DAYBREAKING with Jason Bentley

Edible Skinny was lucky enough to attend DAYBREAKER, the sunrise disco extravaganza on November 18, 2015.  The event, held at the sausage beer hall Wurstkuche, started with an early morning 5:30 yoga class followed by two hours of rocking it out to DJ Jason Bentley (who looks as cute as he sounds on KCRW)!

This rock star morning rave movement has successfully flowed its feet and hearts to the people of New York, London, Los Angeles, and San Francisco calling  to people of all ages, occupations, and backgrounds with a new approach to fitness and fun.   And there’s early morning parties coming soon to global cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mumbai, and Cape Town!  

Co-Founders Matthew Brimer and Radha Agrawal state, “DAYBREAKER is about dancing before daybreak with people we love; about curating a community of camaraderie, self-expression, wellness, and mischief.”

Here’s to life being delicious and every morning starting out with Jason Bentley IRL!

Treehugger Living at the Walnut Residence with the LA Design Fest West Side Home Tour

Edible Skinny was at the Los Angeles Design Festival a few weeks ago and we saw some of the most visually stunning homes West of the 405 on their West Side Home Tour.  

One of these houses was the Venice located Walnut Residence designed by Modal Design.

                                                                              

This 2,700 square foot single family residence utilizes a backyard pine that is nearly five feet in diameter with a canopy over sixty feet across.  Rooted near the back and growing dead into the center of the lot, this pine tree was the most dominate feature of the site when planning the Walnut Residence.  

Thus Modal Design explored the space through the exterior of the structure itself, allowing for expression of the client’s character and taste as well as sculptural qualities of both nature and the architecture.  

Here’s to life being delicious and everything, including trees, being works of art!  

David Hertz's McKinley House on the LA Design Fest West Side Home Tour

Edible Skinny was lucky enough to attend the Los Angeles Design Festival and we saw some of the most visually stunning homes West of the 405 on their West Side Home Tour.  

 

One of these houses was the Venice located McKinley House by David Hertz, which is also his family home. 

The house was designed in two phases.  The first featured two separate volumes connected by a bridge.  Some years later the lot next door became available making the compound into four discrete two-story buildings linked by three enclosed bridges that all face onto the courtyard.

The building is a case for green building techniques.  Materials include an array of 20 solar collector panels on the roof and recycled and FSC certified sustainable woods.  

Here’s to life being green and delicious!   

 

Bánh Mí: the Classic Vietnamese Sandwich Shop Comes to Venice Beach

In the last few months a new Bánh Mì, the classic Vietnamese sandwich shop, has opened in Venice aptly named Bánh Mí (go figure…).

 

According to the wonderful world of Wikipedia, Bánh Mì is a Vietnamese term for bread.  Said bread, or more specifically the baguette, was introduced by the French during its colonial period.  The bread most commonly found in Vietnam is a single serving baguette, therefore the term Bánh Mì is synonymous with this sandwich bread.  Bánh Mì is known to be more airy than its Western counterpart, with a thinner crust making it crunchy in texture.  It goes by the street names of "Vietnamese sandwich,” "Vietnamese Po-Boy,” or “Vietnamese Hoagie.”

At the new Venice location, Bánh Mì sandwiches are served with pickled daikon & carrots, cucumber, fresh cilantro, jalapeño, country pâté spread or house-made chili mayo, and baguettes (that’s baked fresh daily).

Offerings include their most traditional Vietnamese sandwich OINK MÌ, caramelized pork belly: golden-browned shallots, garlic, country pâté spread, and the MOO MÌ, braised short ribs with  mortar-pounded chili paste, kaffir lime, lemongrass, ginger, galangal, house-made chili mayo.

I partook in the VEG MÌ, chili roasted tofu: tofu sautéed with green onion and chili oil with crunchy garlic.  Crispy, spicy, and fresh it is everything that epitomizes Bánh Mì: light crunch bread, spiciness, and a great blend of street food flavors!

Bánh Mí offers a few tables for dine in or, for those in a rush, you can take your sandwich to go crispy wrapped with their logo and twine.

Tea is the new Coffee at Gunpowder

With the sky’s the limit goal of “redefining tea for America,” Gunpowder, a creative new tea facility, opened in Venice a few weeks ago. 

Named after the Chinese green tea, this liquid lab’s philosophy is that tea is the new coffee.  The bonus is that the imbiber gets more caffeine, ten times the antioxidants, and none of the acidity of a cup of Starbucks Joe!

The order counter serves drinks such as Iced Gunpowders (cold brewed tea infused with fresh fruit made daily), Gunshot Lattes (made with almond or cow’s milk), and Power On Shots (5-hour energy without the artificial everything fueled by tea) all made from non-coffee based items like chicory and guayusa (a second cousin of yerba mate). There’s also gluten-free vegan baked goods prepared in house by Merce Muse (of Merce and the Muse cafe in Paris).

From the mind of writer/director/photographer Mike Franzini Gunpowder screams Millennials.  Its target audience is everyone who embraces world of being a Slashie.  The back lounge is split like Two-Face’s face: one half work and the other half play.  For those working on their next must have social media company there’s office chairs surrounding a 12-foot communal English Elm table with USB plugs to the right.  And on the left, for those looking to sit back, relax, and get down to finally writing that screenplay there’s Adirondack chairs nestled on real grass with an abstract cloud lamp hovering above. 

All of Gunpowder’s teas are original blends crafted by tastemaker Jeremy Johnson.  Cognizant that a thousand tea choices can be overwhelming, Johnson limits the front of the house to 8 teas at a time.  Each is explained through an interactive iPad stationed right next to it.  “Tea has always been everything and anything.  We’re the opposite: we’re about selectivity,” noted Johnson.

The one thing that they’re not selective about at the moment is time; the lounge is open 24 hours.  So for anyone who’s recently given up coffee (read: me!) and needs that midnight pick-me-up to stay out all night Gunpowder just bestowed that healthy option! Hooray!!!