To Live and Dine in L.A.

I am headed down to L.A. to catch up with my old roommate from Chicago and my old roommate from college (and potentially another one of my other bfs from college!?) in mid-March and being the slightly anal-retentive person that I am I'd like to have a basic itinerary sketched out so that maximum fun will be achieved.

So one can imagine my surprise and delight when two of my favorite publications Esquire and GQ both published articles on not only the most important meal of the day, but also great places to grab a bite in the City of Angels.

I'm also a DIY kind of girl when it comes to food, but I will shell out my hard-earned bucks for some greasy bacon, eggs over hard, and a waitress that calls you "hun," as in "What can I do ya for, hun?" ***Sigh***, though that may be limited to the Midwest, especially at George's Grill, the Milwaukee equivalent of a Waffle House.

However, though I probably won't have a waitress who looks like she could drop an engine in a built-from-the-garage-floor-up hot rod, my waitress will probably look like she is about to drop dead from self-inflicted starvation in hopes of a movie producer just happening to discover her, L.A. is apparently the best breakfast city. Or so says Devin Friedman in his (-?) article with the same name in GQ's March 2009 issue, page 202.

"To visit L.A. is to act like you wear $300 chinos and drive a black Range Rover and wear sunglasses that would otherwise embarrass you. And to wake up in L.A. is to pretend that you don't have a job and eat breakfast at 10 a.m. L.A. is a breakfast town. Breakfast at ten in Cleveland or Houston is a lonely affair, where you'll meet the kind of people who steal Sweet'N Low and talk to their lottery tickets. In L.A. though, if you eat a scramblette at Toast or some raspberry and lemon pancakes at Griddle Cafe, you'll be surrounded by people who seem famous even if they're not. Plus- there's the food- killer coffee at Kings Road (see page 203 [Kings Road Cafe 8361 Beverly Blvd., corner of Kings Road and Beverly 323-655-9044] omelets with caramelized onions at the Chateau Marmont, huevos rancheros basically everywhere, and all that great produce (never have breakfast in L.A. without at least one avocado). It's a breakfast town where people actually eat breakfast, at restaurants, every day of the week, where there are dedicated breakfast spots instead of lame brunch places. And it's one of the few locations where there' no shame in ordering the egg-white omelet with veggie bacon. Because L.A. is a place where, in general, there is no shame."

We haven't decided where we shall be dining, but a review to come.
Possibilities include:
Griddle Cafe, 7916 W Sunset Blvd., (btwn N. Fairfax & N. Hayworth Ave) Los Angeles, 323-874-0377
John O'Groats 1056 Pico Blvd., (at Patricia Ave.) West Los Angeles, 310-204-0692 ogroats-restaurant.com (very positive review at menupages.com and I love me some gentrification)
http://losangeles.menupages.com/restaurantdetails?restaurantid=25415
Kings Road Cafe, 8361 Beverly Blvd. (at the corner of Kings Road and Beverly), Los Angeles, 323-655-9044 (GQ's Editor in Chief Jim Nelson's pick)
Nate 'N Al, 414 N. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-274-0101, natenal.com
Toast, 8221 W 3rd St., (Btwn S Harper Ave & S La Jolla Ave) Los Angeles, 323-655-5018
or some hole in the wall place that serves huevos rancheros

Oh, and if you're in the South, stop in at a Waffle House, it ain't exactly Le Bernardin, but it's a definite slice of life. There are 3 of them, I kid you not in a 5 minute driving range in Augusta, GA.