Take-Out and the Tube

In an effort to determine how last weekend’s televised U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings affected L.A.’s social life, The Buzz randomly polled some local eateries.

By Sunday, apparently, people needed something to help them face a new day in front of the tube. The cappuccino sippers were out in force Sunday morning at Pasadena’s Old Town Bakery, which experienced one of its busiest days ever, said co-owner Mike Weiss.

But later, it seems the TV began to win over. Chaya Venice was “slow,” as they say in restaurant parlance. “Let’s say that everybody in Venice is political,” said Chaya’s Guy Rebentisch.

Meanwhile, the take-out orders at the two Daily Grills (Brentwood and L.A.) were so heavy that each restaurant had to put three extra delivery people to work. And chef Michael Roberts reports that the most popular take-out dish at Trump’s fit right into the all-American theme of the weekend: fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Off the Color Chart

It’s no wonder so many trendoids just wear black. Pity the poor shopper who’s confronted with these enigmatic color choices from Tweed’s clothing catalogue: breen, Niagara, myrtille, sanguine, hermelyn, Tuscan, cherub and foret.

Tweed’s spokesman Mark Friedman said the color names originate with the catalogue design staff who “are always on the lookout for--I wouldn’t say weird--but different color names. They try to think of words in their minds that seem like a color.” Oh.

Friedman says the catalogue receives lively customer feedback over the exotic names, including one college student who was sitting around the dorm one night and came up with a list of 200 names suitable for colors that already have names.

Friedman asserts some customers enjoy the names, while others say things like “Why don’t you call them what they are, as opposed to ‘hermelyn,’ so I know what I’m getting.” Hermelyn, by the way, is Tweedese for off-white.

Essentials

WHAT YOU NEED TO MANEUVER THE L.A. SCENE: On the club circuit, the hottest new accessory is a lunch box. That’s right--a bright plastic vintage lunch box, preferably with pictures of the Brady Bunch, the Partridge Family or the Mod Squad. Also seen are black plastic industrial-style lunch boxes adorned with stickers picturing underground rock bands.

With the Thermoses removed, these are roomy enough for ID, keys, cigarettes, cash and everything else one needs for a night on the town. Times have changed. After all, when we were young, it was the dweebs who carried lunch boxes.