Our annual Halloween party Dead British III is almost upon us, and I still haven’t a clue what to wear! I was thinking about being Princess Margaret (good excuse to have a gin & tonic), have considered William Shakespeare, but also quite fancy being Benny Hill or maybe Grotbags….
It is impressive at how creative the Brits in LA members can get – we have had Elizabeth Taylor, Freddy Mercury, Princess Diana, Action Man, Sid Vicious, Sweeny Todd, Doctor Who and daleks all in attendance – the dress code is come as a Dead Brit or something dead British.
We have had a few rebels show up in the past, including Teen Wolf, Liberace and even Tippi Hedren: as always our motto is “You don’t have to be British, you just have to like us”
Tickets are going fast but we still have some left – all details can be found at www.Britsin.LA
Public inconvenience
My trip to London was lovely and I am sure you will be relieved to know I finally made it to see the poppy installation (poppies.hrp.org.uk/) at the Tower of London (I will stop harking on about it now!) Fortunately it could be viewed from the exterior, as the ticket price is now £22. Even more shocking was that it cost 50p to spend a penny!
Currying favor
I also got to celebrate my birthday in London for the first time in many years. I picked The Notting Hill Arts Club, which turned out to be a fab choice – perfect for my eclectic guest list. We all danced till the wee hours and finished it off across the street with late night fish & chips. The only thing I didn’t get to do on my London wish list was have a curry; but fortunately for me (and you!) UK-based Bangladeshi chef Manju Choudhury is now cooking in Los Angeles. He launched his menu at his new venture, Cardamom, located just west of La Brea on Beverly Boulevard in the old India’s Oven Space.
The place opened this week so I booked a table almost the moment I stepped off the plane. I am delighted to report back that the food is absolutely delicious and may possibly be my new favorite restaurant! I sampled a variety of dishes and loved everything from the Murgh Makhani to the Saag Gosht, but I was particularly impressed with the depth of the spices and the freshness of the vegetables and herbs used in the Singaras (samosas – however I was told that it is only called a samosa when there is meat in it) and bhajis, far too often they are oily or overcooked, these were truly a delight to eat. I will definitely be returning soon, as apparently Chef Choudhury has a famous lobster dish and lamb shank curry that I have yet to try. Thank goodness for elastic waistbands! I really hope you all like it as much as I did. Cardamom is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, and is located at 7233 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90038. For more information or reservations, visit cardamomLA.com.
Gigs and quizzes…
So many British acts are playing in Los Angeles over the next few weeks, Erasure, Placebo, Jamie T, Jake Bugg, Fleetwood Mac and even The Who are back – we have a whole page dedicated to Brits Gigging in LA over on our blog The Anglo Files – we often have giveaways too so make sure to subscribe.
And don’t forget that our popular Brits in LA Pub Quiz starts up again on October 28th. Sandro Monetti is your Quizmaster for the evening and apart from a nice cash prize for the winning team and a Pikey gift voucher also up for grabs in the raffle, you’re guaranteed plenty of British banter!
Solo participants are always welcome, if you need a team drop me a line at eileen@Britsin.LA
Lastly, big congratulations to my BiLA partner Craig and Marc Cleary; their film Pepper has just won Best Short at the Louisville LGBT Film Festival!
I think that is plenty to keep you going for this week, don’t you? Hope to see some of you over the next few weeks as we have lots of great stuff coming up – including a Bon Voyage/Joyeux Noel party at the Cat & Fiddle Pub, who will be moving locations at the end of the year. They survived their move from Laurel Canyon all those years ago so I am more than sure they will be successful wherever they end up next!
Cheers!
Eileen
