A CUT Above

"To the victor go the spoils" - or so the saying goes. So thanks to the Philadelphia Flyers loss of Lord Stanley's Cup in June, I won a bet I made with my friend Tammy and had the privilege of dining in one of the finest restaurants in Los Angeles.

Tammy and I both appreciate a good meal, and when we made the bet, we knew someone was pulling out the spare credit card. We did not bet on dinner at a specific restaurant, only that the location would be the winners choice and there was no budget. In LA, that gives you some dangerous options, to say the least. When were getting around to scheduling the evening and discussing restaurant choices, I really didn't have anything specific in mind when Tammy started throwing out names of steakhouses. We both enjoy a good steak, and it's not the kind of meal either of us enjoy on a regular basis. But I also wanted her to help choose the location, because I thought it would be fun to go somewhere neither of us had been before. That helped narrow the choices sufficiently for us to choose CUT in Beverly Hills.

Attach the name Wolfgang Puck to anything related to food and you know you're in for an amazing experience. Locate a Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (which is owned by the Four Seasons hotel group) and you have an evening fit for a princess (That would be me, in case you were wondering who the princess is in this little dining drama).

Can I move in?

I had a bit better luck than Tammy in the traffic department, so I enjoyed a cocktail at Sidecar (conveniently located right next door) while I was waiting.

The gentleman seated next to me was enjoying some bone marrow flan off the restaurant menu. Gorgeous presentation, but a little off the scale in experimentation for my taste buds.

When Tammy finally arrived, we got seated and she started perusing the wine list.

The sommelier stopped by and asked if we needed some help deciding, and I was impressed immediately by two things. First, the sommelier was a woman. Second, she didn't linger and make us feel pressured to choose. She made some lovely recommendations and left us alone with our thoughts. After an additional few words of encouragement from our charming waiter, Tammy chose a perfect syrah for our meal.

Cheers!

Then we set about the formidable task of deciding what to eat. If you've never enjoyed dining at a place like this before, everything is a la carte, so you order entrees and side dishes separately and the portions are large enough to share. And because you're spending a Kings ransom on a steak, they even bring the various cuts of meat over on a gleaming silver tray so you can inspect the degree and consistency of the marbling (or in steak parlance, fat, which makes it more tender and juicy when cooked) in the cut of meat you're considering. And we also received a bit of eduction on Kobe beef, which apparently is under embargo right now, so unless you go to Japan you cannot enjoy "true" Kobe beef, although you can have very fine beef in the "Kobe style." So many decisions....

Of course, in addition to being charming, our waiter was French (originally from Lyon) and retained just enough of his original accent to contribute the perfect ambiance to the ordering process. This was our conversation:

Adorable French waiter: "And for you madam?"
Me: "I'll have the Nebraska rib eye, please."
Adorable French waiter: "Lovely! How would you like it prepared?"
Me: "Rare."
Adorable French waiter: "Very good...*raising eyebrows*...and your side order?"
Me: "I would love to try this incredible macaroni and cheese."
Adorable French waiter: "*smiles and nods*...The perfect meal!"
Me: "Can I take you home with me?"

Before we got down the main course, we did have a lovely crab and shrimp appetizer. I promptly apologized to Tammy for photographing my food, but I don't live like a princess every day, and documentation was necessary.

I had every intention of taking pictures of my incredible steak, the heavenly mac and cheese, and some truly amazing creamed spinach I shared with Tammy, but the wine and the appetizer got the best of me. Plus there was a very handsome fellow at the next table that kept glancing over at me. Initially, he sat down alone and I thought he might be security, ready to throw me out of the place for photoing Mr. Puck's lovely food and attempting to steal his secrets. Luckily another man joined him, so he's probably just an out-of-work actor.

And even though we had absolutely no room for dessert, we got just a little something sweet to finish off the loveliest meal I've had in a long time.

Sadly, it was time to leave.    And even more sadly, THIS chariot was not included in the deal... 

But a girl can dream, right?

Dave Barnes @ The Roxy

The last time I saw Dave Barnes in LA was at The Hotel Cafe back in April of 2009, almost a year before the release of his current album "What We Want, What We Get." I always enjoy Dave's recordings, so I snapped up his latest release on pre-order several months ago and have been listening to it non-stop in the car since it arrived in the mail. But nothing beats a Dave Barnes live show, so I was happy to see him making an appearance at The Roxy on Sunset Boulevard.



The best part was running into Cissy and Suzanne, two new friends I made at the Hotel Cafe LAST YEAR! Catching up made standing in line a lot more fun!



One of the great things about Dave is his support of young, up and coming artists, and I'm always curious to see who comes along for the ride to open for him. At the last Hotel Cafe show, I discovered Andrew Ripp, who is currently working on a new album, produced by none other than DAVE BARNES, and opening for Dave on some Midwest dates.

The first act was Julian Moon, a San Diego based college student who sounds kind of like Jewel without the yodeling.



The thing stood out most about her was her awesome shoes. She's cute, but the music is pleasant yet unremarkable. Her band mates were more interesting than she was -- a one-armed drummer (one arm was in a sling) and a guitar player that could pass for Kings defenceman Matt Greene.



So much for that.

But the REAL new talent discovery of the night was Allen Stone.



Don't let the long blond hair, geeky black rimmed glasses, and acoustic guitar fool you -- this guy has a HUGE voice tailor made for R&B. Think James Morrison or Marc Broussard, two of my favorite singers, and you get the idea. The son of religious parents, he grew up singing gospel, and you can tell. All of his original music is passionate, thoughtful and melodic, and the cover he pulled off of the Marvin Gaye classic "What's Going On" had the whole room singing right along.

Stone's performance more than justified further exploration with a CD purchase, which is now on constant rotation in the car right next to Dave's record.



Key tracks to check out include "Better Off This Way," "Figure It Out," and "Poison."

Then it was time for the man himself...THE Dave Barnes.



If you look up the term "cutie-patootie" in the dictionary, you'll find Dave's picture next to it. Or as Suzanne said several times throughout the evening, "He's just so adorable!"



The set list kicked off with selections from the new album, then mixed in a nice variety of old favorites from previous albums with classic Dave story vignettes sprinkled throughout.

********************
Chameleon
What I Need
Butterflies
My Love, My Enemy
Grace's Amazing Hands
Someday, Sarah
What We Want, What We Get
The L.A. Song
I Have and Always Will
God Gave Me You
Little Lies
Until You
Greyhound (Encore)
********************

My only complaint about the show was the venue, or more specifically, the crowd. During the portions where I was standing in the back, it was hard to hear and a bunch of unappreciative people were talking through some really nice moments. After the epic campfire sing-along harmonizing at Hotel Cafe, this one was a little bit of a let-down.

To Dave's credit, he worked his butt off to keep his audience engaged right up until the end, even coming down into the crowd to get everyone snapping, clapping and singing along to "Greyhound."



Because whether the whole crowd knows it or not, Dave Barnes is a talent worth seeing under any circumstances. And the next time he's in LA, I'll be there.

Hotel Cafe: Old Classics and New Discoveries

One advantage to the NHL's involvement in the Olympics is a little break in my busy hockey schedule, making it slightly easier for me to get out and see more live music with Tammy. Last night, we hit Hotel Cafe, one of our top 3 live music spots in LA and an always dependable source of great music. And it's a great bargain too...we saw 4 acts for a mere $15, which tells you exactly how much artists are struggling to make a buck in the current marketplace.

The main purpose of our visit was to check out songwriter extraordinaire Dan Wilson. The last time we saw him at this same venue, he was promoting Free Life, then his most recent release. He doesn't have a new disc ready yet, but he's been holed up at home writing all winter, so we got to hear some new things planned for an eventual album in addition to some old Semisonic tracks and my personal favorite song - the title track from Free Life.



In addition to writing graceful and beautiful songs, Dan is incredibly funny. He's got this hot music theory professor vibe I just love - he's older, he wears glasses, but he's got this undeniably hip style at the same time. And watching him collaborate on stage with a pianist and back-up singer for a couple songs was a treat - a smile kept sneaking across his face as the professor appreciated the contributions of his students on a certain chord or harmony. I can't wait until he has a new album.

Dan alone would have been well worth the $15 door for me, but we got to see some other great artists as well. The first was Laura Meyer.



Laura is the kind of artist Hotel Cafe was made for - a tiny girl with a beachy-hippie style playing lovely finger picked guitar and singing sweet, sad songs about love and traveling the world searching for and experiencing it. She' s a beach babe and fellow sister of uncontrollable curly hair, so she resonated with me. And I give her credit for smart marketing - her website has 4 songs available for free download, and I already got an e-mail from her this morning thanking me for coming to the show last night. I hope she goes places.

Jim Bianco is listed under the genres Rock, Music, Singer/Songwriter, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Country, Americana, Adult Alternative in iTunes, and he actually fits (at least partially) in all of them, which is a strange and rare feat. It's an even stranger feat to assemble a band of dopplegangers for some notable celebrities. Tammy and I renamed them the "Separated at Birth" band.

Jim himself bears a small resemblance to Bradley Cooper, and the guitar player to his right strangely resembles Geoffrey Rush.



The sax player looks like a shorter haired George Clooney, and the keyboard guy could pass for Johnny Depp, don't you think?



OK, maybe it was the drinks talking. I can tell you that the opening song had me swearing I was hearing the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and loving every minute of it. Song titles like "Shut Up and Kiss Me" and lyrics including "My friends and I are sinners...." confirmed we were dealing with a rogue talent in the best way possible. And any band that can rock a strip tease song as part of their set is fine by me.

But my favorite new artist of the night was Joey Ryan, who is in the middle of a month long residency at Hotel Cafe to promote his newest album, Kenter Canyon.



There isn't anything NOT to like about Joey Ryan. He's good looking, the songs are solid, and he's smart enough to entice the amazing Sara Bareilles to guest on one of his songs ("Broken Headlights"). "Off Chasing The Wind," a new unrecorded track he performed at the show, pretty much sums up his style - beautiful harmonies combined with thoughtful, intelligent lyrics that are romantic and touching without being syrupy.



You can find Joey at Hotel Cafe Thursday nights for the next few weeks, so if you're in town, check him out. And tell him his "front row cynic" sent you.

New Music Alert! Daniel Merriweather

My friend Tammy discovered Aussie singer-songwriter Daniel Merriweather in Paris last year, and was kind enough to share some of his music with me. So when he announced a show at LA's Troubadour, we had to be there. And we got a huge bonus seeing Samantha Ronson spin to start off the night (her brother Mark Ronson produced Merriweather's album).



Most people know Samantha Ronson mostly from her association with Lindsay Lohan, which has been well documented in the tabloids. Music aficionados know she's a hell of a DJ, and I was thoroughly impressed with her mash-ups and wide ranging musical taste. Here's a little sample of her playlist featuring some unique sequence choices...and they all worked!

• "California" (Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre)
• "Fidelity" (Regina Spektor)
• "In The Air Tonight" (Phil Collins)
• "I Want You Back" (Jackson 5)
• "Under Pressure" (Queen)

My favorite move of the night was Guns & Roses "Sweet Child of Mine" cutting to Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl." How Sam's brain comes up with this stuff, I don't know. But I loved it.

Then it was time for Daniel Merriweather's set.



As he walked on stage, he looked a bit like the love child of Michael Buble and Brian Setzer. And he's got a serious case of John Mayer "Guitar Face" when he sings. But get past all that, and he's a soulful, emotive performer who connects so well with the audience he had everyone doing a two-step in unison by the end of the night. His voice reminds me a lot of Marc Broussard, another underappreciated singer with a major set of pipes. All of Merriweather's original music was great, but the highlight of the night for me was his cover of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed." It absolutely blew me away.



And any guy smart enough to put a jamming female bass player in his band is OK by me. Look out boys! She was holding it DOWN!



Merriweather's single "Red" is available now on iTunes. It's listed under RB/Soul, but don't be deterred by that. He's got a lot more range and is well worth your time. His album drops February 28th here in the States.

And what better way to end a great night than with the promise of more great music in the near future...



The Kings don't have a game due to the Olympic break, so unless work takes me out of town, you can find me at the Troubadour with Bob!

Meg's Guided Tour of LA

My sister and brother-in-law decided to visit the West Coast this summer, and luckily I had a weekend in between business trips to take them around and give them the insiders view of LA. We had a lot of fun, got a little sunburn (had to do the tour top down in the EOS, of course!), and got to catch up. They were even nice enough to take me out for an early birthday dinner!

They arrived on Saturday morning just in time for lunch, so we headed out for Mexican. Dave (my brother-in-law) is a picky eater, but he loves Mexican food, and no one doesn't like a margarita in LA, right? So we headed out to Los Compadres on Sunset, home of the flaming margarita.



It was fun to go back there for me too. When I moved to LA 10 years ago (jeez, has it been that long?), Los Compadres was my favorite hang-out with my co-workers Peter and Scott, especially since Peter's house is right around the corner a few blocks.

With our hunger satisfied, we did a little driving tour of Sunset, Melrose and Santa Monica Boulevards so I could point out some stuff for them to check out later. Then we headed to the infamous Hollywood Walk of Fame. Liz promptly ran into the President....



....while Dave hooked up with Marilyn...



...and two of the shortest members of KISS I've ever seen!



Meanwhile, Liz attempted to muscle through the crowd around Michael Jackson's star on the Walk of Fame.



Even this many weeks after the funeral, it's still a madhouse. I wasn't even gonna try to get in there. Luckily I live here, so I can go back on a week day if I ever need a picture.

We were all pretty exhausted at that point, me from the sun and Liz and Dave from a very long trip west that started at 2 AM their time. So I dropped them back at their rental car, and they headed to the hotel and off on their own for the evening.

The next day, Dave had gotten tickets for all of us to the Dodgers Game.



Lucky for me, it was LA Kings Day at Dodger Stadium, and our assistant captain and defenseman Matt Greene was throwing out the first pitch! I shot some video, but our seat location in the left field pavilion meant you can't really see anything. If you want to see Matty's pitch, here's a link to the Kings website that has a much better video.

http://kings.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=731&id=45125

We did have a quite nice view of Manny Ramirez all day, and boy does he love working the crowd! If only my nephew Will had been here, we might have gotten a ball!



In honor of our famous left fielder, Dave bought himself some replica "Manny-dreds."



It was a great game, although it was hot as Hades the entire day, and the section we were sitting in had NO shade at any point in the day. The air temp per my iPhone was 90 degrees, but if felt like at least 100 in our seats. Needless to say, we downed several of these...



By the end of the afternoon, we had survived the heat, and the Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, aided by a beautiful homer by Matt Kemp. Then it was home to shower and take a break, followed by a trip to LA Live and dinner at the Yard House.

Thanks to Liz and Dave for a great weekend! Unfortunately, this tour guide is off to Florida in the morning...all work and no play this time.

Jewel @ The Roxy

Tammy scored big when she found a notice on-line about a free show Jewel was doing at the Roxy in Hollywood to celebrate the release of her new album, Lullaby. So after fun and sun at Disney and a quick run home for a shower, I joined Tammy, who already got a spot in line. What great friends do I have?!



I bought Jewel's first album, "Pieces of You," at the same time most of the world was discovering the little girl from Alaska with the guitar, the unique voice, and a talent for yodeling. I love the album, but she never became one of those "must-have" artists for me, and although I enjoyed the singles from other albums she recorded, I never bought another one. After seeing her live, I have some record collecting to do.



You see, Jewel is one of those artists where the recording process shortchanges you as a listener in way. It only gives you one interpretation of a song, a limited little window to view the sunlight. Her live performances are more akin to holding a crystal up the to the sunlight and watching millions of colored points of light dance through the facets and onto the ceiling. Her strength is in the subtle nuance in the bend of each note, the dynamic highs and lows, and the syncopated delivery of each poetic line.

The fact that she's an incredible storyteller is where it all starts. For over 2 hours, Jewel told the stories behind the songs, and recalled her journey to a life she never expected and clearly appreciates because of how hard it was to get there. She's an old soul who survived living in her car, broke, sometimes shoplifting so she could eat, all the while playing in coffee shops, clubs, and even on the street trying to realize her dream. Her stories are beautiful, heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, and the fact that she's so open in sharing them makes her heroic.



Time to go record shopping.

On a Music Mission

My friend Tammy is a live music junkie, and LA is a great place for live music. We hadn't been out to see any bands in a while, so we were talking a couple of weeks ago and agreed it was time. Our only plan was to hit the Hotel Cafe, a great little venue in Hollywood that attracts singer-songwriter types from all over. More on that in a second.

Our plan was to meet up after work at Hollywood and Highland, a kind of shopping mall/entertainment complex next to Graumann's Chinese Theatre, grab some food and walk over the the club. Tammy wanted to make a quick stop by the Virgin Megastore, and we were excited to find out Shiny Toy Guns were doing an in-store performance and CD signing. I haven't heard much of their music, but Tammy likes them, so we stuck around. It was your typical "unplugged" style thing, while the records are more electronica, but the songs are great and it was fun performance. Now I have another band to check out on iTunes!



(That's Tammy in the grey sweater getting her CD signed)


Then we popped over to Hotel Cafe to check out Josh Kelley. To all you non-music fans that follow watch Access Hollywood and read People magazine, he's Mr. Katherine Heigl. Josh did a great set, and his band is a riot. Those guys are like the 3 Stooges when they get together. Of course, Josh also mentioned they had dinner across the street at the Velvet Margarita before the show, so they were a little liquored up....



If you're in LA and want to see some great music any night of the week, Hotel Cafe is the spot. So they deserve a link:

http://www.hotelcafe.com/first.html

Tammy and I are headed back there Friday night to check out Brett Dennen. Live music lives in LA!!!