Food Safari: Waiting for the Sun

We should really start off talking about food, as it is a food safari, but there are some interesting facts about Venice Beach that we feel are important to discuss first, to set the scene.

The city of Venice, California was designed by Abbot Kinney to be the “Venice of America” and officially opened to the public on July 4th, 1905. Up until 1926, Venice operated as its own city. Now it measures 3.1 square miles of Los Angeles and has a population of over 41,000 people.

Initially the area south of Santa Monica which we now know as Venice was a marshland and the purpose of the canals was to drain those marshes to have a solid foundation for homes in the area which would border the water. Twenty seven canals ran through Venice then but there are only three left today. (OceanaveLiving.com). The area was later developed for oil production.

Come the 1920s ‘Venice, California’ was incorporated into Los Angeles and being tapped for black gold. "Through much of the 20th century, oil derricks towered over homes, schools, golf courses, and even orange groves across the Los Angeles Basin... But perhaps nowhere was the change as striking as at the region's beaches." In Venice, the canals Kinney built were being filled in and worst of all the beach was converted into an oilfield.’ (LAist.com)

This development caused huge pollution problems in the area. By the 1970s, most of the wells were capped and by the 1990s the beach oilfield was finally depleted. These days, Venice is more famous for it's huge beach front. Some other interesting facts for the older amongst us, and the reason for the title of this article, Waiting For The Sun; in 1965, on a beach in West Los Angeles, a young Jim Morrison sat with film school classmate Ray Manzarek and dreamed of starting a band. This meeting spawned The Doors, and fans from across the globe to flock to L.A. in search of the group’s legacy.

We started our journey taking in the fresh ocean breeze on the iconic Venice Fishing Pier, watching the world go by, aiming not to get knocked over by scooters, bikes or roller skaters.

First up, we visited ‘Sambazon Acai Bowls’ for what the locals call a surfer's breakfast, an antioxidantrich smoothie bowl, an acai green bowl – acai, mango juice, pineapples, banana, spinach and green spirulina, (the green bit, an algae that grows in fresh and salt water, known for its health benefits allegedly) topped with granola, bee pollen, hemp seeds and drizzled with honey for good measure. Maybe if we were surfers, it may have gone down a bit better, but interesting to try shall we say.

We took a stroll past a variety of bars, restaurants, VW camper vans, vast murals on houses, the odd nod to Jim Morrison here and there, and then we found the canals - well one of the last three left. Completely tranquil and quiet compared with the hustle and bustle of the beach front strip. You can totally get why it’s known as Venice. Through a side street back towards the beach, we stopped off at a vegan café and ordered one of the most interesting avocado on toast ever tasted. With pickled radish, sesame seeds and sprinkled seaweed, it was for sure a showstopper, although purists may argue the vegan qualities of seaweed. The café aims to act as a vegan Amazon, and has a pop up marketplace to show local produce and test the market for new products.

We passed a shop called ‘It’s Sugar’ – a huge American candy store. Back on the beach front, down a side alley we visited ‘Rico’s Empanadas’, which gets a solid 4.9 on most review sites. We all opted to order different varieties of empanadas to share. Spinach and cheese, chicken, beef, ham and cheese – a pretty short menu, a complement to the size of the shack. The beef was the best, nice and spicy with a great crust. We enjoyed our snacks while watching people pumping iron on Muscle Beach on one side and basketball enthusiasts on the other.

Of course, no visit to the California coast would be complete without a crispy taco right on the boardwalk. We ended up at a joint called ‘Fish Taco’ – The Best Fish Tacos on Venice Beach – with a sign that said 'no refunds' underneath. They were however excellent tacos, Baja style. Nice firm fish, crispy batter, shredded cabbage, spicy chilli sauce and freshly made taco. The area is famous for its fantastic iconic graffiti including those of Jim Morrison of course. Quick on the heels of the great fish tacos, we headed to Teddy's Red Tacos to find that most of their menu was indeed made of red Mexican goodies... surprise surprise! We opted for their signature dish of red tostada, pulled beef, hot sauce, Mexican cheese and shredded lettuce, with a side of beef broth, and some warm tortillas for good measure.

It was now time for something sweet, so we found a small café that specialised in a kind of deep-fried mash up of waffle and doughnuts, naturally covered in cinnamon sugar and served with the sweetest caramel sauce.

Now you are probably wondering... was the food amazing? It was interesting and different and on the whole - typically LA – and we didn’t need to wait for the sun, as it was out all day!