When she was in L.A. last month for fashion week, Girlawhirl found herself in a neighborhood she'd never really spent any time in before: Culver City. Back in the first half of the last century it was known as the home to big movie studios, and during prohibition, the place to go for gambling and speakeasies. After that the city went into a decline but over the past few years it's been enjoying a renaissance. Now it's home to some great restaurants, cool shops and tons of art galleries, not to mention LA Fashion Week, so Girlawhirl decided to explore…
Culver City isn't really a walking neighborhood, but that's okay because there is plenty of free or cheap public parking around. Thankfully, Girlawhirl had a car and the first place she pulled into was the old Helms Bakery complex. Now it's called the Helms Furniture district because it houses more than a dozen furniture and design stores, including one of Girlawhirl's all-time favorites, H.D. Buttercup (which is technically just over the city line in Los Angeles not Culver City). She decorated her dream house in her mind as she wandered through there and other cool stores like La Bella Cosa, Boom Design and Dansk Mobel Export.
The complex also has a jazz club and two restaurants. One, La Dijonaise, has great sandwiches and Girlawhirl enjoyed a fabulous dinner with friends at the other one, Beacon, an Asian Fusion café featuring small plates. Girlawhirl's favorites were the stir-fried eggplant, the beacon roll, and the sugar snap pea salad… and for dessert the rice krispy sundae and the beacon “ring ding” took her back to her youth in a delicious kind of way.
Across the street on Washington Boulevard, Girlawhirl found great designer clothes at discount prices at the Last Chance Boutique, which gets overstock and last season's merchandise from designers and some of LA's trendiest shops. As she continued up the street, she stumbled upon the Stone Candles outlet, marked just by a sign propped up outside the entrance of what looked like a loading dock. Inside she found beautiful soy wax candles selling for 20-50% off retail. And if she lived in LA, she could have brought in her own container and have it filled to create a custom candle.
At the corner of Washington and National, Girlawhirl stopped in Surfas – a mecca for cooks that has everything from the tiniest tart pan to huge commercial ranges. An LA institution since the 1930s, it is a restaurant supply store, café and gourmet food shop all in one.
Then she continued toward the center of town where she found what she'd decided is one of her new favorite stores at the corner of Main and Culver. It's called Sporteve and it's all about the female athlete, carrying active wear and sports gear exclusively for women! Girlawhirl was in heaven.
After a day of wandering – including checking out a few of the galleries (there are too many to see them all in one day) on La Cienega and Washington Blvds. – she needed a break and something to eat and drink. She could indulge in some high-end pub food at Ford's Filling Station where the chef is Harrison Ford's son Benjamin. Or she could be more virtuous and stop next door at Tender Greens for a salad. But she decided the place to relax and meet her friends was Vinum Populi, one of the coolest wine bars she's ever seen. It has what she likes to call wine ATMs... machines really called Enomatics that have multiple bottles of wine hooked up to them. Girlawhirl purchased a debit card, put it in
the machine, selected which wine she wanted to taste, pushed the button for that one and it poured an ounce into her glass. If she liked it, she could keep hitting the button to get a full glass. There was a selection of tasty appetizers – like goat cheese stuffed peppers – and panini on the menu and the staff was friendly and full of wine recommendations.
It was the perfect end to a day of exploration. Next time she's in L.A., Girlawhirl will definitely be stopping back in Culver City.
|
Beacon |
3280 Helms Ave. | 310-838-7500 | beacon-la.com |
| Boom Design | 3239 Helms Ave. | 310-202-1288 | boomusa.com |
| Dansk Mobel Export | 3220 Helms Ave. | 310-559-3916 | danskmobel.com |
| Ford's Filling Station | 9531 Culver Blvd. | 310-202-1470 | fordsfillingstation.net |
| H.D. Buttercup | 3225 Helms Ave. | 310-558-8900 | hdbuttercup.com |
| Helms Furniture District | Venice Blvd & Helms Ave. | helmsfurniture.com | |
| La Bella Cosa | 3240 Helms Ave. | 310-559-5142 | |
|
La Dijonaise |
8703 Washington Blvd. | 310-287-2770 | ladijonaise.com |
| Last Chance Designer Outlet | 8712 Washington Blvd. | 310-287-2333 | shoplastchance.com |
|
Sporteve |
3849 Main St. | 310 838-6588 | sporteve.com |
| Stone Candles | 8842 National Blvd. | 310-559-0133 | stonecandles.net |
| Surfas | 8777 Washington Blvd. | 310-559-4770 | surfasonline.com |
| Tender Greens | 9523 Culver Blvd. | 310-842-8300 | tendergreensfood.com |
| Vinum Populi | 3865 Cardiff Ave. | 310-204-5645 |
Galleries for a great map of Culver City's many galleries visit www.ccgalleryguide.com
related articles:
| apr. 02, 2007: | Girlawhirl checks out the shops on Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice, CA. read full entry |
| dec. 11,2006: | Girlawhirl enjoys the holiday spirit west coast style in Los Angeles. read full entry |
| jun. 12, 2006: | Los Angeles shopping: third street. read full entry |
| nov. 07,2005: | Montana Avenue read full entry |
| nov. 01,2005: | Drink Up read full entry |
| oct. 17,2005: | Robertson Blvd read full entry |
| sep. 14,2005: | Favorite Shop: HD Buttercup read full entry |
| sep. 12,2005: | Melrose Place read full entry |