Happy Friday, everyone. Last night I went to Bar Sinizki with Jess Eggert, who’s building the coolest toothpaste brand you’ve never heard of (yet), and tonight I’m playing pickleball in Pasadena. This weekend I’ll be reading an advance copy of Rachel Cusk’s Life of M and deciding for myself if it’s actually about Natalie Portman.
In today’s issue: clues point to a creative agency taking over Los Candiles, Miranda July rehomes her decades-old plants, $1.2mm in “beautification funds” for the east side, Karen Bass compared street vendors to homeless encampments, an “aperitivo garden” is coming to Bar di Bello, Charles Melton explores Eagle Rock, the greatest sketch show in LA hits the Elysian, a Woon pop-up, Puck partners with the Los Feliz 3, and a house in Mount Washington for under $1mm.
I haven’t been able to pin down exactly what’s going on — sources close to the venue have been uncharacteristically tight-lipped, telling me only that there’s an “announcement coming soon” — but there appears to be a changing of the guard in the works at Los Candiles.
The cult-favorite Cypress Park nightclub, locally-owned since its debut in 1979 and famous for its light-up dance floor, topless dancers, and drag shows, has been strangely shuttered for the past several weeks. People close to the club initially claimed a car had crashed into the building’s front doors, requiring a temporary closure for repairs, but…I’m starting to wonder if that’s the whole truth.
A few days ago, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control posted a legally-required public notice of an application for ownership change at the venue, and neighbors (unsurprisingly) freaked out. Several emailed and DMed me, and a few had already done their own research. Per the notice, the entity applying for the ownership change is a limited-liability corporation called VT LCNC LLC, registered to a commercial building at 3149 Verdugo Road in Glassell Park.
A little digging reveals that the other LLC registered to that address is an entity directly tied to Acronym, a self-described “creative firm for ambitious brands who refuse to play it safe.” Acronym chief Vartan Tchekmedyian and his 80 or so employees (also headquartered on Verdugo) are undoubtedly legit, with a roster of clients including Netflix, Adobe, McDonald’s, Gatorade, Google, and Figma. But professional bona fides notwithstanding….what does a creative agency want with a nightclub?
That part’s a little murky. Though Acronym’s involvement in the future of Los Candiles seems clear (or, at the very least, Vartan’s does), no one I talked to seems to know what he and his team have planned for the space. Will they be running the club without changes? Could it be a “new experiential event pop-up space,” as one neighbor posited? For the record, I hope not. It’s not like Los Candiles is a secret — the Rag hosted an event there in April, and Logan Lerman and Analuisa Corrigan recently threw the afterparty for their wedding there — but I can’t help but feel like some things are better left un-messed with (and un-branded). I’ll keep you all posted as I hear more.
Miranda July and her longtime gardener, Juan, painstakingly cleared the 23-year-old garden at her Silver Lake studio and rehomed the plants. When Miranda decided to move on from her Berkeley Avenue space after more than two decades, she planned to make sure Juan — who’s worked on the property since before she moved in — was kept on by the next tenant. But then her landlord (incomprehensibly) informed her he’d be clearing the decades-in-the-making garden for something “easier to maintain.” Instead of letting a bulldozer do the work, she and Juan uprooted all the plants and threw a party to redistribute them to neighbors, which is…incredible. She’s also paying Juan through the next year. And her landlord is, no offense, an idiot.
If you’re looking for something to do tonight, Matt Belloni is introducing a special screening of Election at the Los Feliz 3. I rewatched Election a few months ago and it really holds up. You can snag a ticket for the 10pm screening here ($10 for members of the American Cinematheque, $15 for everyone else).
City council approved $2mm in aid and “beautification funds” for Eunisses Hernandez’s Council District 1. The district, which encompasses a large swath of the east side including but not limited to Echo Park, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, and Lincoln Heights, will receive $500,000 for food assistance, $300,000 for emergency rental aid, and a total of about $1.24mm for neighborhood-wide beautification efforts spearheaded by the Los Angeles Conservation Corps and the Koreatown Youth and Community Center.
In his latest profile for Vulture, friend of the Rag Charles Melton took a tour of Eagle Rock. He and writer Molly Lambert stopped by Cindy’s (a great under-the-radar spot because it’s never as full as you think it’ll be) and Vidiots.
LA28 has officially sold more than 6mm tickets to the 2028 LA Olympics. If you’re one of the many (many) Angelenos who’ve tried to snag passes but come up empty handed, you’ll have another shot next year, when LA28 opens sales for about 4.5mm remaining tickets. Yes — there will ultimately be more than 10mm tickets sold to the LA Olympics. If you live near a venue, now might be a good time to start thinking about renting out your house.
Construction is underway on a 30-seat “aperitivo garden” in front of Bar di Bello. You’ll now be able to grab drinks alfresco in the courtyard of the Sweetgreen brothers’ Sunset Row development. The restaurant still lacks signage of any kind, so outdoor seating will be the first street-facing indicator that it actually exists. As I’ve said before, the drinks at Bar di Bello are great, the space (designed, like several other spots in Sunset Row, by 22RE) feels expensive, and the food is…fine. I’d be curious to know how Bar di Bello’s business has shifted — if at all — in the months since Café Stella returned to Sunset.
And even though people grumble about the food, the east side’s young celebrities are...clearly still going. I think this is where the restaurant’s clubhouse feel and photo-blocking curtains really pull their weight.
The funniest sketch show in LA is returning for its once-a-year hurrah tomorrow, 8/22. Last year’s edition of Night Shift, held in an Eagle Rock event space, was the funniest night of sketch comedy I’ve experienced in a long time. The troupe is upgrading to a real theater — the Elysian — this year, and bringing back almost all of the same cast (plus a few newcomers). Lukas Cox and Kezie Nwachukwu direct, with Liza Babin, Dani Lyle, Sila Puhl, Madi Hart, James Werner, Damya Gurley, Trace Guzman, Jack Greenberg, John Rosenbluth, and Kezie filling out the cast. Tickets are going fast, snag one here before they’re gone.
Mayor Karen Bass and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman have very different opinions on the Paramount / Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Mayor Bass urged Attorney General Rob Bonta to reach a settlement with Paramount and suggested the merger will ultimately benefit LA’s creative community. The WGA had some strong words in response — as did Nithya, who called the merger “a bad deal for entertainment workers and a bad deal for Los Angeles.”
Separately, Mayor Bass took time in Wednesday’s mayoral debate to compare LA’s legendary street vendors to homeless encampments. “I do not believe that you should have a food vendor in front of a restaurant, period,” she said, claiming that the presence of street vendors “discourages people from going in [to restaurants], just like you shouldn’t have encampments in front of restaurants or in front of schools.” I’m no political consultant, but picking a fight with the neighborhood taco truck seems like a truly terrible way to win over the populace.
Non-annoying business podcast Odd Lots is hosting a live show in East Hollywood next month. Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway — fresh off of interviewing east side tinned fish mogul (and friend of the Rag) Becca Millstein — are bringing their show to the Vermont Hollywood on 9/17. Silver Lake-based media titans Taylor Lorenz and Hayes Davenport will be the guests. You can snag tickets here.
Woon will be popping up at Altadena’s Good Neighbor Bar every Sunday for the next six weeks. What could be better than Sunday night woks on the patio? The residency kicks off this Sunday, 8/23 and runs weekly through 9/27.
This two-bedroom cottage in Silver Lake has the best front yard tree of any house in Los Angeles. Probably. Regardless, it’s the kind of tree children’s books are written about. (Per the listing, it’s a Moreton Bay Fig.) The pint-sized house is pretty great, too, packing two bedrooms, one bathroom, and sweeping hillside views into just 883 square feet. And it’s all a short (but steep) walk from everything down on Sunset.
And here’s a two-bedroom midcentury in Mount Washington for less than $1mm. This one also clocks in at under 900 square feet, but it feels bigger than that thanks to huge windows, great light, and wide open views. There’s a living room with flagstone floors and a fireplace, two good-sized bedrooms, and a yard that’s both larger and flatter than you’d expect for a house in the hills. This place will go quickly, act fast if you’re interested.
Have a great weekend, everyone. I’ll see you next week <3
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