Venice Fringe At In Heroes We Trust - Every Wednesday!

I love In Heroes We Trust because it's an extra fly legit one of a kind store in Venice with the coolest clothes and art, of course, but also because its owner, Neely Shearer, is not afraid to throw a good shindig right there inside the shop. I've had many a good time and made many a friend just from walking by and joining the party. Last night (and now every Wednesday night!) Shearer turned her shop into a full on comedy club, when she hosted the first Venice Fringe comedy night for her excellent comedian friend, J.C. Coccoli.

Coccoli and I became instant friends  a few months back (at another IHWT jam!), because J.C./C.J. but also because she's awesome. Last night was the first time I heard her standup comedy, and now I like her even more.

I'm not the biggest fan of standup comedy, which makes me not the best audience for it, but I was happy to go and support my friends. I was both surprised and delighted that I actually laughed almost the whole time, and may have even gotten over my comedy glitch. People were cracking me up.

There was a good blend of men and women in the line-up, with Coccoli kicking off the proceedings, and popping the many bottles of complimentary rosé that may have also had something to do with my easy laughter. Good times!

Byron Bowers and James Davis held it down for the men, and I can't remember all that their sets were about (as I forgot my notebook - and did not forget the rosé), but I knew the joint was in stitches.

Brooke Van Poppelen brought it home with more hilarity, and confirmed my new status as an enjoyer of the comedy. Even this little girl was laughing - until it became past her bedtime.

The party spilled out on to the sidewalk - as it usually does - and the laughs kept on coming. What an unexpectedly stumbled upon fantastic evening of fun with funny people! Get there every Wednesday! The rosé is cracked at 7:30, the show is at 8 sharp, and done at 9, so it's a great time that allows you to keep it going, and/or not whine about it being a school night. For just a $10 donation - Fringetastic!

See you Wednesdays at In Heroes We Trust, friends!

Vinny's - Cheesesteaks At The Beach!

Yo! This one goes out to all my Philly friends. Now you can get your cheesesteak fix at the beach at Vinny's! That's right, Vinny's on Westminster and Ocean Front Walk is coming up on their one year anniversary of serving awesome cheesesteaks out of their little window, so I thought it was high time to get to know the people behind it ... namely Vinny.

Vince Zangari grew up in Lancaster, PA in Pennsylvania Dutch territory, where his Dad, Ronald, opened up a restaurant after the Korean War in the 1950's. He did cheesesteaks (his own way) so folks didn't have to drive to Philadelphia. As one of 15 kids in their massive Italian family, there was always family involved in the business, and Vince worked there all through high school.

After attending Temple University and  F.I.T. in New York, Zangari got a gig with Armani, which led to acting, which brought him out here to the West Coast. He had a family, and that kept him here, acting, but also working at restaurants all the while. Zangari then met Greg and Yunnie Morena, whose family had owned Santa Monica Pier Seafood (on the Pier) since 1977. When the Morena's took over for Yunnie's father, they revamped the place, renaming it The Albright. Zangari became the VP of Operations, and when The Albright began doing the food program for the Pier Concerts, Morena encouraged Zangari to do a tent with his family recipe cheesesteaks. It blew up immediately, with crazy lines and the crew serving 400 steaks an hour. Soon thereafter, Morena noticed there was a space available on Westminster, and with the success at the Pier Concerts, urged Zangari to open a cheesesteak place, and now we have Vinny's!

Vinny's cheesesteaks are done their way, which means hand-sliced in house beef ("eye of the round"), white American cheese (not Cheez Whiz, but they do have that kind of stuff on hand should they encounter a diehard who believes that's the way), mushrooms and onions (not peppers, and you can't get those), delicious Amoroso bread shipped in from South Philly, and their family recipe sauce. (I'm a real plain Jane with my sandwiches, so I take mine with just meat and cheese, and it's sublime). You can also get a chicken one, and eggplant parm, and pulled pork, but I'm pretty partial to that steak.

Though Zangari, in all honesty, had some trepidation about operating out of a space at the Boardwalk, thinking it was maybe too crazy down here, that soon dissipated when the surrounding merchants and neighbors immediately embraced them. There is a man named Vinny who is always down on Westminster playing guitar, and he had to leave town when his mother died. Neighbors originally thought the big new "Vinny" painted on the wall was in tribute to guitar Vinny, so automatically thought this new place was cool. Which it is.

Zangari loves serving the locals, and realizes that they are his bread and butter. They deliver sandwiches to the Boardwalk vendors (at a discount!), the skatepark kids line up to chow down, and Vinny's regular customers are now also friends. "I'm really grateful to have the opportunity to have a business on the world famous Venice Boardwalk," says Zangari. "I didn't know what to expect, and we were accepted by the community from Day One. Locals have always been our focus."

We sat and watched the world going by (Literally. People from all over the world in like an hour), and Zangari truthfully said, "There's no place like it. It's so unique - in good AND bad ways. Where else do you have such homelessness, and such money, all melting together in the middle, co-existing?" Nowhere. "Yeah, there's change, but I was here 20 years ago, and the essence doesn't change. I still have the same energetic feeling I had 20 years ago. The PEOPLE are what makes it Venice, right?" Right.

"My family is East Coast multi-generation, so I understand and respect history... and am grateful to  now be a part of the Venice history." That's the attitude that locals can understand and respect, and certainly appreciate in a time where the unique charm of Venice is being so threatened by less respectful/more greedy parties.

Vinny's is manned most days by Zangari's trusted Boom Boom, a local guy that Zangari wanted to help set up with a business. "I'm interested in investing in people," says Zangari. Also certainly appreciated. Served with a smile by Boom Boom and Lawrence, working out of their extra-tiny kitchen, I think it was the best cheesesteak I've had outside of Philly.

It's a beautiful day in Venice. It's lunchtime. I know a great spot where you can breathe in the fresh ocean air while you eat ...

Vinny's Cheesesteaks
1301 Ocean Front Walk
Venice
#310-392-7788
EatVinnys.com
Every day. 11-5 in Winter, 11-7 in Summer
*Delivery available from Eat 24 and ChowNow

The Venice Art Crawl Spring Fling - Spring Color Fun!

Spring has sprung up all over, and last night's edition of the Venice Art Crawl celebrated that the way we do best ... with art and fun and color and community, everywhere you looked. The central meeting point this time around was Westminster Avenue off of Abbot Kinney, which had been closed to traffic for the occasion. I love when we get to party in the streets.

Westminster was happening, and all of it served to bring the people together in the name of art and fun. Much of the art was interactive, which added to the overall vibe of community involvement. I got a late start due to work stuff, so I never even bothered to put together a posse, knowing I'd bump into friends and neighbors all along the way. Which I did. The very first person I came along was the wondrous and talented performance artist, Amy Kaps, dressed like Spring itself, sweeping up and giving out flowers as she traversed the avenue. Perfect.

There was a lot of live painting going on, as Westminster basically became an open air studio, complete with live entertainment.

Dancers danced, musicians played, hula hoopers hooped, and drums were drummed.

There was an enthusiastic poet at the stage, which I always like to see. Venice itself is a poem every day, so we need as much of that as we can get (whether you care for it or not, it's an important part of our very fabric of the town).

There was an almost vaudevillian show put on by Super Tall Paul, a tall dude that played tennis ball cans, and a mean electric flute.

Over at In Heroes We Trust, there was the hula hooping headquarters outside ...

... And a whole bunch of wearable art for sale from their collaboration with local streeet artists who have done limited edition hats and tees for the shop. There was also wine, in true art opening fashion.

There was an appearance by the Yellow Submarine.

There was a man doing live portraits of passersby that were fun to watch take shape.

A popular attraction in the street were the "Infinity Boxes", where people look at each other through smoke and mirrors. I have to admit I still don't really get it, but it's fun, and created good interaction between strangers, which is one of the best things about the Art Crawl.

The highlight of Westminster - and I think the whole Crawl this time - was the very cool installation Hydra by Franklin Londin of a bunch of Viewfinders in a circle. When you looked into them, there were different photographs of women underwater. People looked and then rotated to the next one, again all the while meeting people, talking, sharing thoughts and ideas. That's what I really love the most about these nights.

Kids also got into the act, with the Citizens of the World Westminster school fence, and some art being done among a bed of straw.

I zipped around the corner to take in the work of Mear One at the C.A.V.E. Gallery. One piece by this renowned street artist was cooler than the next, but I think this one was my favorite.

                 

After thoroughly enjoying the "Spring Color Fun" theme on Westminster, there was still a lot of ground to cover, so we took off in search of the next coolest thing. We sped over to Hama Sushi to take in the gorgeous surf work in their "Making Waves" show. It was actually kind of a bust though, because the place was packed and the art was on the walls behind tables full of diners, so you couldn't get near enough to see it without feeling like a creeeper hovering over someone's table. But they looked pretty great at a distance. As did the Venice sign, all greened out for St. Patrick's Day (but it felt a little sad, like a discount table after the holiday does. Change it back fast!).

I met two girls I felt bad for outside, because they'd driven across town and were walking around the Crawl in heels. Things were so spread out - with no shuttles this time - that unless you had a bike, you just weren't going to see it all. Or even that much. My bike is actually wrecked at the moment, so all the stuff on the far ends of Rose and Washington just wasn't going to happen. Those girls were bummed. Sorry!

Though Gotta Have It wasn't included on the VAC map (which this time there seemed to be plenty of), so I almost didn't go, I'm glad I did, because as usual, it was one of my favorite stops. The art by Sophie Blazey and Courtney Coll was my runner up to the Viewfinders. Great collages featuring graceful nude women, that now I wished I'd bought one of, but didn't want to carry around. That's one of the flaws of art events - we need party lockers!

Windward and the Boardwalk both had a bunch of art, but now we were starving, and that meant Hal's. A quick bite before we raced over to the old Samy's building on Venice Boulevard to catch the closing party of the week long Verve exhibit.

The cavernous space was full of art and art aficionados. There were lounge areas, drink areas, and plenty of good people watching. Though I really can't stand the things, there did seem to be a lot of fun and photographing over at the Spirit Animal hood station. Goofy. And once again, immersive.

As the Spring Fling Art Crawl, came to a close, Amy Kaps and The Brutal Blondes cleaned up their flowers, and another installment of one of our community's very best events was complete.

People split off to the various after parties or to hit one of the surrounding watering holes. Walking home from the VAC later, I breathed in the heady perfume of the Spring blossoming ... and already started looking forward to the next one.

Happy Spring! Happy Weekend! Fun.


*Sorry to any art and artists we missed. On foot!

Big Shots In Venice - A Celebration Of Guy Webster

There was another fun party at In Heroes We Trust last night, this time to celebrate the work of renowned rock photographer, Guy Webster. The man who has recorded so many of the legends and icons of the rock and film worlds was there to sign his new book, Big Shots: Rock Legends And Hollywood Icons, and to be congratulated on his decades of capturing that rich history.

It was a packed house, with revelers spilling out on to the sidewalk, clinking a beer, and toasting our still relatively new year.

Gracious hostess, Neely Shearer, has added a whole lot of good stuff since I'd last visited IHWT, so there was plenty to look at while you waited to have your gorgeous book signed by Mr. Webster.

It was great to see friends old and new, and you could feel a kind of unanimous and palpable excitement at all there is in store for everyone this year. Lots of good stories, lots of great events upcoming, lots of laughs, and lots of style.

As more and more people crammed in the store, things got a bit more loose. At one point, I turned around to see Webster donning a pair of underwear - on his head - to the amusement of those standing around him. I didn't catch that story, but it looked like a good one. I was happy to find out that Webster is a Venice local, so I'll look forward to finding out more about him and his stories soon.

Also known as an avid motorcycle enthusiast, it was perfect that a big posse of Venice Vintage Motorcycle Club members rolled up in a storm of noise, and parked out front to come inside and pay their respects to a fellow biker rock and roller. It was great.

I turned around as I left to head to the next thing, and had to smile at the scene outside In Heroes We Trust ... Street art, motorcycles, hula hoops, folks waving down friends passing by to join in ... and thought how lucky we all are here. Where we all feel like Big Shots, just to be here.