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Noted: Festival Junkie, Butter Up, A Tight SHYP + More
It’s that time again Angelenos, LA Canvas has yet again put together a list of notable food, events, music and more all around the Los Angeles area for The Taste Issue. With summer fast approaching we made sure to incorporate what makes this city our favorite summer haven like music festivals, gelato, & well made cocktails. Here’s to you LA.
ALL THAT JAZZ
Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to appreciate the spatial uniqueness of LA’s sprawl. Hailing from Norway, Jaga Jazzistis an eight-piece jazz band whose main songwriter, Lars Horntveth, moved to LA in late 2012. Taking inspiration from our city’s nocturnal glow and wide-open skies, Horntveth began composing the octet’s forthcoming EP, Starfire. A deft arrangement encompassing everything from curiously interstellar tones to warmer, more earthbound vibes, the EP is an appropriate synthesis of our city’s contrarian—yet captivating—composition. Jaga Jazzist’s Starfire EP is out June 2 on Ninja Tune.
FESTIVAL JUNKIE
Coachella may be over; but if you’ve still got festival fever, we encourage you to check out Lightning in a Bottle. Take the impressively curated selection of performers at Coachella’s DoLaB stage, add the venue’s vibrant approach to production, and now imagine the whole thing on a grander scale. That, more or less, is Lightning in a Bottle. Accompanied by a bountiful roundup of mind-expanding activities and workshops, Lightning in a Bottle offers a transformational experience often referred to as a “mini Burning Man.” This year’s event includes acts like Flume, SBTRKT, Odesza, Tycho, and John Digweed, and will be held over Memorial Day Weekend (May 21-25, 2015) in Bradley, CA.
32 FLAVORS + THEN SOME
Uli Nasibova’s Gelateria Uli churns out fresh gelatos and sorbets made daily in her Historic Core kitchen. A little over a year ago, Uli discovered a passion for feeding the sweet tooth of her fellow Downtowners. From there, she quit her day job in wealth management and, together with her husband, opened up shop. While their staple flavors are always solid, it’s Gelateria Uli’s seasonal selections that have our taste buds tingling. Past creations have included flavors like Mulled Apple sorbet, Coconut Lemongrass, and Saffron. Recently, Uli’s teamed up with their next-door neighbors, the taco legends at Guisado’s, for horchata and Jamaica-mint flavor collaborations. Mind blown.
A LESSON IN MIXOLOGY
Brandyn Tepper, Matt Landes, and Analisa Moskus are Cocktail Academy LA, a renegade crew of seasoned hospitality and cocktail experts shaking things up in the libation community. With combined experience from places like Hinoki & The Bird, Comme Ça, and 41 Ocean, they’ll school you in everything needed to make drinks like the pros, offering lessons in bartending, spirits history, bar tools, cocktail families, recipe development, and more—all hosted in the quirky, garden-like Arts District establishment known as Apartment A. Not quite ready to put your idle bar cart to use? You can still impress the homies by having Cocktail Academy LA cater your next event with custom concoctions like the McQueen Old Fashioned, made with Bulleit Bourbon, Demerara sugar, and coffee-tobacco bitters.
cocktailacademyla.com
BUTTER UP
Step up your PB&Js with LA-based Solstice Canyon’s small-batch, gourmet almond butters, whipped up by former food industry co-workers Rachael Sheridan and Jessie Litow. Each creation is USDA organic, vegan, raw, non-GMO, unpasteurized, and gluten-free; and with variations like Aztec Chocolate and Cardamom & Clove, these ladies’ almond butters are yummy (and healthy) enough to eat by the spoonful. Go ‘head, we won’t tell anyone.
SAVE THE DATE
Free music festivals your bag? Might want to start gathering the next group now (if you haven’t already). On June 6th, Old Town Pasadena hosts the West Coast’s largest music festival, Make Music Pasadena. With a projected 50,000 attendees gathering to watch 150 acts performing on five main stages and in over 30 venues, it’s easy to see why this annual concert series continues to be a local favorite. For this year’s eighth anniversary festival, you can expect a noteworthy lineup with bands like Dark Waves, Nick Waterhouse, and How to Dress Well. Grab your SPF and make a day of it.
A TIGHT SHYP
Well, damn. While we’re over here still trying to wrap our heads around the concept of digital stamps, the folks at Shyp —the year-old San Francisco start-up set to launch in LA mid-May—are planning to make our lives even easier. Thanks to the ethically questionable efficiency czars over at Amazon Prime, we’ve been conditioned to expect next-day everything—leaving a considerable chasm between the worlds of shipping and receiving for anyone still trucking to the post office. But now, Shyp aims to close that gap. The app’s premise is simple: ship anything,anywhere, for just $5—right from wherever you’re sitting. Open Shyp, press a button, and a dispatcher will be at your door in less than 20 minutes. No post offices or scrambling to find a suitable box. Or something resembling a suitable box that you can maybe tape. If you can find the tape.
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