formulated to treat body and butt acne and were recommended by experts, are favorites of …

“Hacks” returns with its funny ladies on the mountaintop, but questions the cost of the climb

“Hacks” returns with its funny ladies on the mountaintop, but questions the cost of the climb

Published by Sam Flores

On April 26, Vanessa Williams pulled a Beyoncé – or is it a Cher? – by dropping her first new single in 15 years without much fanfare, relying on its catchiness and her followers, online and IRL, to share the links and spread the word. “Legs (Keep Dancing)” isn’t just Williams’ first new single in 15 years, it’s a dancefloor paean to aging fiercely that spins around its catchy refrain of, “They say the legs are the last to go/ I’ma keep dancing.” Her explanation of the single’s message on Tuesday’s “Today” sounds straight out of Deborah Vance’s playbook on “Hacks.” “It’s like, I’m still here. I’m still relevant. I still got stuff to say and do and act,” she said. Her moves in her video back up those words. Williams, at 61, hits choreography marks that would hang up dancers many years younger, either keeping up or outpacing most of her backup dancers. It’s too early to predict whether the single will be the hit of the summer, but if people of a certain age needed a banger Williams has served. Besides, as alluded to by Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush …

Where to find the best Brazilian food in Los Angeles

Where to find the best Brazilian food in Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

Since the 90s, a stretch of Venice Boulevard on the border of Culver City and Palms has served as a destination for Brazilian food in Los Angeles. While Los Angeles lacks an official “Little Brazil,” this is as close as the city gets to an unofficial hub. The most obvious landmark is a strip mall at the corner of Venice and Westwood called the Brazilian Mall, whose exterior is splashed with a colorful tile mural of Brazilian iconography like Christ the Redeemer, anchored by a stunning covered patio festooned with Brazilian flags. None of the business owners I spoke to are quite sure why the neighborhood took off. Several people said they opened their businesses in the neighborhood because there were already Brazilians there. Rodrigo Garcia, an employee of 30 years at Cafe Brasil who took over the restaurant after the owners retired last year, believes his restaurant jump-started the community when it opened there in 1991. A 2014 Los Angeles Times article pinpoints the raucous parties during the 1994 World Cup at another nearby …