LOS ANGELES, CA
Deep in the vibrant fold of Grand Central Market, hungry foodies fill every seat at the counter of this little vegan ramen shop. I’ve been wanting to try Ramen Hood for years. Leave it to me to finally taste the kelp and shiitake-infused broth on a sunny 82-degree Southern California afternoon. I was heatin’ up with every spoonful!
Garlic Ramen
Choose from five savory ramen bowls with bean sprouts, scallions, bok choy, king oyster mushrooms, nori, and chili threads: OG Ramen, Spicy Ramen, The OG Rice Bowl, Cold Smokey Ramen, and Garlic Ramen. For $2, you can add a half soft-boiled vegan “egg.” The “egg white” is made with soy milk, seasoned with salt and pepper, and gelled with a seaweed extract. The “yolk” is formed from a combination of nutritional yeast and a seaweed extract called sodium alginate. I’m bummed I didn’t splurge on the clever concoction. Next time, Ramen Hood. Next time.
Small plates include broccoli flavored with a soy chili glaze and scallions, ahi “tuna” crisps, cucumber salad with sesame dressing and garbanzos, avocado toast, and banh mi poutine—cheesy fries topped with hoisin gravy, pickled vegetables, Sriracha, jalapeños, and cilantro.
For more deliciously kind vegan noms in Downtown Los Angeles, check out Shojin, Donut Friend, Vurger Guyz, and Modern Times’ The Dankness Dojo. Enjoy! 😋
EXPLORING THE CITY
Are you ready for the rest of your perfect downtown day? Exit the market onto Broadway and to the left you’ll see a Blue Bottle Coffee, unassuming from the outside, super cute on the inside.
Grab an oat latte to bounce back from that lunchtime itis and fuel your half mile journey to stop #3. Up 3rd Street, right on Grand, and just before you hit 2nd, there it is—an impressive work of art standing worlds apart from its neighboring buildings.
THE BROAD
Let’s begin with the museum’s “veil-and-vault” design. The honeycomb shell forms the “veil.” Inside, a select fraction of the 2,000-piece Broad collection is displayed on two gallery levels, with the remainder—excluding those works on loan to museums around the world—housed in the center “vault.” Safeguarded yes, but not hidden. Take the stairs when you return from the upper gallery to the ground floor and you’ll see what I mean.
Aside from the museum store that drew me in like gravity the moment I stepped beyond the glass entry doors (bookworm problems), three features truly captivated me. The first was the grey, smooth, cave-like walls pierced by an unusually tall escalator leading you to contemporary works by Jeff Koons, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, and others.
Balloon Dog, Jeff Koons
The Rose, Cy Twombly
Rorschach, Andy Warhol
The color and enormity of Andy Warhol’s Rorschach made me envy its owner. Over 13 feet tall, the acrylic “ink blot” was created by painting one side of a canvas and then folding it vertically to stamp a mirror image on the second half. I see two seahorse kings calling a truce, if seahorses had hands to shake with—and wore crowns for that matter. What do you see?
When you arrive at The Broad, make a free reservation for the immersive art installation titled The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away. Please. You deserve to be awestruck.
Truthfully, I hadn’t expected Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Room to live up to all the hype. For years, images of the twinkling display have decorated social media pages—I wrongfully assumed the intent was merely self-serving. Fun Fact: Kusama completed her first Infinity Mirror Room in 1965.
Before you enter, prepare yourself. Each visitor is granted only 45 seconds, long enough to disorient you in the darkness, but hardly ample time to observe the surreal impression of distance and multiplicity. So take it in quickly! ✨
Eternal unlimited universe, love for humanity, and longing for peace in the world—these concepts become increasingly serious through the development of my philosophy of life and art. —Yayoi Kusama
Ending with my own selfie taken in a galaxy far, far away…
