There's a new website called "Mindful Mom" -- about the practice of "mindfulness" in the everyday life of Moms.
You might justifiably ask how in the world I know anything about this
The answer is simple: They asked to run a part of my column on Dutton's closing and I know Susan Kaiser Greenland who is the person behind the site.
Check it out! www.mindfulmom.com

One could arrive on Sawtelle avenue at the edge of West LA and spend a day wandering the few blocks between Santa Monfica Blvd and Olympic Blvd -- looking at the Japanese video and game stores, the hip sneaker shops and comic stores, and you could eat for several days wandering from restaurant to restaurant, food emporium to food emporium.
 
This Sunday, Mother's day, found us at my wife's new favorite discovery the LITTLE HONG KONG CAFE -- with the paucity of good chinese food on the westside, this is a welcome addition. Everything we had was great, including the wonton soup, a chicken with eggplant dish, a filet of sole special, and a rice noodle dish. Service was friendly and helpful. The restaurant is near Olympic on the west side of the street in the min mall that houses Hurry Curry and several other great eating places, which will be reviewed another time.

After lunch, we wandered to the Olympic Collection, the mall at the corner of Sawtelle and Olympic which houses a pastry shop called CAKE HOUSE and the inevitable PINKBERRY --

Across the street is Papa Beards which sells fresh baked cream puffis which you watch as they inject with the filling of your choice, such as vanilla, chocolate or strawberry -- we got a box of those as a gift.. the  fresh baked smell is enough to make you salivate.

Then we headed into the Japanese market there, where my daughter found herself in Pocky heaven -- Why Japanese cookies, candies and snacks look so cool, and seem so much interesting than American fare is anyone's guess.

I have long wanted to do an article/book where I go from one end of Fairfax Blvd to another writing about every shop and eating at every restaurant. Well, I am sure Sawtelle could fill a book and would take several trips to fully investigate a much shorter distance.

You might think that I'm using any excuse to showcase this photo of me and Dr. John

and you would be right!

But I do have a story to tell. When I met Dr. John last Wednesday night  outside Tipitina's in New Orleans, he asked where I was from.

"Los Angeles," I told him

"I know some people there," he said.

I offered that I knew someone he knew in Los Angeles, Stewart Levine" (a producer Dr John has worked with)

"I know two Stewart Levines in Los Angeles," Dr John said, "And one of them is an asshole. Which one do you know?"

Ian Brown is a Canadian journalist who has won about every award there is to win in Canada. He is on staff at The Globe and Mail in Toronto where he lives.

Earlier in the year Ian wrote a long series, "The boy in the moon," about his severely disabled son Walker.

It is a moving feature and from a writer's point of view, he has pushed himself to go to uncomfortable places and reach for an honesty that is to be commended and which makes this article memorable.

The Globe and Mail is to be commended not only for publishing it, but also for the excellent photos and video they have created to go along with the piece, which were nominated for a Webby Award.

He is currently expanding it into a book.

I know, I know, I've been on deadline on a bunch of things, and the items I want to post keep adding up:

So Let me share some quickly

Mark Sarvas read at Village Books Tuesday night from his novel "Harry, Revised" to an appreciative crowd, and I got to meet his bride, Mrs TEV (The elegant Variation is Mark's blog)

At the reading was the very talented Rachel Resnick, my writing guru, whose memoir Love Junkie will be published shortly by Bloomsbury.

There will be a reading at M Bar/ Word Theater in Los Angeles on May 28 at 8PM

Three years ago in the summer Katrina devastated New Orleans. The following May a group of us went to New Orleans for Jazzfest to support a city we loved by being tourists, by spending money in its restaurant and hotels, in its clubs and stores by attending Jazzfest.

At that time we toured the 9th ward where the levee broke Despite what I had seen on the news, in print and on TV, despite that it was 9 months later, the devastation was mind blowing: houses off their foundations, cars on top of houses, houses on top of cars, for blocks and blocks.

Now three years later, the levee is repaired, and the debris had pretty much all been removed. Apparently most of the removal had taken place last year. Now a few houses, new construction, or fema trailers stood alone surrounded by tall grass. No services, no schools, no hospitals nearby.
 

We drove block after block, the absence speaking volumes. We went over the bridge and saw the block Harry Connick has been supporting, his musician's street that is featured in commercials and it does look like the start of a neighborhood. But the reality is in the gap between what was and what is

.

Yes, three years later, New Orleans is coming back. But it is coming back slower, with less people, less services, a weaker economy than before.

New Orleans is also suffering because of a general slow down in the economy. Not as many people are choosing to drive because of the price of gas, not as many business people are attending conventions.

New Orleans does good business during Jazzfest -- but after -- well, things are still tough.

Saturday night found all of us wandering around Frenchmen Street, visiting the clubs there, from the Dragon's Den where a combo of guy on mac, guy on drums and guy on turntable jammed together.

Over at the Blue Nile there was a great band called Toubab Krewe -- a bunch of white guys playing exotic African instruments -- it was sort of the David Byrne / Talking Heads / Fela Kuti influenced "remain in light" sound taken to a trance level.





Sunday I worked in one more outrageous meal at Commander's Palace. Commander's reopned after 18 months with a multi-million dollar renovation to make it look like it always did --  Easter brunch year round. the Blood marys were reportedly excellent, I had perhaps the best cosmopolitan I've had in New Orleans, I had an incredible chicken and andouille sausage soup, --the famous turtle soup was terrific, the eggs sardou remain true to classic, but a steak and eggs was off the charts --- but all is prelude to the bread pudding. Such was a perfect ending to a classic meal.

PS. Harry Shearer and Judith Owen were at the next table

This deserves more detail but just want to put it out there: this comes as no surprise because everyone says so, but the best restaurant right now in New Orleans (or thus far in my eating adventures) is August.

I will go in greater detail at a later date but every course was fantastic as was the room and the service -- all great.
I'm going to recommend a beet salad that had the most amazing lardons and fried black eyed peas, a duck breast, that was incredible (almost too rich to finish, if you imagine me saying that) -- the parmesan crusted lemonfish was amazing -- and the deserts also off the charts -- a winner.....

The most moving moving moment was hearing Marcia Ball's rendition of Randy Newman's "Louisiana." Heartbreaking....