Reactionaries

Time for a little shameless promotion... although that's what writing blogs is all about, right?

I recently partnered up with a few friends to start a record label that showcases musicians from my hometown of San Pedro. We just finished our first record, which is a re-release (first release) of a practice tape The Reactionaries (Minutemen before they were the Minutemen) and a b-side of a bunch of pedro musicians doing their versions of the songs by the aforementioned band. It's a pretty cool concept and was a lot of fun to make. You can check out site out at Water Under The Bridge Records. We even have another blog that chronicles the whole process of making the record.

It was a pretty damn cool experience. Chuck Dukowski of Black Flag played on it as well as Jack Brewer and Joe Baiza of Saccharine Trust and even Mike Watt, Todd Congelliere. So get down!

We are having a release party for the record at Harold's Place in San Pedro, Saturday Feb. 20th with a bunch of bands and good times. Check / click on the flyer below for info!

Ante's

Do you know when a restaurant must be really good? When the street it's on is named after it's family patriarch who created the restaurant. That's right. I'm talking about Ante's located on Ante Perkov way in San Pedro, CA.

Funny thing is that after living in San Pedro all my life, I've never eaten here. I've been to the bar a handful of times on 'Big Wednesday' when all the locals get together and have drinks with Ante (the grandson of the founder with the same first name). The one thing I do have to give Ante's credit for was it gave me a hunger and desire for fried calamari. The first time I ever tried the dish was when my friend's parents brought home a box of leftovers from their evening at Ante's. Since then I have been hooked on the fried deliciousness... although I never went back to the source. What was I thinking?

So one random Saturday evening, Alison and I went to Ante's with our neighbors Brandon and Melissa to indulge ourselves in some fine Croatian dining at Ante's. The dining room is old and awesome. Just sitting in the booth gave me a sense of history and tradition. Looking around at the other patrons, I had a feeling that everyone else had been there before a time or two and I would soon find out why.

We started off the evening with a bottle of Wente Riesling. It must have been pretty popular because by the time we ordered our second bottle, we had depleted their stock. The waitress later informed us that they had a baptism party earlier that day. I guess it must have been a fun one. Oh, and our waitress was pretty damn cool too. She was on top of everything we needed and pretty witty to boot. She did a good job of making us feel comfortable and at home.

Brandon getting gangsta with some Riesling

As I mentioned before, I learned how to enjoy calamari after eating leftovers from Ante's. Now it was time to go to the source. My experience before was like walking into a concert and getting a contact high. This time I was got to get the real thing, and you know what? I'm still jonsing another fix of some deep fried deliciousness.

Since Brandon and Melissa had been to Ante's quite a few times before, they guaranteed us that the dish to have was the Mostaccioli and a side of the Sauerkraut. Well, needless to say they were completely correct in this suggestion. Due to the massive portions at Ante's Alison and I split an order of the Mostaccioli as suggested by Brandon and Melissa. The sauce, cheese, meat and noodle heaven was really out of this world. The Sauerkraut was the shocker though. I put Sauerkraut on my hot dogs, but that's usually it. I've never even thought of it as an actual dish on it's own, but Ante's does it. Hot Sauerkraut with meat and sausage mixed in. My world had been changed.

After everything was said and done, we were stuffed, satisfied and slightly buzzed from the superb meal and spirits. Afterward we went home, not before a stop to our local booze dispensary, and drank a little Irish whiskey. I slept quite well that night, but I am still dreaming of my next meal at Ante's.

Ante's Restaurant

729 Ante Perkov Way

San Pedro, CA 90731

(310) 832-5375

Life's Big Decisions: Pacific Diner

Making delicious decisions

Turkey Eater, Biscuits N' Gravy, Avocado Omelette.  Delicious!

Pacific Diner

3821 South Pacific

San Pedro, CA 90731

Blood of Zeus

Bob recently celebrated his 29th birthday and because it is last the birthday before 30 we decided that this occasion called for something big.

In our experience when you want to go big, you don't do Vegas, you go Greek. What's better than a big fat, Greek birthday? Luckily we have one of the best Greek restaurants in all of Los Angeles, maybe one of the best Greek restaurants outside of Greece, right in town.

Papadakis Taverna right in San Pedro is a place where you can occasionally be served by a sports analyst / radio show host, have dollar bills shoved in your bra by the owner, serenaded by a violinist, seduced by a jazz singer / belly dancer and see a tap dance inspired by Obama's inauguration (Did you know Obama is Greek? We didn't either, but John Papadakis claims it's true).

One might think that all of the entertainment must be overcompensating for something, like the food, but actually the food is "Awesome!".

The first nibble you encounter when you are seated at Papadakis is the bread, which is served with two dipping sauces. One is Tziki, a yogurt sauce with cucumber and other mixings, and the other is a caviar sauce with bread crumbs. Needless to say the bread didn't last long.

When time for appetizers came, Bob got the honor of deciding what we would have. He decided on the Cold Meze plate which is a variety of imported Greek cheeses, olives, peppers, calamari, octopus and dolmas. Not too many people at the table were quick to eat the octopus and calamari, but that's probably why Bob ordered it, he loves his cephalopods... raw. I did, however try a taste of the octopus and it wasn't bad at all.

Our wine selection for the night was a 2004 bottle of Kouros which is nicknamed 'Blood of Zeus'. I guess if it's named after the head honcho of all Greek Gods, then it must be good enough for us. When drinking at Papadakis, your glass is never empty. If you even have a few sips left, your waiter magically appears to fill everyone's glass. This does empty the bottle pretty quickly, but isn't that the point? The folks at Papadakis want to make sure you leave happy.

One of the best parts of ordering dinner is that the waiter will bring out a tray of all the different meats on the menu and explain what kind of meat it is, as well as, the flavor and quantity in each dish. I want a plate of meat.

I had the Moushari Vassiliko which is white veal fillets with Kasseri in pastry and garnished with basil sauce. Bob had the Arni Ala Papadakis which is saddle of lamb in pastry, nicknamed 'The Greek Burrito'. Both were delicious. It makes me think that anything wrapped in Phyllo Dough is multiplied in deliciousness due to virtue of the crispy dough.

After several bottles of Zeus' Blood and bellies full of Greek meat, we headed back to Bob's place for the afterparty where I was serenaded by Bob and our bearded Canadian friend. I guess they're starting a guitar / banjo duet called Asian Street Meat Don't ask, just wait for the .bob empire.







Papadakis Taverna
310 West 6th Street
San Pedro, California 90731
(310) 548-1186
www.PapadakisTaverna.com