Month: September 2024

A bear crashed a wine picnic. Officials had a choice to make

A bear crashed a wine picnic. Officials had a choice to make

Published by Sam Flores

A 500-pound bear with chestnut fur and a tan muzzle hunches over a picnic table in a Mammoth Lakes campground, picking over T-bone steak and jostling drinking glasses. “Don’t spill my wine — that’s all we have!” someone calls out in a video of the incident. Somewhere, out of view of the camera, campers attempt to scare the bear away by making loud clanging noises. Unfazed by the racket, the hulking mammal then lumbers over to a metal bear box just past a woman who stands looking petrified on a stump. The woman’s hand shakes as she eyes the beast warily. The bear then turns to the woman and swipes her leg, sending her fleeing as onlookers gasp. It doesn’t pursue her. The Aug. 21 video has fueled a raging debate over humanity’s coexistence with wild animals, particularly those that inspire both awe and terror. (Kathy Spaulding) For some, the video is an example of people baiting wildlife with perilous consequences. To others, it illustrates the problem of wild animals becoming habituated to interactions with …

Best pop-up chefs and restaurants to try in Los Angeles

Best pop-up chefs and restaurants to try in Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

There are endless ways to sample the rising talent in L.A.’s food scene. You could make reservations for a flashy new restaurant opening or scope out a taco stand before it goes viral. Pop-ups, often helmed by unknown chefs hoping to break into our city’s competitive dining arena, also serve as a fruitful way to discover new culinary concepts and switch up one’s restaurant routine. The nature of pop-ups is unpredictable, with many chefs cycling through different locations on a weekly basis and concepts changing shape over time. The venues that play host to pop-ups — wine shops, breweries, neighborhood markets and cocktail bars — often use these mobile food concepts to support regular event schedules, including tastings and live DJ performances. With the increased cost of labor and ingredients, pop-ups can also take some financial pressure off of hosts. “We excel as a wine bar and hosting,” says Nicole Dougherty, beverage director and co-owner of Thai Town wine bar Tabula Rasa. “Whether it’s a chef who eventually wants a brick and mortar, or whether …

This under-the-radar city is the hiking trails capital of California

This under-the-radar city is the hiking trails capital of California

Published by Sam Flores

Redding doesn’t get talked about much as a travel destination. That’s because what makes Redding worth a trip is everything else that surrounds Redding. The northeastern California city is an ideal home base for exploring Shasta Cascade, an area filled with natural wonders. Trek a mile from downtown Redding and you can be kayaking on the Sacramento River. Drive 15 minutes west and you’re swimming or water-skiing in Whiskeytown Lake. From there, head slightly south and you’re hiking or mountain biking toward a cascading waterfall in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. Or drive east and you’re walking next to geothermal springs and mud pots at Lassen Volcanic National Park. With 225 miles of trails within just a 15-mile radius of its downtown, Redding has been called the “trails capital of California,” so it makes sense that it is the headquarters of American Trails, an organization that ensures trails and greenways around the country are well-maintained and accessible. Once the home of the Wintu people, the city got its name from Benjamin B. Redding, a Sacramento politician …

Venice guide: The best things to do, see and eat

Venice guide: The best things to do, see and eat

Published by Sam Flores

The casual observer might find a disconnect between Venice’s two most defining elements: a network of European-style urban canals with quaint arched bridges and paddling ducks, and a carnival-worthy boardwalk where strongmen flex, vendors offer to inscribe your name on a grain of rice and gravity-defying skateboarders launch themselves skyward. Both, though, flow from the vision of a New Jersey-born developer named Abbot Kinney (as in the area’s popular shopping thoroughfare) who, having made millions in the tobacco trade, sunk a good deal of it into the coastal marshlands here to create a city modeled after its Italian namesake, right down to the canals and gondolas. As of July 5, 1905, Venice of America was open for business. But ever the consummate businessman, Kinney also provided a more immediate attraction to lure visitors; an amusement pier that jutted out over the water, filled with the kinds of rides, attractions and spectacles that would establish it as the Coney Island of the Pacific. Get to know Los Angeles through the places that bring it to life. …

College football: The guide to all 18 Big Ten stadiums

College football: The guide to all 18 Big Ten stadiums

Published by Sam Flores

Capacity: 77,500Year opened: 1923Big Ten visitors in 2024: Wisconsin (Sept. 28), Penn State (Oct. 12), Rutgers (Oct. 25), Nebraska (Nov. 15)Nearby attractions: Exposition Park, L.A. Live, Grand Central Market When you encounter a Trojans fan, greet them by holding up two fingers in the victory sign and shout, “Fight on!” You’ll have a friend for life. You also might witness your new friend kicking flagpoles on the way to the Coliseum. All USC fans do it for good luck. In another tradition before every home game (and sometimes on the road), a drum major strides to the 50-yard-line and dramatically stabs the field with a sword. After a Trojans victory, a player uses the same sword to lead the band in song. A horse named Traveler, is ridden around the Coliseum in celebration after every USC score. There have been several Travelers of various breeds since the tradition started in 1961, but the mascot’s web page says all of them have been “pure white.” The Coliseum has been the home of numerous teams (UCLA football, …

Best Salvadoran restaurants to try in Los Angeles right now

Best Salvadoran restaurants to try in Los Angeles right now

Published by Sam Flores

Newlywed chefs Rene and Stephanie Coreas launched Walking Spanish in 2020, after losing their jobs at Bon Temps, the Arts District restaurant where they met. The closure left them on unsure footing, but despair quickly gave way to a new ambition: elevating Salvadoran flavors through a chef-driven pop-up. Now a permanent pop-up on the patio of the West Hollywood mezcal bar Las Perlas, Walking Spanish reimagines pupusas in a way that makes you feel as if you’re having them for the first time. “There’s no limit to the pupusas we can create,” said Rene. “We think outside the box and cook from the heart. I get the sense that there is a movement happening, especially in Los Angeles,” he added. “We are rewriting the narratives of our own community.” In Los Angeles, pupusas are often the go-to Salvadoran food; they’re affordable, easy to transport and widely available across restaurants, farmers markets and street stalls. But the cuisine of El Salvador, affectionately known as “El Pulgarcito de América” (or the “little thumb” of America, a playful …