Zelda's Corner of Venice

I've been going to Zelda's Corner in Venice since the turn of the century (Old school!). They opened in 1999, and have been catering to Venice sandwich enthusiasts ever since from their delightful location on the corner of Speedway and Westminster.


It didn't take me too long to figure out that the owners, Laura Lee and Paul Svobodny ("It means 'Freedom' in Czech, and that's why I love Venice"), were also from Minnesota. There were some tell-tale signs, like the scores for the Minnesota Twins being posted on their bulletin board, but the real hint was their scrumptious mini donuts. Exactly like I grew up having at the Minnesota State Fair. Being a pretty regular customer, I soon introduced myself and found this darling couple did indeed hail from my same part of the world (MPLS!!), but it wasn't until now that I learned their whole story, and how they came to be such a treasure of Venice.

Though both Laura and Paul are from Minneapolis, they met in Chicago at a party on Christmas Eve. Laura was an actress and Paul had gone to law school and was then working in real estate. Laura got her SAG card, and soon found herself couch surfing in Los Angeles. Paul followed her a year later, and they settled in the Marina. That didn't last long, as they knew Venice was where they wanted to be, and they bought a place on Clubhouse in Venice.

When Laura first came to the Boardwalk, she immediately thought, "This reminds me of the Minnesota State Fair ... except way more diverse." Well, you can't have the Fair without Tom Thumb Mini Donuts. Between Laura's running around for acting, and Paul's commuting to his real estate job, they soon both realized they wanted to walk to work, and they didn't really want to leave Venice most days. The donut dream persisted, but a health department thing ruled out a cart, so the idea was on the back burner (fryer). Until the day Paul was out for a walk and saw a space open on Westminster (where Lidia's Pupusas is now). Laura called up Tom Thumb Donuts, found out you could purchase the same machines as the State Fair, and they were soon open for business, frying up a ton of donuts for the masses on the Boardwalk.

Their love for Venice grew, and so did their business. Paul and Laura would walk their dog, a Scottie named Zelda (after Zelda Fitzgerald, "She was crazy and half of Venice is crazy, so it was perfect" - Paul), down Speedway, and she would always stop in front of where their shop now is and refuse to move, until they dragged her away. The space in the cool old building became available, and Zelda's Corner was born. As Paul says, "We like a Village lifestyle. We wanted to do something WE like, so we don't have to get in the car to go get it" ... about as Venice-centric of a business plan as you can get. Paul comes from a farming family of 14 kids, so he knew about making a whole bunch of sandwiches ... so that is what they decided to focus on, along with those ridiculously delicious hot little donuts.


"We want to make sandwiches for people we like that they will enjoy", says Laura, and that's exactly what goes on every day except Wednesday, when they are closed to give themselves a mid-week break. Almost all their customers are regulars, who know that Paul is the sandwich stickler. It drives him nuts when people want to amend their special sandwiches ("A Cuban sandwich without pickles?! - I'm guilty and apologized to him), so he is most often found in the back of the place, making the sandwiches, and not mixing it up with the customers as much. Thus Laura "is the personality of the place", and both of them say that having their spot be a community center is the absolute joy that they get out of it. Sadly, Zelda the Scottie is no longer with us, but Ziggy the Scottie keeps it all real.

Paul is a jazz and blues fiend, so there is always good music playing and posters around from those genres. The front door is adorned with postcards from around the world that their loyal customers have sent them, perhaps missing their favorite sandwich when away from their corner. It's a close-knit corner too, as all the businesses in that little dead-end where Westminster meets the beach are friendly and look out for each other. They like to call it "Eat Street" since there are so many good dining options right there, from Zelda's to the Fruit Gallery and Groundworks on their side, and Sushi, Pizza, Tacos, Indian, and Sushi on the other.


Laura told a great story about how the cops like to ticket there if you're unloading your restaurant stuff from your cars, and one day she got ticketed as she was hauling sodas into Zelda's. She kind of lost it as it was just one of those days, and soon Courtney (who now sells gems on the Boardwalk, but at the time worked at the coffee shop) got all the people around to chant, "Stop wasting time, Start fighting crime!!" in what now stands as one of their favorite Venice moments. That part of Westminster is a great snapshot of Venice as a whole, as many of the business owners are immigrants, and the whole atmosphere is as multi-ethnic as it gets. They see the neighborhood kids grow up, they dine at each others' homes, they bring one another back gifts from travels, and the people have mostly stayed the same down there over the years.

Laura and Paul don't much like to go East of Lincoln, so they stick to Venice spots when they're off duty. They're big on Hinano's, La Cabana, Wurstkuche (it's the VENICE side of Lincoln, so it's ok), James Beach and The Fruit Gallery. Solid choices all. They think the Boardwalk is seeing more musicians and artists these days, since it's not all just vendors of downtown junk anymore. As far as the gentrification debate/reality, Laura says, "I think it's always going to be Venice". From her lips to God's ears, for sure, but I'd have to agree. Especially when you get people like Laura and Paul who love it here as much as they do, and strive to preserve and celebrate all the things we hold dear about it.


It's clear when you go in how very local a place it is. If you can't stroll down there, they'll deliver to you - via bicycle. I love to get the "Vermonster", the sandwich that I sometimes dream about (Turkey, Bacon, Vermont Cheddar, Granny Smith Apples - hold the Maple Mustard - Sorry, Svobodny!). The other day when I was in there, the nice guy working offered me a couple mini donuts as a snack while I waited for my sandwich to be pressed. I, of course, accepted his kind offer, and smiled to myself as I munched, that we have a little gem like this in our midst, and that the owners are both from where I'm from and now share the same big spot in our hearts for Venice. Home is where the heart is, after all, and there is a whole lotta heart in Zelda's Corner.

You too can be a regular at:

Zelda's Corner
9 Westminster
Venice
9:30-5:00 every day but Wednesday
310.314.6458 for takeout or delivery

Fastest, easiest ordering is via their Facebook page, under Zelda's Corner!

Robin Rhode at L and M Arts, Venice

Sometimes when there's a whole bunch of chaos going on, it's kind of great to unplug it all for a minute and immerse yourself in a quiet art gallery where nothing is going on but the expression and contemplation of ideas. So that's exactly what I did this afternoon, when I took a break from packing up years of my life, and went down the street to check out the latest exhibition at L & M Arts, Robin Rhode's Imaginary Exhibition.


My eye was first caught at the outdoor installation of Rhode's Sea Bells - twelve bronze sea shells mounted on top of music stands, so that they could be percussive. I wanted to go bang on them, but wasn't sure that was cool, so I just admired it. Even better that you could breathe in the sea air while checking it out.


Inside the East Gallery, I was drawn in by the images of Untitled/Houses + Seas. Pictures of wrecked Post-Katrina homes in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, underneath images of stormy looking waves, all printed on crumpled up aluminum.


It's heavy - especially if you've spent any time there after the wreckage. The anger and sorrow and fear and tragedy of all of that mess came right back to me, but so did the hope. The memories of the spirited people that lived in those houses will inspire me the remainder of my days, and I'm happy that people are still bringing attention to it all, in such a beautiful fashion.


On the other side of the wall was a series with a violin against water, which also reminded me of New Orleans, where we helped clean up some homes of musicians, and saw all their instruments ruined by water damage. So sad ... especially there, where their instruments are often their livelihood. I'm not sure if Rhode meant those pieces to tie in about New Orleans, but it did for me.


Untitled/Moon Stamp + Ink Pad takes you a little out of reality with a giant inkpad with a stamp of the moon on the wall above it. A bit like Claes Oldenburg style.


In the West Gallery, I really liked the School of Fish series of work. A guy with a fishing rod, casting out for what exactly we're not really sure ... kind of like life.


His fishing guy reminded me of his Slalom guy, who looks as if he's about to ski down a mountain of boulders, as if anything is possible.


Yard was interesting, with yardsticks making up a clock face shape. Rhode was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and there are shoes of the style worn by South African kids throughout the piece. I like the imagination of Rhode a lot (who is now based in Berlin - interesting), and certainly appreciated the way that his work brought me out of my own head and into his, if just for the few moments I had to spare.


In that vein, the press release for the exhibition says, "The success of Rhode's work lies in its ability to engage the viewer on many levels. Rhode makes very serious art that doesn't take itself too seriously - elegant and thoughtful with just the right touch of humor." That's about exactly what I thought of it as I was ambling back home. Serious, elegant, thoughtful, and a little funny.

See what you think - Imaginary Exhibition is up now through April 21, 2012.


L & M Arts
660 Venice Boulevard
Venice
Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 - 5:30

Make Time For Fun

There is so much craziness going on these days, sometimes you just have to hold on tight and soar along with it all. The beach is the place where I think about and try to sort it all out every morning, and where I feel better about everything, every time.

That's often because I chance upon things that are just so great that they make the rest of your day not only tolerable, but blessed. We came upon this guy the other day, making what looked like the back of a submerged dragon from the wet sand back to the dry, at a fairly frantic pace, early on a weekday morning.


It made me smile inside and out to see a grown man, by himself, just making some temporary cool thing, just for the fun of it, it seemed.

What a great lesson. In spite of, or because of, how much of a zoo life can get, we must remember to have fun. To CREATE fun. Just for the hell of it. Otherwise I believe we may be missing the point of our lives - to ENJOY them. No matter what.

GO!


*Photo by Jennifer Everhart

Life Is Crazy In Blogtown

Please PLEASE excuse the delay in sharing some good Venice stories ... life has been crrrazy lately, and I've gotten a little behind. Please stay tuned ... and continue to rule. XO.

Overreaction

It's been a marvelous, glistening winter so far in Venice, hasn't it? There is no better place to realize this fact than at the beach each morning. We exchange smiles and waves with the regular people every day, all of feeling extra blessed/blissed, seen clearly on our faces.

Yesterday's glorious stroll was interrupted by total mayhem. The tractor sand mover things were out rumbling the ground beneath our feet, super noisy. This is a harbinger of spring, however, as they were plowing down the giant sand berms that protect the homes in winter. So bad/good.

Then the most gigantic yacht I've ever seen was parked out a little beyond the Venice Pier, belching smoke out its stacks and demanding to be gawked at. Obnoxious. (It's still there).


Heading back north, we were just about to cross under the Venice Pier when a LAPD chopper began flying low out toward the yacht. Were they terrorists? Were they drug kingpins? What was going on?!

Then cop cars began FLYING down the Venice pier, scattering pedestrians and fishermen as they sped past. I've never ever seen this before, and it was kind of alarming. Cops spilled out of their cars at the end of the pier, and we watched from the sand as a body jumped into the water. It was like watching the movie Falling Down.


The cops and the people lining the pier all stared down into the water as LAPD and Lifeguard boats sped to the scene, Firetrucks wailed their arrival, and stand up paddle boarders rowed up to get a better look. Through it all, the surfers kept surfing.

We began to get that the big yacht had nothing to do with the scene, and that someone was busted or fell. Whatever the case, as usual, it seemed that there were too many resources being wasted on one incident. Especially when I found out later via Yo Venice (we had to get a move on in our day) that it was all for an 80 year old man, in what seemed to be a suicide attempt. Sad. Both that he wanted to end it all, but also that such a huge scene was made over it, when it would appear to be a very private choice. If you had seen the speed that the cop cars raced down the pier with, you could only be happy that no one else was hurt, as the pier is not very wide at all. Super macho, LAPD. We're impressed. (The body I saw drop in was a tourist that jumped in to help rescue the guy. One guy seemed able to handle it all. One.)

I hope the elderly gentleman is ok, that his people have shown up to love him, and that he can find peace and privacy. I also hope we can all cool it with the overreaction to stuff these days, and save the drama for the big stuff.

Never a dull moment, Venice.



*Pics by Jennifer Everhart

Kristy Choo and Jin Patisserie Make Venice Sweeter

There might not be a better place in the whole world for perfect chocolate than Jin Patisserie, and I can walk there. Serving up the most exquisite pastries and gorgeous, delicious chocolates since 2003 on Abbot Kinney, Jin is a true local treasure.


Kristy Choo was born and raised in Singapore. She always loved to bake (me too!), but craved travel and adventure (me too!), so never really saw herself working in a kitchen. She became a flight attendant to satisfy some of her wanderlust, but kept thinking about what she truly loved to do, and that was to create wondrous dessert delights.


To that end, Choo decided to attend the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, where she focused on pastry training. She then went back to Singapore and worked in a hotel there, furthering her training, and joined the Singapore National Team for pastry competition. Meaning she was really, really good at what she did. She was also married by then, and her husband's work kept him in Los Angeles, and the long distance thing was hard. Choo decided she needed to join her husband in L.A., and that was when she started thinking about opening a little place of her own.

Driving around Venice one day, Choo saw the space recently vacated by The Hydrant Cafe was available on Abbot Kinney. It was a little cottage with a courtyard, just about the perfect size for what she had been envisioning. Venice was also perfect, in her feeling, as she explains, "I liked the FEEL of Venice. It wasn't pretentious, people are comfortable with themselves here." Exactly.

Choo started the process from scratch (like her pastries), knowing nothing about the ins and outs of starting her own business, and she did it all herself, with no help. After the usual rigmarole with city inspectors, permits, suppliers and the like ("Crazy!"), Choo opened for business in September 2003, and has been blowing our minds with her concoctions ever since.


It kind of amazes me that even many people that live right in the neighborhood have never been to Jin (named after Choo's own middle name). It IS kind of hidden behind its tall gate, and you have to walk through the garden, past the cherry blossoms, to get into the little house where all the treasures are displayed, but it is just truly not to be missed.


Jin serves exotic and wonderful teas, little tea sandwiches and quiches (lovely for birthdays or the shower type event) but the real masterpieces are the desserts. Choo originally wanted to only do desserts, but after learning the local needs/wants/habits, decided to give people the choice of savory before diving right into the sweet. If they want. Many of us have no problem skipping right ahead to the sweet bliss, all made right there in the Jin kitchen.


Like - our number one favorite - Sea Salt Caramels. There is also a cake called "Inspiration" that is a sea salt chocolate caramel dream. The macarons are too much - brightly colored little rounds of melting in your mouth deliciousness (again, get the sea salt caramel one of those too!). The artistic chocolates (packaged so beautifully you don't want to open the box) are ridiculous - lavender, mango-basil, yuzu, cinnamon, Earl Grey, passion fruit, lychee, each better than the next - and are perhaps the best possible hostess gift ever. No one will ever be mad at receiving a box from Jin, I assure you. The amount of bags from Jin cruising up and down Abbot Kinney on Valentine's Day this year made it clear that the local people know what's up for impressing their loved ones. Likewise, Choo's chocolate Easter eggs are flawless works of art that I like to just stare at each year. Remarkable.


There was a Jin location for a while in Century City in the Intercontinental Hotel (closed last year), and a Valentine collaboration with Japanese department stores, but Choo is most happy in her little house in Venice, welcoming the locals and tourists alike who share her love for the original qualities of our town. She likes that her shop is unique, that people can only get her creations here in Venice. How lucky we are!


Choo hopes that Venice "won't be like other places. Venice is a precious part of Los Angeles. Everywhere else people look the same, here they have PERSONALITY." Now that Choo and her husband have a child, she doesn't get the time to enjoy Venice as much, but has noticed all the changes taking place along Abbot Kinney, like we all have. She can't stand First Fridays (again, like most of us nowadays), and really prefers the older school way things were (ditto). But, also like most of us feel, the personality of place really outshines all the rest, and Choo's local regulars are now her friends. She can't picture her little chocolate factory anywhere else. She loves it here. We love having her here.


Try this ... maybe you're having a little challenge of some sort. Go to Jin. Pick out something, anything from the pastry or chocolate case. Take it with you down to the beach. Look out over the horizon. Let the breeze wash over you and the sweet dissolve in your mouth. Even if just for that moment, everything will be so much better. It really is about the simple pleasures in life. And Jin has them for you in abundance.

Jin Patisserie
1202 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice
310.399.8801

Peaks and Valleys, Man.

I'm not sure what's in retrograde or rising or whatnot, but it seems like there have been a LOT of major peAKS!!!!! and mega VALleys...., back to back, for myself - and most everyone I've talked to lately. This morning's blustery walk on the beach (we laughed it was like free micro-dermabrasion) was a good real-life analogy of whatever's going on.

It was SO beautiful out after yesterday's rain, just crisp and blue and diamonds on the soles of our bare feet, both sand and water. We sat down on the lifeguard tower for our water break and I started to complain about how it had taken me two days to get tar off my feet from the other day, with rough scrubbing. Filthy stuff. I looked down at my feet and thought I saw another tar blob, but nope, it was a bright little ladybug! Awesome.

I saw a couple ladies taking turns taking pictures of each other, so went over and offered to take one of the two of them together. You would've thought I'd offered them the rare kind of bone marrow they needed. Is doing a stranger a decent turn really that rare these days? Let's hope not.

Resuming our blowing down the beach, I saw a dead looking little fish. Jenny picked him or her up and threw 'em back in the water, with revival hopes, but more likely to sleep with other fishes. Kind of sad.

Then walking along some more, I almost stepped on a purple starfish! Right there, washed up on the sand! We've seen a lot of them lately on the jetties (amazing every time!), but not solo on the sand. It seemed to still be malleable and maybe had just been flipped out by the crazy eddies from the wind. The starfish also got tossed back in the waves, with higher hopes of recovery. And WE had higher hopes, that our eco-system is hanging in there and these creatures are there for us to see (and save!) every day. What a cool thing.

Not 50 yards later, something caught my eye in the waves. One of the big beach garbage cans had been blown out into the water and was bobbing up and down in the whitewash, like a poster for awful urban pollution. We stopped and just stared at it, feeling bummed and quiet after our high spirits two seconds earlier.


As we stood there and wondered what to do, a guy came running up and said, "Will you toss my towel up on the dry sand, I'm gonna go get that thing!" And he did. He waded out there (Far. We only got the camera out once he was coming in) and wrestled with this bigass garbage can in the shore break, and brought it in! An Eco-Hero! He should tie his towel around his shoulders like a cape!


His name was Richard, and when I thanked him so much for doing that, he said, "Oh, I've been chasing barrels my whole life!" Rad.


Our spirits soared again, just to know that there remains some people who do a good thing just for the sake of doing it. And it was all another in your face reminder about how we're all in this whole deal together, right down to the spineless little guys that are our sea neighbors.

I hope it all mellows out for everyone pretty soon here, but on the other hand, it's never a dull moment this way, so ... I guess just get out there and see what happens!

And try to be good.



*Photos by Jennifer Everhart.