santa monica (part 2) audio blog

EDIT: photo and text added 8/12/08.

Riding the #704 bus to the ocean, I passed through Silverlake, an L.A. neighbourhood largely known for its young and hip bohemian population of artists, musicians, and creative types working in the film industry who imbued the locale with a sense of creative progressiveness. That was at least a decade ago; today Silverlake is processed, overtaken by superficially trendy boutiques, eateries, and art galleries, and the I'm-hip-and-pretty-and-you-so-are-not types living in overpriced rentals or houses.

Intelligentsia is considered one of the very, very best coffee in the country, served at four and five star restaurants and hotels. Their extremely high quality and standards of a [deceptively] simple coffee earned them much deserved commendations from reviewers and press. When I used to live in the Lakeview neighbourhood of Chicago in the early 90s the first Intelligentsia coffeehouse opened on Broadway just south of the corner of Belmont Avenue. That was where I went a few times a week after work to write in my journal and enjoy the sinfully delicious coffee, friendly service, and spacious interior with a full view of the street. Sometimes one of my friends would pass by, see me, and end up joining me.

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^ Listen up! Audio field report from Santa Monica at the pier.

I'm very happy that Intelligentsia opened this Silverlake location, though I have yet to make the trip to spend an afternoon there. I miss the coffee. Enroute to Santa Monica I happened to glance out the window, saw the coffeehouse, and snapped this pic just in time before the bus moved on.

Related:
Silverlake, Los Angeles | Wikipedia
santa monica (part 1) | a space alien
santa monica (part 3) post mortem | a space alien