Jason Toney

Food Adventures: The Bazaar

"Do you believe in what you see?" - Zero 7, In The Waiting Line

At the moment, the little green globule burst in mouth, my eyes widened and I had to stifle an unexpected laugh of surprise and delight. The number of firsts in my life are few and far between these days and even more rare when it comes to food. I can have exquisite meals, interesting meals, unique meals but a true "I've never had anything before in my life" kind of meal? Not really. Except for last night when a molecular gastronomic interpretation of an olive exploded over my tongue giving me the most intense olive flavor I've ever had in my life and a pure, perfect moment of first time wonder.

The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel was a magnificent dining experience. Beyond the taste buds, however, it's an adventure for all your senses. My eyes were drawn to the Philippe Starck decor, the eclectic crowd, or the making of my liquid nitrogen caipirinha being made at the table. I spent more time than usual smelling what was put before me like the notes of ginger and lime wafting from my perfect moscow mule to the smoky scent of the Jamón ibérico to the fruity aroma of our panna cotta dessert. Textures abounded begging for my fingers to feel.

And still the food shined above it all. The cotton candy duck livers were unlike anything I have ever had in life. The cauliflower "cous cous" was the most creative and most intriguing bite of the night. Hell, we were so uncertain about what we were eating that we ate the (inedible) paper that our japanese tacos came wrapped in.

And liked it.

Food adventuring has become an unofficial goal of 2012. Next month we have Picca Peru and then, after that, ink. or Animal. I'm not sure if any of those places will be able to bring the shock and awe like José Andrés and staff do at The Bazaar but I can't wait to see them try.

#resound11: Home Is...

"No place to call your own." - Jazzanova, So Far From Home (feat. Phonte)

Prompt 14: Home Is...
When did you feel most at home this year: in your life, in your space, in your career, in your skin? What factors make that situation feel like home? Do certain comforts make your space feel like home? Does being with certain people make you feel complete? Is there an activity in which you excel that makes you feel like you're doing what you were meant to do?

This is your life. Where do you live? Where is home?

We spent the first half of 2011 looking for a new place to live. Tiffany had moved west into my 1 bedroom bachelor pad and it was obvious that she still felt the visitor. It was my stuff. It was laid out best for me. It functioned the way it had functioned for the previous 5 years, ways that the bachelor me had refined.

It was my spot. It wasn't our home.

So we recruited Carrie, good friend and even better real estate agent, to help us out. I had gotten it into my head that I wanted to move to Atwater Village. We were both pretty sure that we wanted to rent a house if at all possible and, so Carrie set out trying to make all those things happen within our budget and other requirements.

Over the next few months, we would go to open houses or make visits to properties and always find a reason to not jump on it. Too big, too small. Too old. Too weird. Something always pulled us away. I think it mostly had to do with also being in the midst of planning our wedding. That was just one too many big decisions to have to make before May 14th.

Proving that out, just a few days after we returned from New Orleans as newlyweds, Carrie sent us some new listings. One stuck out. It was in the neighborhood I grew up in (Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks) just a few doors down from where one of my best friends lived when we were in junior high and high school. Just down the street from the elementary school I used to go to to play basketball.

On our first house visit, we walked through the doors, and immediately, it felt like it could be our home. It was bright. Sun comes in from everywhere. It was open. It's a perfect place for entertaining. It had charm. The kitchen features mid century tiled counters and a mixture of old and new appliances; the den looks like the Brady bunch would've hung out there with it's wood panelling and wet bar and built in cabinets and drawers. Plus, it has a secret room.

On our second house visit, we learned the owners had grown up in the house and that we had gone to the same high school. In fact, she also does consulting work for the mouse. It all seemed like kismet.
It was.

Our third house visit wasn't a visit at all. We were moving in.

And it's been home ever since.

A good home.

Soundtrack to this post

• My Way Home (feat. Common) by Kanye West
• So Far From Home by Jazzanova
• Homecoming by Kanye West
• Hometown Glory by Adele
• Hometone Glory (radio edit) by Adele
• GAMEBOY/HOMEBOY (Que' Onda Guero) by Beck
• Home Is Where the Hatred Is by Esther Phillips
• I Wonder If I Take You Home by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam

Random Thoughts from the 25th Annual UCLA Jazz Reggae Fest

"Ladies! Lovely ladies!" - Lee Fields & The Expressions, Ladies

• Little Dragon has a new album coming and the new music sounds great. My favorite performance of the day.
• Talib Kweli killed his two songs with the Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble.
• I've missed MeShell Ndegeocello. Need to see her live again and get her back into regular rotation in my playlists.
• Stones Throw's latest signing, The Stepkids, are very interesting.
• Lee Fields was fun...and he performed the full song (I don't know if it's his or a cover) of one of madlib's best samples - Two Timer (The Pimp).
• I need to see Pharaohe Monch in concert doing his stuff.
• I always forget how amazing Bilal sounds live.
• I'm still hip. Don't hate. Appreciate.
• I am, however, also older. By all acounts I should really like Lupe Fiasco. He hits all the marks of hip hop artists I tend to enjoy and I do have The Cool and Food & Liquor in my library. But, and this is the second time I've seen him live, I never feel like he's speaking to me. He skews just a shade younger and that came through during his closing performance. The college kids were mad for him. I was just ret ta go.
• UCLA has realy stepped their game up with running the Jazz Fest, though. Everything was incredibly smooth today...from parking to entry to the port-a-potty and food situation. Nice job kids.
• Gil Scott-Heron was on many a mind today. Peace go with you, brother.

My 2011 Personal Operating Plan

"There's something in your heart and it's in your eyes. It's the fire, inside you, it burns. You don't say 'good luck'. You say, 'don't give up.' The fire. Let it burn." - The Roots, The Fire

I did this last year and am happy with the results so let's do it again.

Broad Strategic Goals

In everything I do this year, the goal is to Provide Value. In my personal life, I will be more deliberate with my Kindness and Compassion. I will also Love Harder. Health and Wellness will be a priority. Professionally and creatively, I will embrace Breaking Some Eggs, Breaking Some Rules, and Challenging the Status Quo. 

Health and Wellness

As I said last year, 

Five years from now, I plan to visit a doctor for regular checkups four times a year, the dentist twice a year, and the eye doctor at least once a year. I will be staring down my 40th birthday and I plan to live a long, happy, and healthy life. That includes regular visits to smart medical practitioners.

Well, one year has passed since then and while this is true, the fact of the matter is, five years from now I will be 40 years old and I want to be much healthier than I am now. Of these things, the only thing I do consistently is see my eye doctor once a year.

This year, I'm focusing on two things with health and wellness. First, take full advantage of my really great employer provided health benefits and start my regular doctor and dentist visits. In January, I will find new medical and dental providers that I will be happy with and excited about partnering on my future well-being. The requirements are that they take advantage of the latest medical and dental knowledge and tools, are personable and compassionate, and convenient to visit (meaning close to home or work).

Second, embrace this whole Body Integration concept. One of the running themes in my reverb 10 posts was this desire to get my eating right, working out, personal care stuff all happening at the same time. I plan to do that this year beginning this coming week. I joined health month and daily mile and will use those to track my adhering to my simple goals—eating right, working out regularly, taking my vitamins, and following my morning rituals around mental focus. I want to be at a healthy BMI within the first 6 months of the year and then set new goals at that time.

Financial

I want Tiffany and I to be without any legacy debts that either of us bring into our union by the end of 2011. I want to have saved a considerable amount (still TBD) and I plan to have a small portfolio of personal investment in progressive companies and companies, projects or individuals that I have a vested interest in seeing do well.

I also want to significantly increase my charitable giving. I did that this year without missing the dollars. Let's do more of that.

Career

Provide value. Instill values. Showcase and Celebrate that value.

Me and my team will provide significant meaningful value to our guests and the Company. We will be passionate product managers, producers, and page owners who focus on creating the best guest experiences possible, plussing our existing experiences, and advocating for the right thing, always.

I will drive forward the values, goals, and mission that I believe are critical for our success. We will be data-driven, solution-oriented, efficient, and forward-thinking. We will not be bogged down by our legacy. We will transition fully from being order-takers to storytellers. We will push our areas of the business forward and take advantage of the smart work of the rest of the teams in our organization.

We will tell our own stories internally. We will celebrate the projects we are proud of, the ones that perform well, and showcase the value and the values we bring to the Company. We will not be sheepish about our success.

Creativity and Learning

This year, I want to renew my love affair with Los Angeles and California as a whole. Tiffany is here now with fresh eyes and I want to really expand my awareness of the city and state we call home by learning and experiencing much more of it. I did a lot of book learning about Los Angeles in 2010, now it's about going out and seeing more of it in action.

Creatively, I want to get more deliberate about what I write here and what I post around the web. Writing is my outlet but there are areas that I am passionate about that I don't spend as much time as I would like writing about. I want to write more about the relationship I have with music and pop culture and how it impacts and motivates me in my career and private life. I want to spend more time writing about black folks and technology. And I want to write some fiction this year.

This is scary and I'm just now thinking about this as I'm writing this but why not make it a goal - 6 short stories by the end of 2011.

Whoa.

Okay, I'm scared.

And thrilled.

Travel

This is the year of international travel. Trust. The honeymoon must be outside of the United States. Boom!

I also want to visit more of the northwestern U.S. and get to New York, the Yay Area and New Orleans as often as humanly and financially possible.

Friends and Family

I want to see my sister more. This ties in with trips to New York since that is now her home but that's real. I love the person she's become and want more time with that chick.

Now that Tiffany and I share the same space, I want to entertain more at home. The much talked about Supper Club should finally come to be this year and I can see rotating dinners with my folks at each other's homes. 

Also, a weekly residency at The Library Bar with our classy drinking friends should be the right way to kick off the New Year.

So, the goal here is being in the same physical space with my favorite people on the planet on a regular, committed basis.

Love

In the abstract, the goal is to love harder. As we transition from the Long Distance thing to the See Each Other Every Day thing, I don't want to get complacent. I want to be excited and passionate and emotional and meaningful every day. Even though we've been together for nearly 2 and half years, this is really new for us and I want to enjoy it and take advantage of it to show to her and to myself that our love continues to grow and blossom and delight.

I also want us to find a space that better suits us in size and function.

Oh, and come May 14th, we'll be throwing the best damn party we can to celebrate that love. In New Orleans. With some of the best food and drink you will ever put in your face. And we'll help rebuild and renew the city.

Oh, and we'll get married, too.

Just that little thing.

The Mantra For The Year?

Move. Get up, get out, and do something!

Let's go!!

 

The Last One With Two Cities

"Are you ready for the city? Is the city ready for you?" - The Futureheads, The City Is Here for You to Use

Tiffany moved west this week and a few things have become immediately apparent to me. First, this apartment is too small. We can survive in it just fine for awhile but there's not enough room. We'll probably add a few more pieces of furniture in the coming weeks and it'll get even more cramped. She doesn't have a good place from which to work. This is a problem considering her new gig has her mostly working from home.

Second, I've known this from before the move but our sleep patterns are really different. In comparison to me, she goes to bed early. I'm not sure what the adaption will look like but the last few days have either been her going to bed and me arriving a few hours later or me going to bed with her and then waking up in the middle of the night (like today...hello 3:30am) ready to start my day. I'm not sure what the adaptation to this will look like yet. I'm guessing I'll naturally adjust to going to bed at the same time but waking up much earlier. This is probably good for me. I can get a lot done in the mornings and my days go better when I have time to clear my busy mind before getting to work.

Third, there are things (big things, actually) that are already different in a hugely positive way for me: having someone to eat with (and who cooks and enjoys cooking) means I'm eating much healthier. On a typical Sunday, it's not uncommon for me to have Chipotle for lunch and then go out to dinner. And maybe brunch it out, too. Today, however, I made breakfast at home. I made lunch. She made dinner. I don't imagine I had more than 1500 calories today and I had a good portion of fruits and veggies mixed in to the day as well. This is amazing. If I make the switch to spending way more on groceries than restaurants (which has been the reality of the last 4 days) then I'm well on the path to the full body transformation I want in 2011 and Tiffany's habits should help with that. I mean, damnit, we had mussels for dinner. At home. She rocks.

Also, I'm much more aware of the state of the home than I have been. Sharing a space with someone means I clean way more. My kitchen has never stayed this pristine this consistently since I moved in here 5 years ago. The bathroom too (mostly). Being responsible to someone else feels good and I like doing for her. For the both of us, really.

But fourth, I think it's going to take awhile for us to truly understand that things have changed. She still talks like she's in Atlanta. I keep acting like she's on vacation. I'm sure it will balance itself out—I go back to work today; she'll start driving herself around town this week—but, at the moment, it still feels weird. Two years in a long distance relationship and you get into your own rhythms. There are set times for conversing. There is a lot more long term planning about the next trip, the big move, the big changes. Now we're moving in to the minutiae. What's for dinner? What's on TV? Where's the best store for spices, black hair care products, etc.? That will take some getting used to.

I keep expecting having to take her to the airport and preparing for the sadness that comes with that. But she's not going anywhere. Los Angeles is now home for both of us. There is still lots of big stuff on the horizon. We've still got a wedding this Spring. We've still got to find a new place to live. She's still got a new job to start and a new city to try to learn and love. I've still got big responsibilities at work. But we've also got meals to plan and coffee to make and new morning rituals and learning the little idiosyncrasies of living together.

We've spent the last two years learning how to love each other. This is just the next chapter in that story.

We started last week being of two cities. We begin this one trying to be from one.

• The Best Thing I Saw This Week: I've started watching Breaking Bad. AMC is currently replaying the series from the beginning. I don't know that I love it yet but I'm very intrigued by it. It's become my middle of the night TV friend.
• The Best Thing I Heard This Week: Le Sigh. Rick Ross's Teflon Don has been top of mind lately. I won't go nearly as far as The New York Times which named it album of the year but I must admit that I really like that album. Damnit, Rozay. Ya got me.
• The Best Thing I Read This Week: I finished Decoded last weekend. I picked up both The 4 Hour Body (which my mom also got from my dad for Christmas) and The Big Payback. Both are pretty good.
• The Thing I Read This Week That Most Resonated:

Busy-ness might feel good (like checking your email on Christmas weekend) but business means producing things of actual value. Often, the two are completely unrelated. What if you spent a day totally unbusy, and instead confronted the fear-filled tasks you’ve been putting off that will actually produce value once shipped?

Why? Because the one thought I've had about work while I've been away is that I need to focus some serious energy on, for lack of a better word yet, "un-fucking" some things. That means clearing away all the non-essential tasks and focusing on what I know will provide real value. I need to challenge my team to do the same. I've spent the last three months getting a sense of the landscape. Now, it's time to get to doing.

Business not busy-ness.

Let's go!

5 Minutes #reverb10

"I want somebody to speed it up for me and then take it down slow." - Madonna, 4 Minutes

December 15 – 5 Minutes
Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.
(Author: Patti Digh)

• Tiffany's face when I attempted to propose to her in the airport
• The queasiness in my stomach and the quiet in my voice when I got down on my knee in my apartment and asked
• The pain in my back after working on houses
• The giant cherry on a spoon in Minneapolis
• Driving around New Orleans with Derrick as he told me about "His City"
• Toasting the launch of the new home page on Disney.com
• Watching my sister show us her Abraham Lincoln
• Attending the Church of Love and Happiness with Melle and Anna
• The dance circle at The Black Keys
• Getting chased by pre-school age shark at The Taste of Beverly Hills
• Melle's face when J. walked through the door at Herbsaint
• Derrick's explanation of what he thought when he walked in the restaurant..."Who that Black?"
• Felicia's face at her first bite of food at August
• That I didn't want for much
• That I flew more than I've ever flown in my life
• That the challenges I had were always surmountable
• That my friends are the business
• That my family always surprises
• That Tiffany is forever my lady

*5 minutes goes quickly.

Moment: Alive at The Church of Love and Happiness #reverb10

"Find me shawty when your boyfriend boring ya." - Big Boi feat. T.I. and Khujo Goodie, Tangerine

December 3 – Moment.
Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).
(Author: Ali Edwards)

I've already written about the two moments I remember most fondly this year: She + Me = Us and Shark Bitten at the Taste of Beverly Hills. This post then will be about last night.

Aloe Blacc @ Echoplex 12/3 by Mick ㋡, on Flickr

When did we know it was a special night? Was it when we walked through the doors of the Echoplex and found a perfect spot right up at the front, stage right? Was it when Jamie Strong dropped one of the illest records (that we still don't know the name of) ever and our dance party commenced? Was it when Peanut Butter Wolf hit the stage with his multimedia set mixing classic soul videos rather than records? Was it when he started with Marvin Gaye rolled into The Jacksons and then slayed us with a James Brown blend into Mos Def's Umi Says? And then he took us higher, right? We found ourselves in Controversy with Prince, falling in love with Rick James's Mary Jane and then, of course, The Mary Jane Girls. We stepped out, we called 777-9311, and then, whoo lawd, we remembered September.

Was it when we realized it was 11:30pm and we'd already tightened up tighter but still hadn't had the main event? Was it when The Grand Scheme came on stage, an excited and seemingly young group of musicians (seriously, the horn player, the keyboardist, and the drummer all looked like they were out past curfew), and proceeded to blow the roof off the sucker? Was it our introduction to Maya Jupiter whose short set was just the right amount of energy and effort and skill. I expected singing and she surprised by rapping reminding me of the multi-talents of artists like Nneka and Medusa.

Ultimately, we must've known it was special when Mr. Blacc finally hit the stage. Just a few months ago at The Taste of Beverly Hills, I'd seen him perform with Quantic in front of maybe only 30 people paying attention. We appreciated the effort but that's nothing compared to playing in front of a sold out crowd on the last night of your 50-plus city tour and it showed. He was comfortable and confident. He harkened back to the performances of our classic soul heroes just like the ones Peanut Butter Wolf had just shown us on video. Throughout a nearly two hour set, I thought about Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson and, ultimately, The Godfather.

But Aloe was also distinctly his own man. Nattily dressed in simple slacks and a rose colored ruffled tuxedo shirt, I marveled at his afro and his simple shoes and his gorgeous black (onyx?) wedding ring. He deftly took control of the crowd and led us through his two hour sermon at the Church of Love and Happiness. He proved me wrong when he got a Los Angeles crowd to come up with an infectious rhythm all their own. He wowed me when he was able to create a Soul Train line in the middle of the audience and actually get people to dance. He impressed me by bringing the crowd more intimately into the show when it warranted it and ignoring the too often shouts and call-outs to his most famous track, I Need A Dollar (oh, hipsters!).

The moment for me, however, was during his performance of Hey Brother. In the midst of the break as the Grand Scheme is breaking it down to the fullest, He's dancing around the stage.  As he came back into performing the song, he let loose a hip level right kick on beat. And then a left one in sync with the snap of the snare drum. I let out a "whoa!" and then looked around to see if everyone else was feeling what I was feeling. I was truly filled with love and happiness. With a sense of my place and purpose in the world. With the knowledge that we share this place together. That we're in it together. And that, damnit, we should celebrate and shout and dance. And kick if the beat say do it.

I looked around to see if everyone else was feeling what I was feeling.

Alive.

The Failure (29)

"And I know that you're mine." - My Morning Jacket, If All Else Fails

The Failure by James Greer (2010, Akashic Books). I purchased The Failure after Lit Crawl II where Greer was a featured reader. He was impassioned and humorous and tortured and interesting and it was available on the Nook eReader app which I had wanted to try and so I grabbed it up. I liked it. I can't really explain it except to say that it's an amusing little Los Angeles story in which the little moments lead to the big plot turn (which, in this case, is revealed in the very first chapter) but, in the end, it is those little moments that linger. They are funny and occassionally touching and absurd and quintessential L.A.

What I'm thinking about tonight though is how Guy's demise (that is not a spoiler -- Sucess is not an option) is because he obsesses about the wrong things. I'm not sure that there are any right things in Guy Forget's world except for his friendship with Billy but, still, it's his own delusions of grandeur that become his downfall.He believes he's smarter than everyone else despite their being no evidence of that. He is gullible while convinced he is shrewd. He fancies himself a dramatic figure while he metaphorically walks around the world with clown makeup on his face.

It's fascinating. It reminds me that we often focus on the wrong things. We often see ourselves and the world around us incorrectly and instead of acknowledging that, we puff up. We peacock. We delude ourselves.

And, in that lie our failures.

In this book, however, lie many many laughs.

An amusing and quick read.

Recommended.

A Fine Arrangement with Mayer Hawthorne & The County

"Baby it'll be okay." - Mayer Hawthorne, Just Ain't Gonna Work Out (Astronote El Camino Remix) (follow the link to download)

(photo by Paul R. Guinta. Full slideshow at Prefixmag)

Just as we were about to get on the Red Line and make our way into Hollywood for the show, The Martini's phone rang. It was Felicia. "His recorded music doesn't do him justice," she said having just seen Mayer Hawthorne & The County the night before in San Francisco. I didn't believe her. A Strange Arrangement was one of my favorite albums of 2009 and continues to make regular appearances in my charts still today. The key reason is because his vocals are impeccable on songs that are infectious. How do you take that to the next level?

With a tight band, dancing girls, and unlimited showmanship and style, apparently. I'd already had my mind blown by Childish Gambino's set of witty rhymes, ridiculous beats, and a violinist that I could've watched and listened to by herself for the rest of the night. (Also, in a sign that I'm no longer as hip as I once was, I hadn't heard any of his songs before while many of the people around us were rapping right along to every word. I'm an Old.) I wasn't prepared for every moment of Mayer's set to be a revelation. From the moment the Mayer-ettes hit the stage halfway through the first song, we fully converted from concert to party and it never let up. Mr. Hawthorne led us through sing-alongs, dance alongs, shared performances, and copious amounts of swooning. Woman and man alike were mesmerized by his voice and his presence.

Maybe we should've known what the night would be like, though. Gordon Voidwell and his band of 80s misfits (seriously, his keyboardist looks like if Sheila E and Sheena Easton had a baby and the entire show was like the deleted scenes from Purple Rain) started the evening cajoling and sometimes taunting what was a stereotypically stoic Los Angeles crowd into dancing. We didn't start out convinced but by their last song we may have done the Molly Ringwald, the running man, the robot, the troop, and the smurf.

So, when at the end of the night I had been doused in beer several times, had to avoid the random elbows and arms of overly excited drunk girls and boys, and felt a little buzzed, overheated, and exhausted, I wasn't surprised. This is what happens at only the best parties.

Thought you knew?

Shows: A List (Incomplete)

It occurred to me this morning that I've seen more live music this year than I have in awhile (or maybe this is just in the last few months) but that I haven't been as good at keeping track of the shows.

So, a list.

1. DJ Shadow/Pigeon John at the House of Blues
2. The Black Keys at the Palladium
3. Quantic with Aloe Blacc at The Taste of Beverly Hills
4. Fat Freddy's Drop at The Music Box
5. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Friends at Grand California Plaza
6. Pre-grammy hosted by Garth Trinidad: performances by Nneka, Little Dragon, The Foreign Exchange at The W Hollywood
7. The Bird & the Bee, She & Him, The Swell Season at The Hollywood Bowl
8. Mayer Hawthorne & The County with Childish Gambino and Gordon Voidwell at The Music Box

Upcoming...

1. Aloe Blacc at The Echoplex

And...that can't be it, can it? Who else have we seen this year?

Edited to add Miguel Atwood Ferguson.

Edited again to add the shows Melle reminded me of in the comments.