90026

Sandwiched like a meatless patty between Los Feliz and Echo Park, Silver Lake (which also extends into 90039) reminded 19th century Scottish adventurer Hugo Reid of his homeland. He called the area Ivanhoe. In 1906, when the 127-acre reservoir was being built, the city named it for early L.A. Water Commissioner Herman Silver. The first Disney atelier was on Hyperion, and Laurel and Hardy’s “The Music Box” was filmed on 131 steps that connect Vendome and Descanso. The steep hillsides showcase nontraditional homes, such as John Lautner’s Modernist masterpiece Silvertop. Touted in the ‘20s as “15 Minutes From Broadway,” Silver Lake has great views of downtown. A prime vista is at the corner of Marathon and Micheltorena.

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SHOP, DROP

Get to the Bottom of Things

On Saturdays at the Silver Lake Farmers’ Market, vendors hawk their finest fresh foods, including baby bok choy and moist mozzarella cheese. You can also find handmade jewelry, funky clothing and just-clipped flowers. Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., 3700 W. Sunset Blvd. . . . Panty Raid is a small store with a great big heart and a tiny rear end (for parking). Inside there’s a colorful cornucopia of underwear made according to patterns that defy the laws of anatomy. A note of caution: The G-string-impaired would be wise to shop elsewhere. 2378 Glendale Blvd., (323) 668-1888.

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26.8:

Percentage of 90026 residents who are under the age of 18

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FOOD, DRINK

Menudo to Pho Noodle

Tacos Delta doesn’t look like much from the street, but it has a lovely tree-shaded patio out back with mismatched tablecloths and plastic seats. If you spent too much time carousing with Silver Lake hipsters last night, the menudo here in the morning will help your head. 3806 W. Sunset Blvd., (323) 664-2848 . . . The Cuban strip-mall treasure El Cochinito closes at 8:30 p.m., so don’t dally: It’s worth arriving early for the chicken and pork dishes and the mouth-watering avocado salad. Lunch specials are delectable and dirt-cheap. 3508 W. Sunset Blvd., (323)668-0737 . . . Pho Cafe is the uber-confident type that doesn’t find it necessary to put up a sign. This would be irritating if the steaming noodle soup weren’t so comforting and the spring rolls weren’t so fresh. 2841 W. Sunset Blvd., (213)413-0888.

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ONE THING TO DO

Blind Dating

With Bacchus

Attend a tasting at Silverlake Wine on Sundays, Mondays or Thursdays. Painter Helmut Folk, a regular, likes the fact that the owners, including former Campanile wine director George Cossette, stock “under the radar” brands such as Nikolaihof of Austria, which produces Rieslings from grapes grown using the principles of biodynamic agriculture. Folk says the Monday sessions are best: “If anybody needs a date, that’s the place to go.” 2395 Glendale Blvd., (323) 662-9024.

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Literary Landmark: Raymond Chandler turned Silver Lake into gloomy Gray Lake in the Philip Marlowe short stories “Finger Man” and “Goldfish.” L.A.’s noir king was no stranger to the neighborhood, whose streets, he wrote, “wind around in the hills, describing elaborate curves along their flanks for the benefit of a few cheap and scattered bungalows.” Chandler briefly lived in one such bungalow at 1637 Redesdale in the ‘30s.