This isn’t quite a review, but more of a happy response. I went to dinner at Canele with a friend, Whitney of The Kernel, and had a really wonderful time. The place is very small, very intimate, but never stuffy. The kitchen is open for all to see, behind a short bar, and the tables are less than ten feet away from the simmering pots and pans. It feels almost like a friend’s kitchen. The food was excellent across the board and the staff was so friendly, one even shared tidbits off the shoulder of the lamb he was eating at the bar. It’s a story, I’ll tell it sometime.

I just published my first story on LA.com, a review on the rather promising new 1739 Public House in Los Feliz. Here’s an excerpt:

Not dingy enough for hipsters, nor hip enough for Hollywood types, and certainly not Hollywood enough for out-of-towners, Public House feels local. The bartenders are friendly, the service is usually quick, and the crowd is pretty mellow, except on crazy quiz nights (Wednesday) when the place is packed.

Read the rest here.

GraphJam Wastes Your Time – Lose about 400 minutes out of your day as you browse a bunch of reasonably clever graphs on random pop culture and tech tidbits.

The Paper Clip Can’t Save You Here! - Or don’t waste time. If you’re a writer, try WriteRoom, the simplest way to write in full screen and be happy with it. You know, unless you can afford Pages. I can’t.

“No one wants to play Dr. Mario’s Paperwork Party.” – McSweeney’s wry take on the terrible health care fiasco facing the Mushroom Kingdom.

Why Couldn’t This Have Happened Over A Week Ago? – A sweet remade restaurant in the middle of Hollywood pulls a Luxury Hobo-Night on Mondays. It’s the troublesomely named Cafe Wa s (yes, there’s a space between the “Wa” and the “s”), which features an awesomely bizarre interior and decent French food (I’m still making my mind up on this one).

Yesterday, I covered the press conference for dineLA restaurant week 2009 for various clients. Mayor Villaraigosa was there and he got stuffed with a kobe Philly cheesesteak. Yes, in this recession, chefs in LA have decided the Philly cheesesteak doesn’t cut it. It needs to be more expensive and much, much smaller. (It was delicious, though.) Here are some photos from the event: