Focus on Freshman, Matthew Sweet

Matthew Sweet at McCabes

For anyone who's bingo card I signed at the Focus on Freshman conference, yes, I do in fact blog.

Sweet, tuning up for the show

But more important was my trip to McCabe's Guitar Shop, where I saw one of my favorite singer/guitarists, Matthew Sweet, play my all-time favorite album, Girlfriend, in it's entirety.

I've been a Matthew Sweet fan since Girlfriend was released 20 years ago, when I was working on KOTR in San Luis Obispo as their fill-in overnight disc jockey. The album was in heavy rotation at the station, and it's mix of pretty harmonies and crankin' guitars appealed to me. Sweet's just a bit younger than I am, and all of his influences are the same bands that I, too, grew up with, so the sound of that album just appealed to me. At the time I had just ended a long relationship-one of the reasons I moved to San Luis in the first place, and I was juggling a few 'girlfriends.' What I really wanted was the one girl who could represent everything to me. It seemed like that was what Sweet was singing about, so I could instantly relate. Since that time, the album has continued to grow on me, and many times I've tried to count the guitars playing on a track as complex as "Divine Intervention," or "Holy War." In my collection of over 3000 cd's, this is the go to if I want to show someone the type of music I enjoy.

I've seen Sweet once before, in '97, I think, touring with guitarist Ivan Julian, and it was an amazing show at a small Hollywood club, with Sweet pulling out a different vintage guitar for every song. This show he played the whole time with a Fano Stratosphere (except when the McCabe's management pulled a MIM Stratocaster off the wall to loan to Sweet when a string broke), which had a vintage crunch and a cool, space age look. Lead guitarist Dennis Taylor handled all of the Robert Quine/Richard Lloyd parts easily with his Statocaster, and even did a fair job at mimicking Greg Leisz's pedal steel on tracks like "Wynona."

McCabe's is a great place to see a show, and sitting in the third row to hear my favorite album performed live was an amazing experience.

Johnnie's Culver City

I know that Culver City isn’t anywhere near Ventura, but good food should be written about.

The plan was Tito’s Tacos, a Culver City tradition, serving big, crunchy tacos with shredded beef, grated cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream-what I would refer to as a “white man’s taco,” not the street tacos I’ve come to favor in recent years. But when I drove there, the line was incredibly long, and I didn’t feel like waiting. So I went to another Culver City tradition around the corner.

 

Johnnie’s, at 4017 Culver Blvd, has been in the same location for the last 60 years, serving something that I remember from when I was a small child growing up here in LA, the pastrami sandwich.

I remember the pastrami as being a man’s sandwich, something that my dad ordered when he was really hungry, with so much meat that he would often pull some of it off and make a rather healthy looking second sandwich. Back in the 60’s when no one talked about health food, cholesterol or calorie counts, and before the proliferation of bland hamburger chains, there were places serving pastrami sandwiches all over LA, places with names like Jim’s, or Chris’s, or Pete’s. Some, like the local chain out of Alhambra known as The Hat, still exist if you happen to know where to look. Johnnie’s of Culver City is one of those places.

I vaguely remember eating there once with a Jewish girl I used to date 20 years ago and remembering that it was good. Tonight, when I noticed it was busy but with no line, I thought I’d go again.

Plopping down at the counter, I ordered the Deluxe Pastrami Plate ($15.50) from a waitress that looked like she might have been there 20 years ago when I was in last. I also ordered a root beer before I noticed that I could have had a nice draft.

The plate was served quickly, with pickles, cole slaw and a big basket of fries. There were also two slices of lettuce and two slices of tomato, which I guess constitutes a second salad.

The pastrami was lean and fresh, piled high on the roll. The slaw was tangy and sweet, the pickles home made, and the French fries were hot and crisp. It was far more food than I intended to eat, but I tried my best anyway. I still left a half basket of fries.

It was good, plain and simple. For reasons unclear to me, I haven’t found a good pastrami in Ventura, and didn’t realize how much I’d miss them when I moved from LA. I wouldn’t have thought of LA as a pastrami town, but I guess I’m wrong.

If you’re in the Culver City area, strongly recommended.

Los Comales, Saticoy

Los Comales Mexican Food-June, 2012

Crossing through Saticoy, I noticed this place’s outdoor patio in an old section of Ventura. Located just off of Wells on Violetta by the 126 Freeway, Los Comales is a family owned restaurant, in many ways typical of the Ventura County taco places.

I ordered four tacos at the cost of  a $1.25 each. It was an early Saturday afternoon, and there were a few people eating there, locals mostly. The staff was prepping, it seemed, possibly for a busier Saturday evening.

The order came with chips, which they happily refilled for my kids and I while we were waiting. We had Mexican sodas, but they do serve beer in the bottle.

My tacos, with onion and cilantro, arrived reasonably quickly, two asada, one lengua and one barbacoa. The asada was fine, the lengua, too, but the barbacoa was the high point of the tacos, with really good flavor.

The staff was friendly, with one pretty waitress striking a conversation about the fluctuating power, which went out for a few minutes while we were eating. “It’s an old city, and when it’s hot we lose power,” she said. One of my kids also ordered some rice, which was okay.

On the whole, not a bad stop. Not worth a special trip, but I wouldn’t avoid it either. They also offered burritos, mariscos and breakfasts.