By Ramey Ward
Believe it or not, Washington Boulevard is the longest continuous east-west road in Los Angeles, starting out in Marina Del Rey and ending far to the east in the city of Whittier. As a logical continuation of the retail and restaurant boom of Culver City, another section of West Washington is morphing into a corridor of comestibles. The formally sleepy stretch of the boulevard in the neighborhood known as “Del Rey” – which spans eastern Marina Del Rey, south Mar Vista and west Culver City – is now generating restaurants, bars and bakeries at a dizzying pace. Here’s a quick list of highlights.
Bakeries/Cafes
Red Bread – Award winning bread – and don’t pass up their “biscuit heads”
Copenhagen Pastry – Puts the glaze back on the “Danish Pastry”
Chocovivo – Patricia Tsai’s quality bars, truffles and chocolate sipping bar
Rockenwagner Bakery and Café – Known for pretzel bread & mittagessen, but try their Cronut knockoffs.
Hotcakes Bakes –Craving spicy mango cupcakes?
The Rumor Mill – A café connected to a laundromat
Restaurants
Shojin – Unmarked macrobiotic Japanese. Look for the lotus root.
The A-Frame – Roy Choi’s picnic-table dining and infusions
Waterloo and City – White tablecloth, Brit-style
Samosa House – Indian groceries, juice bar and vibrant vegetarian cooking
The Wood – Reinvented burger stand, locally sourced
Coming Soon:
Gravlax – Scandinavian/Turkish alchemy
East Borough – “Fraiche Vietnamese” from John Cao & Chloe Tran
Bars/Pubs
Alibi Room – Microbrew, cocktails and Korean BBQ
The Corner Door – Creative cocktails and Luke Reyes menu
Coming soon: Old Lightning – Much anticipated Livigni/Moix cocktail bar.
Ramey Ward has made a name for herself as a realtor selling design-centric homes. She is known as a top producer in Venice, but has represented properties as far north as Sherman Oaks and east to the Hollywood Hills and Silver Lake. Ramey works out of The Agency’s Venice / Marina del Rey office.
