On the San Fernando Valley

22nd April 2011

Post with 9 notes

On Strip Malls

Remember how I said earlier that people who don’t live in the Valley hate it for all the wrong reasons? Here’s one of the best examples:

“God, the Valley is so disgusting and suburban. It’s just crappy strip malls EVERYWHERE.”

To the hypothetical speaker of that comment, I have one thing to say: Good god, man! “Crappy” strip malls? Bite your tongue! Do you have any idea of the treasures that lie within them?!?!?!?!

Allow me to justify my histrionics. The Valley is at both its best and worst when it isn’t pretending to be anything else, and the best example of that is the strip malls. They are grungey and unappealing, many are in sketchy parts of town, and they house some of the best food in Los Angeles. Two categories in which they particularly excel: donuts and sushi.

Here is an important, and in some quarters controversial, opinion (although I’d rather say “fact”) I have about donuts: There is no such thing as a good donut from Krispy Kreme. If you disagree with me, then please disregard everything I am about to write about donuts, and skip straight to sushi. One thing I know for certain: whichever side of the Krispy Kreme/real donuts line you fall on, there you will stay. To my mind, a good donut is big, doughy, covered in some kind of quasi-melty glaze, fresh, and contained in a pink box with either eleven or twelve others, depending on how seriously the proprietors take that whole “baker’s dozen” thing (I bet you can guess where I stand on that one). That’s what I love about the independent donut shops in the Valley; they make totally unapologetic donuts. They don’t try to sugarcoat (so to speak) the fact that what you are eating is wonderful for your mouth and terrible for your body; they just want to make you happy (and maybe sell you some inexpensive coffee to boot). They have un-clever names like “Donuts Plus”, “Donuts & More”, and “California Donuts”. Donut shops in strip malls are neither trendy nor cool. They simply exist, appropriately, by the dozen. P.T. Anderson knows all about this (he should—talk about the ultimate hometown boy made good); a crucial scene in the Valley-set Boogie Nights takes place where? A donut shop in Van Nuys (spitting distance from my house, actually).

Valley sushi, on the other hand, is a slightly less laid-back affair, even in a strip mall. Don’t be deceived by a humble exterior (or even interior); Valley strip mall sushi is serious business. Remember when I said that the sushi obsession was one of the big things Valley Girl got right? Case in point: there are more than twenty sushi restaurants in Studio City alone, and most of them are pretty great. I’m not naming names (this isn’t a “where to go in the Valley” blog; these places are for you to discover) but know that many have excellent food, staffs that aren’t 100% fluent in English (usually a good sign), and low prices. Sandwiched between laundromats, clothing stores with names like “Trendy Outfits $10”, and, yes, donut shops, these are the rewards for those who venture outside the obvious and familiar, which is kind of the whole appeal of the Valley.

Valley strip malls are great, because they are like microcosms of the Valley as a whole. Misunderstood, unpretentious, seemingly homogeneous, full of surprises, and worth a closer look.

Tagged: los angeles the valley san fernando valley