A New Breed of Pizza in Echo Park

Echo Park is full of pizza options. You can grab any number of interesting slices at Two Boots, cozy up in a booth at Pizza Bouna, or go for quantity over quality at Little Caesars. You can track your pizza order from Domino’s, or go crazy at Pizza Loca, and Masa started a deep dish vegan pizza craze in July. The area is a pizza lovers paradise, and now there are even more options for pizza lovers who are vegan!

Mooi will now be offering four flavors of raw vegan pizza. That means no dairy products are used and nothing is heated over 118 degrees. Mooi’s food is also free of soy, wheat and gluten. This type of cuisine is a healthy option for many but will come as a shock to any hardcore Domino;s fan.

Want a say in this new wave of pizza? Mooi wants the public to create their fourth flavor. They have offered a contest via the blog Quarry Girl. Just leave a comment on the Quarry Girl post suggesting a flavor you would like to see. The winner receives a free dinner for two at Mooi and will see their pizza on the menu!

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Check out Quarry Girl for more information on the new pizza flavors and to enter the contest. Remember, you have to enter on Quarry Girl. Entries on EPN will not be counted in the contest. Leave us a comment here and tell us which Echo Park pizza spot is your favorite or what you think of raw vegan pizza.

Mooi is located at 1700 W. Sunset Blvd

Hours are:

Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Wednesday – Saturday 6:00pm – 11:00 pm

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Echo Park’s Week in Music

For the week of Monday, August 9 through Sunday, August 15

Monday, August 9
Peter’s Pool Boys & Sean Carnage Presents: Essay, Aunt Dracula, Amir Coyle, plus a very special appearance by Jamaica Man @ Pehrspace
Monday Night Residency: Fol Chen, Learning Music, Lesands @ The Echo
New Music Monday With Devin Sarno, Bobb Bruno, Kandyce And The Killdozer, Howardamb @ Echo Curio
Zoe Muth And The Lost High Rollers, Vagrant Valley, Erin Mclaughlin @ Bootleg

Tuesday, August 10
Smog Sessions: Truth, Machete, Deco, Kemst @ The Echo

Wednesday, August 11
Dub Club: Dub Club DJs, Viernes 13, The Hashishans @ Echoplex and The Echo
The Joy Formidable, Division Day, The Arkells @ Bootleg

Thursday, August 12
Hit + Run presents: Soundcrash with Blu, Blackbird, Thavius Beck, Ras G, Zackey FOrce Funk, Kofi, Teebs, and surprise guests @ The Echo
Social Studies @ Origami Vinyl

Friday, August 13
Club Underground with Torches in Trees, Go West Young Man, Waterlaso @ The Echo
Rooftops @ Origami Vinyl
Opening of the Photobug Exhibition plus the works Of Styles Wolff Baker @ Echo Curio

Saturday, August 14
Ema and the Ghosts Birthday Show @ Pehrspace
Hercules and Love Affair, DJ Paul V. @ Echoplex
Funky Sole @ The Echo
Heather Woodbury’s As the Globe Warms, followed by John Hearts Jackie, The Clouds, Children Of The Kai, Alyssyndra and the Day Makers @ Echo Curio

Sunday, August 15
When You Awake presents Free For All @ Echoplex
Part Time Punks with Swahili Blonde + Black Flamingo @ The Echo
From Vision To Vinyl: A Step-By-Step Look At Album Production. Panel Discussion + Q&A. To attend email RSVPOrigami@gmail.com by August 12th @ Origami Vinyl
Echo Obscura Presents Andy Warhol Films @ Echo Curio

For more information on weekly musical events like club nights, see our community resource pages.Visit the venue website for more information on the cost and times of shows. Venue information can be found in our community resource pages.

This list may not represent all the musical events happening in Echo Park this week – feel free to add more events in the comment section. All events listed are subject to change at any time. New events announced for the week after this posting may not be included.

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CSA comes to Echo Park

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is coming to Echo Park starting next week! With a $25.00 per week subscription (or every other week, your choice), CSA will drop off locally grown produce for you to pack up in your own bag (and don’t forget to bring your own bag!).

Included in “this week’s bag” according to the CSA website are: Plums, nectarines, peaches, red leaf or romaine lettuce, broccoli, bell pepper, celery, green beans, cabbage, tomatoes, kale. Next week might be different, but it doesn’t sound like you’ll lose out.

If you’re interested, make sure you sign up right away – policies require you pay 48 hours in advance or you’ll have to wait until the following week.

CSA comes to Echo Park every Tuesday starting Tuesday, August 17 from 3-5:00 pm at Mooi Restaurant (1700 W. Sunset Blvd.) Click here to pay for your bag of locally grown produce on the CSA website.

Now if you don’t want to subscribe to CSA, there’s always the Echo Park Farmers’ Market on Fridays, which has locally grown produce, and later this summer Cookbook grocery store will open.

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A huge difference at Echo Park Lake yesterday

Walking around Echo Park Lake yesterday was an experience residents haven’t seen in quite a while on a Sunday: green grass occupied by picnickers, families, and a few necking lovebirds. The northern end of Echo Park Lake was really, really quiet with the exception of the occasional jingle from an ice cream cart bell. It seems that word got around after last week’s “crack-down” at Echo Park Lake, during which officers cited vendors for soliciting on public property. Even though just a few citations were issued, it certainly had an effect.

Residents and The Eastsider LA reported yesterday that a few Rampart Division patrol cars and officers had posted up throughout the day on various corners of the Lake. They were ready to enforce not a soliciting on public property violation like last week (which it seems may not be entirely and legally applicable), but for those who didn’t have resale licenses. Deputy City Attorney Andre Quintero seemed a bit surprised at Thursday night’s Echo Park Improvement Association meeting when told about the previous Sunday’s activity. Having worked on this issues for about a year now (in relation to the city law that was overturned when Venice Beach activists sued for free speech violations), he wasn’t sure whether or not a soliciting on public property violation applied to the Echo Park Lake vendors.

Those who have been actively working on clearing the vendors from Echo Park Lake on Sunday are relieved to “have the park back.” Other residents might have mixed feelings about losing the vendors from the Lake because, really, who cares if someone’s trying to make a buck in this economy? But arguments seem to always come down to one thing: It’s a lake, it’s a park, and that’s what it should be used for.

I recommend taking a gander through the article published yesterday by The Eastsider LA, and decide for yourself whether or not it’s a good thing to cite vendors at the lake.

Related articles:

  • “Police try a new strategy to sweep out Echo Park Lake swap meet vendors.” August 8, 2010, The Eastsider LA
  • “Vendors at Echo Park Lake get the boot.” August 1, 2010, Echo Park Now
  • “The many facets of the Echo Park Lake swap meet.” March 24, 1010, Echo Park Now
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Photo: No hipsters here…

…or very few of them, we mean. Instead, there are a few more long-haired, black band-tshirt-clad people (of the metal kind, as opposed to the hipster kind) in Echo Park than usual today – the Echo kicked off its metal fest, “The Power of the Riff,” today at both the Echo and the Echoplex. There was a long wait earlier, but things seem to be pretty much kept inside for the time being.

TwitPic photo via TheEchoLA

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Sunday: Dog Adoption and Fundraiser at Fix Coffee

The Bark Avenue Foundation is hosting a “Pit Bull Awareness, Adoption and Fundraiser” event at Fix Coffee this Sunday, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Bark Avenue will be bringing some of their pit bulls that are up for adoption, and others are invited to bring their own dog-friendly pits. They have planned a raffle in addition to providing information on pit bull awareness.

Fix Coffee is located at 2100 Echo Park Ave.

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Flashback Fridays – Historic Filipinotown

Francisco Carino – Intro from Public Matters on Vimeo.

Various arguments have been made (and are still being made) as to whether Historic Filipinotown is its own neighborhood or whether it belongs to either Echo Park or the Temple/Beverly neighborhood. It is part of the Thirteenth District and was officially designated Historic Filipinotown in 2002. I recently found some cool videos all about HiFi, and thought I’d look into its history. Perhaps you would like to hear a bit about what I found out?

The first big wave of Filipino immigration into the United States occurred in the 1920s when the Philippines was a U.S. territory. The first substantial Filipino community in Los Angeles formed around this time in what is now Little Tokyo. Later, in the 1930s and 40s, the location of this community shifted to what is today Historic Filipinotown.

Neighborhoods like these formed as a result of housing and job discrimination that prevented Filipinos from living and working just anywhere. It wasn’t until the 1940s that laws against racially mixed marriages were overturned and housing discrimination was declared illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court. The irony of this discrimination is that, the Philippines being a U.S. territory, many immigrants had already been taught English and American History in their homeland before they even got here.

In 1965, the Immigration Act nullified immigration quotas, and a larger number of non-western immigrants came to the United States. At the same time, another area of Los Angeles with a large Filipino population, Bunker Hill, began the shift from a residential to a commercial area, and many residents were forced out. All of this resulted in a population boom for Historic Filipintown. The result was the creation of a neighborhood that today is the keeper of an important part of Filipino and Los Angeles immigrant history.

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Filmed in Echo Park: Mi Vida Loca

On my list of to-dos this weekend is to watch Mi Vida Loca, a film I haven’t seen in a long, long time. With Echo Park in the background, and a good movie overall, I’m looking forward to re-watching it now that I live in Echo Park. Here’s a little trailer/overview from the 1993 movie:

25 seconds into the video, you can see how big El Batey used to be at Chicken Corner on Echo Park Avenue (now Chango at the corner and a smaller El Batey shop next door).

UPDATE:

How silly for me to forget, the Echo Park Filmmobile is screening Mi Vida Loca tonight (Friday, August 6) at 8:00 pm, 1559 Echo Park Ave at Delta. Perhaps I will see you there!

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Ballard’s and Raven-Lily Grand Opening on Saturday

We wrote recently about Ballard’s Artwork Framing re-opening at its new home on Sunset, and we now know it is sharing the retail space with a fair trade gifts and accessories organization called Raven + Lily.

The grand opening event is coming up on Saturday, August 7 and includes drinks and cupcakes from 11:00 am – 7:00 pm followed by wine and cheese until 10:00 pm.

Ballard’s is located at 1568 Sunset Blvd.

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Echo Park Dispensary Shooting Update

Flickr photo via Walking Flower

News sources (including Echo Park’s own Eastsider LA) are reporting one arrest has been made and another suspect being sought for the robbery and shooting that took place on June 24 at the Higher Path marijuana dispensary in Echo Park. The LAPD held a news conference today to announce new developments in the case, specifically the arrest of 31-year-old Daniel “Scooter” Hinton. They are still looking for another suspect, 27-year-old Raymond Lemone Easter. Hinton is currently being held without bail.

The robbery resulted in the slaying of dispensary employee Matthew Butcher and the injury of the store’s security guard.

h/t The Eastsider LA for the scoop!

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Echo Park Film Center’s Filmmobile Screenings

The Filmmobile is back from its summer hiatus to bring you films on wheels screened in unusual outdoor locations. Here’s what’s coming up:

MI VIDA LOCA – Friday, August 6 at 8:00 pm
Mi Vida Loca tells the story of young Mexican-American women in Los Angeles and the struggles they have in a life of gangs, drugs, and personal betrayal. Mousie (Seidy López) and Sad Girl (Angel Aviles) are best friends from childhood, growing up in gang-infested Echo Park and remaining loyal to each other. But when Sad Girl sleeps with Mousie’s boyfriend (a drug dealer who is killed) and becomes pregnant, their friendship is ruptured. As the violence of their neighborhood erupts around them, they must try to stay together as friends despite their betrayals. This is an unforgiving look at a world where women seem to have no choice but to raise their children, deal drugs, and survive by whatever means available.

ROLLER BOOGIE – Friday, August 13 at 8:00 pm
“Roller Boogie is one movie you won’t want to miss! In addition to the roller skating scenes, the fantastic music, slapstick humor–and tender love scenes, you’ll find some of the cutest guys you’d ever hope to meet. Jim Bray stars as Bobby James, the skating champion (and Olympic hopeful) who sweeps pretty co-star Linda Blair off her feet (literally). In real life, Jim’s a skater, but now that he’s had a taste of acting, he really thinks he might like to make a career of it. And when you see Jim in the movie, you’ll have to agree he’s the cutest thing on wheels.” – Tiger Beat Magazine

All screenings are free and open to the public. The locations are secret until a few hours before the screening. You can call (213-484-8846), email (info@echoparkfilmcenter.org) or follow them on Twitter (http://twitter.com/EPFCfilmmobile).

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Summer Nights in Chinatown

Flickr Photo via Steven D'Antoni

Another way to keep cool this summer and enjoy some family-friendly activities is actually not too far from Echo Park in nearby Chinatown. Summer Nights in Chinatown starts this weekend, August 7, and will continue every Saturday throughout the month. The event showcases food trucks, neighborhood shops, restaurants, bars and art galleries, along with cooking demonstrations and other cultural activities. You can get some great discounts at the restaurants and shops during Summer Nights, just be sure to click here and print out the coupons for your discounts.

It’s a pretty easy bicycle commute from where I live in Echo Park, and they even offer free bike valet courtesy of Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. This weekend, there’s a cooking demonstration, family workshop with Chinese calligraphy, food trucks (non-Chinese, like Nom Nom Truck, India Jones Chow Truck, Spring Street Smoke House, The Patty Wagon, Papas Tapas and Fry Smith), dancing and DJs.

Click here for the Chinatown Summer Nights website to view the event map and full schedule.

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Elysian Park expansion groundbreaking ceremony

The City of LA will soon break ground for a new park located alongside Riverside Drive near Stadium way. Five acres of the 18-acre Elysian Park expansion purchase will be the first to be developed, and costing about $1,425,000 should open as early as next Spring. Some of the new features, according to the press release, include:

…a new permeable parking lot with handicap parking stalls to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance; new services and connection for water and electricity utilities; two multipurpose game courts, an open lawn area, picnic areas, children’s play area, landscape, irrigation, benches, fencing, trails with nature interpretive area and outdoor classroom, access road connecting lower and mid levels of the park, and bio-swales to capture and infiltrate on-site storm water runoffs.

Groundbreaking takes place on Tuesday, August 17 from 4-5:00 pm at 1800 Riverside Drive.

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Historic Filipinotown 5K Run/Walk

The Historic Filipinotown 5K Run/Walk is this weekend, kicking off the 8th celebration of the founding of the neighborhood. The run takes place at 7:30 am on Saturday, August 7, and starts at 1925 West Temple Street.

The run goes through the heart of Historic Filipinotown headed west on Temple Street to Hoover, up past the 101 and back again. The event coordinators recommend you check out some of the cafes in the area, including: “Gigi’s (Cuban Bakery), famous Brooklyn Bagels,  Original Tommy’s Burger, Tribal Cafe or specialty Filipino restaurants namely Salakot, Kapistahan, Nanay Gloria’s, Bahay Kubo and more.”

Community Partners include: LAPD Rampart Div., SIPA, FASGI, TWNDC, MOTHER Movement, Burlington School, Rotary Club of Historic Filipinotown. Primary Sponsors are the Office of LA Council President Eric Garcetti, Silverlake Medical Center and Seafood City.

You can still register online at www.active.com until Friday, August 6 at 11:59 am.

After the run, there will be a free film screening of “Little Manila” and sneak preview of “Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers”  by Emmy award winner Marissa Aroy.  Screenings will be at the SIPA Gateway Community Center at 3200 W. Temple Street at 12:00 noon on Saturday.

Check out the Historic Filipinotown website for more info, maps and photos from runs from previous years.

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Old-Time Jam every first Thursday at 1642

I’ve been meaning to write about 1642 bar for a while now since it’s such a cool space in an unusual part of town. Located at 1642 Temple (and technically part of Historic Filipinotown),the decor is simple and friendly with a few seats at the weathered bar, and tables and black booth seats around the interior. There’s an original brick wall along the rights side they had uncovered during the remodel, and gorgeous original antique lamps hanging from the ceiling.

1642 opened up early this Spring after doing quite a bit of remodeling to the 1940s building. The space used to house a restaurant/bar called “Lupita’s,” apparently remembered for paintings of nude women adorning the walls.

Well the nude paintings are gone (are you disappointed?), but you can find owner Liz Fischbach behind the bar, serving up salty peanuts alongside a selection of 4-6 craft beers on tap, plus bottles and cans of other delicious beers, and wines by the glass.

1642 does host some events at the bar, in the past such events included a “Slow Dance” and other such DJ’d events. The next one is coming up soon! The Old-Time Music open Jam night started in May, and will continue every month on the first Thursday. Check it out this Thursday, August 5, from 8:00 – 11:00 pm.

1642 is located at 1642 West Temple St.

Liz” Fischbach (we share a back fence) is a first-time bar owner and took the bar that was once a seedy gangster hangout called Lupita’s with lude paintings of nude women adorning the walls (and is literally 50 feet from her house) and gave it a fresh coat of paint, new furniture and uncovered some of the 1940’s architecture that had been covered up (this space has been a bar since the 1940’s!).  To drink there’s a great selection of 4-6 craft beers on tap (like Eagle Rock Brewery’s Red Velvet!) plus bottles and cans of hard-to-find beers and 3 red and 3 white wines by the glass.  To eat, salted peanuts.  Could not be more perfect.
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