"The Corner Joins Mickey Mantle, Julius Caesar, Al Green, Michelangelo, Spirit of St. Louis, John F. Kennedy, Many Other Legends as 14th Best, Mozza Staff Ecstatic

Chefs, sous chefs, line cooks, servers, runners, dishwashers, somms and even owners on "The Corner" were thrilled this week when a rating of restaurants in Los Angeles listed the combined efforts of Pizzeria Mozza, Osteria Mozza and Chi Spacca as the 14th best in the entire city. 

 "You can have your Michelin stars, your Pellegrino 50 Best listing. your Gault Millau 19.5s, I'll take being listed the same as Al Green, Michelangelo and Mickey Mantle any day," said Mozza co-owner and chef Nancy Silverton referring to three other legends who too were listed as 14th best in their fields by various "raters".   "Ever heard of Julius Caesar? 14th." 

Although Osteria Mozza, Pizzeria Mozza and Chi Spacca are three clearly distinctive restaurants, they are so closely associated with each other that the triumvirate were rated as one.   In celebration, The Corner staff sang "Let's Stay Together",  the soul classic by Al Green who was rated the 14th best singer by Rolling Stone magazine.   As the party grew raucous, toasts were made to other legends who were rated 14th best including undefeated heavyweight champion  Rocky Marciano,  ( greatest boxers of all time list), "Some Like It Hot" ( greatest American movies of all time list ) Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind' ( greatest songs list) and John F. Kennedy, ( greatest presidents list).

"I love that we were rating as one, unlike some, mutual-wall places that were rated separately," said Chi Spacca general manager Kim "Grumpy" Trac, who, in a rare celebratory mood, fire off several rounds from his Barrett  82A1 50 Cal. sniper rifle.  Trac was Chino Valley Rancher's egged on by Pizzeria Mozza server Juile Burrise who yelled "Ernie Banks wore number 14.. Let's shoot two!"

***  The rating may recall a 2014 L.A. restaurant listing that put Melisse as the 32nd best in the city. Check it :  http://www.krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/4/25/32-is-the-new-1-melisse-given-same-number-as-koufax-magiclisted-as

Check out some of the other notable 14th bests.

Julius Caesar - rated 14th best general by Paradox Plaza https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/the-top-100-generals-of-history.266934/    (Also spelled as  Cesare)

Mickey Mantle was rated the 14th best baseball player of all time by The Bleacher Report  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1977372-the-100-greatest-mlb-players-of-all-time/page/48

"Some Like It Hot" - rated 14th best American movie of all time by the AFI-  http://www.afi.com/100years/movies.aspx

Rocky Mariciano - rated 14th best boxer of all time by ESPN http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/greatest/featureVideo?page=greatest1120

 "Blowin in the Wind" by Bob Dylan rated 14th best song of all time by Rolling Stone - http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/bob-dylan-blowin-in-the-wind-20110517

John F. Kennedy was rated 14th best president by the  American Political Science Association https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/02/16/new-ranking-of-u-s-presidents-puts-lincoln-1-obama-18-kennedy-judged-most-over-rated/

The "Spirit of St. Louis"  was rated 14th most important airplane of all time, ( Charles Lindburgh flew across the Atlantic in this plane ) http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/g2142/the-30-most-important-airplanes-of-all-time/

Al Green     http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231/robert-plant-20101202 

Michelangelo Buonarrotti -  rated the 14th greatest painter of all time  http://www.theartwolf.com/articles/most-important-painters.htm

"One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest"  by Ken Kesey was ranked the 14th best novel of all time by Good Reads  http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2681.Time_Magazine_s_All_Time_100_Novels

One?  Shit, we've all flew over that nest at some point . Me ? I'm going over tonight. 

14 best joke,  Some website      " A woman has twins, and gives them up for adoption. One goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Amal". The other goes to a family in Spain, who name him "Juan". Years later Juan sends a picture of himself to his mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wished she also had a picture of Amal. Her husband responds: "They're twins. If you've seen Juan, you've seen Amal."

Washington D.C. Stunner; Nancy Silverton Awards "5 Nods" To A Chicken Salad By Former White House Sous Chef Frank Ruta

Since its creation during the early Ming Dynasty in 1369 at Emperor Hongwu's temple in Nanjing, no chicken salad - Chinese, Caesar or not - has ever been awarded what is considered to be the "Supreme Royale Accolade". Until now.

Just moments ago , in the Georgetown sector of Washington, D.C., a chicken salad was awarded an unheard of ( for a salad) "5 Nods" from Nancy Silverton, the creator of the now-worldwide used Nodding System. (* For more on the system see below..

Silverton, in a classic act of serendipity, stumbled on The Grill Room, located in the Capella Hotel, an hour ago after being revolted by the two M Street lunch places suggested by this reporter. She turned off of M Street and down 31st Street near a canal and found The Grill Room.

Immediately, she knew she was in the right place when she spotted Larry Stone , one of America's most renowned sommeliers, hosting a wine lunch  Passing on invite to join that lengthy lunch, Silverton opted for a seat at an outside  table along the canal and perused the menu by chef Frank Ruta, a former White House executive sous chef who cooked for Carter, Reagan and the first Bush, (who,  looking back, seems like a titan compared to the second one.)

She ordered the chicken salad and a glass of Tempranillo. "Whenever I go to restaurant I don't know, especially at a hotel, I play it safe and go directly to a chicken Caesar," said Silverton.  "How bad can it be? Though, I'll say, I've had some awful, dried-out, over-dressed versions.  But, still, it is my hotel restaurant 'go to' order."   

This is how it is described on the menu.  Grilled Chicken Breast “Caesar”  -Romaine wedge, crispy fried lemons and capers, reggiano cheese crostini. $20.

Silverton was taken aback by the chicken salad. "It was outstanding.  The chicken was plump and juicy and probably had been in a flavorful brine. The romaine was perfectly dressed  The fried capers and lemons excellent."

Silverton was so impressed she issued the following press release 

"Since eating that salad, I have changed my mind and I'll be voting for Frank Ruta for president and hoping he selects Hillary to be his VP," said Silverton "I'm sure he's a better cook than her."

Here's is the Washington Post review of the Grill by Tom Sietsema  https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-grill-room-review-a-new-reason-to-go-thanks-to-frank-ruta-and-co/2015/04/21/d9f420a2-db07-11e4-ba28-f2a685dc7f89_story.html

  * The Nancy Nod was created in the mid 2010s to counter the overuse - and hence watering-down - of superlatives. By "Nodding" instead of talking, Silverton  - and now billions of others - express their satisfaction. A single nod is a polite gesture that acknowledges food is consumed and the eater is grateful for being nourished and kept from hunger. .  Above one nod, indicates a level of satisfaction up until a redline of Five Nods. .(WARNING  Above five nods could indicate an actual "nodding" is occurring and precautions should be taken to avoid said person from falling over )  

A gelato was the first-ever food to be awarded Five Nods. See this story. 

http://www.krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/1/12/nw6s2jk2qectcua6hpzok65h65cc2n

The sesame loaf at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco once received Five Nods. See here.

http://www.krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/4/8/nancy-silverton-awards-coveted-5-nods-to-tartine-sesame-loaf

In addition, the 2015 McLaren P1, the 2015 LaFerrari, and the  Krikorian Writes website have all been awarded Five Nods

Editors NOTE - For the record, Somm Stone gave Silverton a second - and free - glass of red wine from Quintessa, one of the properties he manages on the Silverado Trail in Napa Valley. The wine had no affect on the 5 Nod rating.  

Nancy Silverton Has A Cold

Nancy Silverton, holding a glass of Aglianico del Vulture  in one hand and IPhone 6 in the other, stood in a dark corner of the owner's parking lot of Complesso Mozza.  Two young chefs - Ryan Vito DeNicola and Tiffany Fox -  waited for her to say something they could understand, her voice a barely audible slur, like Brando toward the end.   But, she said nothing they could grasp. She had been silent during much of the evening, except now where she seemed even more distant speaking than not, staring out through the semidarkness into the alley where idled her midnight blue Porsche from which Coltane and Tyner joyously engulfed "But Not For Me"  The young chefs knew - as did some of Silverton's employees who stood nearby - that it was a bad idea to force conversation upon her when she was in this mood of sullen silence, a mood as rare as a full moonset during her nine-year reign at Mozza. 

Silverton had been working on a book she could not wait to finish;  she was tired of all the publicity attached to her dating a gang reporter; she was weary of traveling - having hours earlier returned from West Carolina - and stressing on an upcoming trip - a day in D.C and three in N. Y. C.  - before heading to somewhere in the Mid East for a pop up; she was tried of being recognized by strangers who saw her on the PBS show "I'll Have What Phil's Having", and was even concerned that very show could overrun her small Umbrian summer getaway with tourists;, she was tired of getting people reservations;, she so worn out that her body was - so very uncharacteristically  - reacting with ache. Silverton was ill. She was the victim of an ailment so common that most people would consider it trivial. But when it gets to Silverton it can plunge her into a state of disbelief, like the state of the confusion a Bengal tiger must have when confined to a cage. 

Nancy Silverton had a cold.

Silverton with a cold is Picasso without paint, LaFerrari without fuel, Seabiscuit without a racetrack-- only worse. For the common cold robs Silverton of that uninsurable jewel, her voice, cutting into the core of her confidence, and it affects not only her own psyche but also seems to cause a kind of psychosomatic nasal drip within dozens of people who work for her, drink with her, worship her, depend on her for their own welfare and stability. 

Silverton with a cold is cause for concern. Mere mortals get colds and are left to fend for themselves to get through the annoyance. Silverton gets visitors like she has just had open heart surgery. Friends and family - bordering on somber -arrive at her house, some - like writer Margy Rochlin - so shaken they retreat to the back yard to escape the strange sight of a docile Silverton. Her daughter Vanessa Silverton-Peel arrives and glares at me with a "What have you done to my mother?" look. They don't stay long. 

For me, however, Silverton with a cold is a wonderful thing. She stays home this past weekend.  I get food from Chi Spacca on Friday night  ( shoulder lamb shouler chops with Jimmy Nardello peppers and broccolini) and from Pizzeria Mozza on Saturday night ( the new Jimmy Nardello pizza, meatballs and a Trecolre salad) and we dine at home.  And, if anyone needed any proof she was actually sick, I can attest that she passes on the red wine and goes for a diet Dr. Pepper. 

We even watched television together. . I had been hooked on Veena Sud's "the Killing" and was 17 episodes in when Nancy got sick. I weakly offer to start from the beginning, but she says no, If you have ever had to explain a complicated story that is a season and a half in to someone, you will know what i went through. Nancy asked so many question that I stopped the show so much that one 42 minute episode took one hour and 15 minutes. Still, I'd like to tell Veena Sud one day that Sunday night. (possible Spoiler ) as we were going to bed, Nancy said "Looks like Gwen did it." 

So. Nancy Silverton has a cold. When she coughs, - and she coughed so much at a visit to Urgent Care ( near Bogie's Liquors) that her Armenian Greek doctor said her throat looked "like a cobblestone street" - it pains me, too. I lie awake with her.  

I hope Nancy Silverton gets over this cold. But, not too quickly .  

###

This story is a straight out robbery of a classic piece of journalism by Gay Talese that ran in Esquire. 

Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" ran in April 1966 and became one of the most celebrated magazine stories ever published, a pioneering example of what came to be called New Journalism -- a work of rigorously faithful fact enlivened with the kind of vivid storytelling that had previously been reserved for fiction.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/esq1003-oct-sinatra-rev/

Nancy Silverton Has A Cold

Nancy Silverton, holding a glass of Aglianico del Vulture  in one hand and IPhone 6 in the other, stood in a dark corner of the owner's parking lot of Complesso Mozza.  Two young chefs - Ryan Vito DeNicola and Tiffany Fox -  waited for her to say something they could understand, her voice a barely audible slur, like Brando toward the end.   But, she said nothing they could grasp. She had been silent during much of the evening, except now where she seemed even more distant speaking than not, staring out through the semidarkness into the alley where idled her midnight blue Porsche from which Coltane and Tyner joyously engulfed "But Not For Me"  The young chefs knew - as did some of Silverton's employees who stood nearby - that it was a bad idea to force conversation upon her when she was in this mood of sullen silence, a mood as rare as a full moonset during her nine-year reign at Mozza. 

Silverton had been working on a book she could not wait to finish;  she was tired of all the publicity attached to her dating a gang reporter; she was weary of traveling - having hours earlier returned from West Carolina - and stressing on an upcoming trip - a day in D.C and three in N. Y. C.  - before heading to somewhere in the Mid East for a pop up; she was tried of being recognized by strangers who saw her on the PBS show "I'll Have What Phil's Having", and was even concerned that very show could overrun her small Umbrian summer getaway with tourists;, she was tired of getting people reservations;, she so worn out that her body was - so very uncharacteristically  - reacting with ache. Silverton was ill. She was the victim of an ailment so common that most people would consider it trivial. But when it gets to Silverton it can plunge her into a state of disbelief, like the state of confusion a Bengal tiger must have when confined to a cage. Nancy Silverton had a cold.

Silverton with a cold is Picasso without paint, LaFerrari without fuel, Seabiscuit without a racetrack-- only worse. For the common cold robs Silverton of that uninsurable jewel, her voice, cutting into the core of her confidence, and it affects not only her own psyche but also seems to cause a kind of psychosomatic nasal drip within dozens of people who work for her, drink with her, worship her, depend on her for their own welfare and stability. 

Silverton with a cold is cause for concern. Mere mortals get colds and are left to fend for themselves to get through the annoyance. Silverton gets visitors like she has just had open heart surgery. Friends and family - bordering on somber -arrive at her house, some - like writer Margy Rochlin - so shaken they retreat to the back yard to escape the strange sight of a docile Silverton. Her daughter Vanessa Silverton-Peel arrives and glares at me with a "What have you done to my mother?" look. They don't stay long. 

For me, however, Silverton with a cold is a wonderful thing. She stays home this past weekend.  I get food from Chi Spacca on Friday night  ( shoulder lamb shouler chops with Jimmy Nardello peppers and broccolini) and from Pizzeria Mozza on Saturday night ( the new Jimmy Nardello pizza, meatballs and a Trecolre salad) and we dine at home.  And, if anyone needed any proof she was actually sick, I can attest that she passes on the red wine and goes for a diet Dr. Pepper. 

We even watched television together. . I had been hooked on Veena Sud's "the Killing" and was 17 episodes in when Nancy got sick. I weakly offer to start from the beginning, but she says no, If you have ever had to explain a complicated story that is a season and a half in to someone, you will know what i went through. Nancy asked so many question that I stopped the show so much that one 42 minute episode took one hour and 15 minutes. Still, I'd like to tell Veena Sud one day that Sunday night. (possible Spoiler ) as we were going to bed, Nancy said "Looks like Gwen did it." 

So. Nancy Silverton has a cold. When she coughs, - and she coughed so much at a visit to Urgent Care ( near Bogie's Liquors) that her Armenian Greek doctor said her throat looked "like a cobblestone street" - it pains me, too. I lie awake with her.  

So I hope Nancy Silverton gets over this cold. But, not too quickly .  

###

This story is a straight out robbery of a classic piece of journalism by Gay Talese that ran in Esquire. 

Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" ran in April 1966 and became one of the most celebrated magazine stories ever published, a pioneering example of what came to be called New Journalism -- a work of rigorously faithful fact enlivened with the kind of vivid storytelling that had previously been reserved for fiction.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/esq1003-oct-sinatra-rev/

A 2008 Lakers Team Dinner at Osteria Mozza; "But, the Coolest One was Lamar Odom."

MAY 7, 2008, reprinted from the L.A. Weekly

Around 7:30 on Friday night, the crew at the EZ Lube on Highland and Melrose lined up and started cheering. Three of them pulled out cameras and started taking shots like paparazzi. A fleet of SUVs filled with very tall men had pulled up across the street at Osteria Mozza to have a dinner in the private dining room. Somehow word had leaked out. “My guys were very excited,” said EZ Lube’s manager.

Celebrity sightings at Osteria and Pizzeria Mozza occur almost daily and rarely cause a stir. But this was different. The Lakers were having a team dinner.

“Luke Walton called me and said the team wanted to get together and watch the Jazz-Rockets game,” said John Black, vice president of public relations for the Lakers, who swept the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and wanted to get a good look at their next opponents, either the Utah Jazz or the Houston Rockets. Black, who claims to eat out 350 times a year and is an expert on the Los Angeles restaurant scene, recommended Mozza’s private dining room and made sure a huge flat-screen TV would be available for the team.

Around 8 o’clock, I arrived at the restaurant with Max, 15, a Phoenix Suns follower, and Oliver, 14, a die-hard Lakers fan, who can give you stats on the whole team. Outside, near the parking valet, a kid about 3 feet tall and wearing a Pau Gasol jersey was holding a basketball signed by many of the Lakers. We were at the right place.

Oliver’s mother is Mozza owner Nancy Silverton, so I took Max and Oliver into the private dining room through the kitchen entrance — and there they were, your Los Angeles Lakers. The game was on the screen and you could have heard a linguini drop, it was so quiet. Everyone was studying the game; nobody was talking. Except one guy. Kobe Bryant’s security guard. He came up and "suggested" we leave.. “The Lakers are watching the game.” The guy was about 5 feet 9 — no taller than I am — but with arms like the trunk of the General Grant Christmas tree at Kings Canyon National Park. He wasn’t mean, but he was firm. Max and Oliver gave me a look that said, “Let’s just go.” The Lakers, I explained to the disappointed kids back in the main dining room, were working. Studying.

About five minutes later, the security guy came out and said, “When the game is over, the team would be glad to meet the boys.”

I took the guys to a friend’s house to watch the game, but with the Jazz up by something like 20 points we headed again to Mozza and found ourselves back in the same private dining room we’d been kicked out of an hour before. This time, the bodyguard was a sweetheart and got all of the Lakers, no longer in study mode, to come by and shake Oliver’s and Max’s hands and sign a team picture. Kobe, who got word during dinner that he would likely win this year’s MVP award, was nice. Derek Fisher was nice. But the coolest one was Lamar Odom, who was completely sincere when he was talking to the kids.

When they finished their dinner, the Lakers, who had entered the restaurant silently through a side entrance, left publicly amid the chaos of a packed dining room. The restaurant went still. People couldn’t take their eyes off the team as the players made their exit.

In case you’re wondering, MVP Kobe paid for dinner, and yes, he left an awesome tip.

Watts Sad, Weary and Tense After Nickerson Gardens and Grape Street Homicides

Two years ago, with his South East  High School Jaguars trailing the Huntington Park High School Spartans by 24 points,  then-14-year-old Elijah Galbreath - pulled groin muscle and all -  led his team to a thrilling, come-from-behind victory with four touchdown runs.

This past Sunday, around 2 p.m.,  on 103rd and Grape Street, across the way from Jordan Downs,  Galbreath had no where to run. He had just walked out of Ronnie's Market and was headed home when a car slammed to a halt and a male with a gun exited. Elijah - hemmed in by a large fence, the car and the gunman - surrendered.   He dropped to his knees and put up his hands. The assailant shot him.

Krystal Galbreath, Elijah's sister, was at home in Jordan Downs when someone pounded on her door moments later..

"They just shot your brother," she was told. Krystal ran across 103rd Street and saw her mortally wounded younger brother.  " I went crazy. I just went crazy."  

Elijah was taken to St. Francis Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. 

Roughly two and half hours earlier, a mile-and-a-half away in Nickerson Gardens, another gunman - maybe two - entered those projects through a gate off Imperial Highway west of Success Avenue, saw a target and opened fire. Shot and killed was a beloved lifelong  Watts resident, Clinton "J B" Givens, 39.  

"I was just walking into my home when I heard shots," said a shell-shocked LaTasha Manley, Givens' woman and the mother of his children. "I looked back outside and, and, and there he was." 

"JB's dream was to make sure me and our kids were all right," Manley said as she showed off family photographs. "He wasn't my boyfriend. He was my man."

The two killings have brought a tension and eerie stillness to Watts not felt since  - almost two years to the day - September, 23, 2013, when for rapper Kevin "Flipside" White, 44,  of the Nickersons and Markice "Chiccen" Brider, 29, of Imperial Courts, were shot and killed within minutes of each other, allegedly by Grape Street Crips.  (For more on that check this link  http://www.krikorianwrites.com/blog/2013/9/24/watts-tense-after-2-killings-3-arrested-from-grape-st)

As rough as it is, Nickerson Gardens might have the best sense of humor in town.  But, Tuesday afternoon it was unusually somber, a combination of sadness for JB, concern a street gang battle was looming and a resigned awareness that its fiery past could be so easily rekindled.  At the gym, in the office, in the courtyard where JB died, the animation so prevalent in the projects was gone.

"Senseless, senseless, senseless," said Ronald "Kartoon" Antwine in a powerful Facebook post that drew dozens of agreeing comments.

LAPD's South Bureau Commander Phil Tingirides, who as captain of the Southeast Division was instrumental in developing better-than-ever relations between police and the Watts community - sought to squash fast rumors the killings were part of any Nickerson Gardens Bounty Hunters Bloods against Jordan Downs Grape Street Crips conflict. 

"People are scared, but right now it does not look that way," said Tingirides. "We need to hold off. Fortunately, the community is helping out and we are getting a lot of calls." 

Over on 105th Street, the family of Elijah Galbreath gathered and quietly greeted neighbors, friends. and out-of-town relatives who had flown in from other states to be with them. 

"They killed me when they killed my baby," said Elijah's mother Timeca Person. "They are taking out kids away forever."

When told of the earlier killing in Nickerson Gardens, Elijah's aunt who had flown in from Arizona, expressed shock.

"They haven't learned yet," said Vertrice Dooley, who recalled Elijah as respectful, funny, quick to dance and helpful. "Elijah was kind to everybody. If there were younger kids who needed any kind of help, he was happy to help them."

Mileon James, the football coach at Augustus Hawkins High School where Elijah had  transferred, spoke of the teenager's maturity, talent  and goals.

"He wanted to make his mom and dad proud and be able to get them in a better place," said James, "Elijah had this charisma about him. And he was freakishly athletic." 

Moran Galbreath, 43, Elijah's father, sat on a bench near the family home front door and spoke passionately about his son's death and that of so many other black males.

"This has got to stop." said Galbreath, 43, "We are crying and marching over police killing us, but we are annihilating ourselves. We are steadily destroying our own people."

With a distant gaze, Galbreath proudly talked about that game against Huntington Park High when his son "single-handedly brought his team back"  to a stunning victory.  "He was so determined."

Proud dad recalled the time he took Elijah to see his older brother Daylon who is at Langston University in Oklahoma on a scholarship. 

"Elijah got to work out with his brother and the team there and he turned to me and said 'This is me."

On 103rd a few yards from Grape Street, dozens of "murder candles" were lit in that all-too-familiar site of a fast memorial to the street slain. Moran Galbreath shook his head. "Our kids deserve more than this. Our kids don't deserve to be candles on a corner."  

Clinton "JB" Givens and Latasha manley with their children

Watts Sad, Tense and Weary After Nickerson Gardens and Grape Street Killings

Two years ago, with his South East  High School Jaguars trailing the Huntington Park High School Spartans by 24 points,  then-14-year-old Elijah Galbreath - pulled groin muscle and all -  led his team to a thrilling, come-from-behind victory with four touchdown runs.

This past Sunday, around 2 p.m.,  on 103rd and Grape Street, across the way from Jordan Downs,  Galbreath had no where to run. He had just walked out of Ronnie's Market and was headed home when a car slammed to a halt and a male with a gun exited. Elijah - hemmed in by a large fence, the car and the gunman - surrendered.   He dropped to his knees and put up his hands. The assailant shot him.

Krystal Galbreath, Elijah's sister, was at home in Jordan Downs when someone pounded on her door moments later..

"They just shot your brother," she was told. Krystal ran across 103rd Street and saw her mortally wounded younger brother.  " I went crazy. I just went crazy."  

Elijah was taken to St. Francis Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. 

Roughly two and half hours earlier, a mile-and-a-half away in Nickerson Gardens, another gunman - maybe two - entered those projects through a gate off Imperial Highway west of Success Avenue, saw a target and opened fire. Shot and killed was a beloved lifelong  Watts resident, Clinton "J B" Givens, 39.  

"I was just walking into my home when I heard shots," said a shell-shocked LaTasha Manley, Givens' woman and the mother of his children. "I looked back outside and, and, and there he was." 

"JB's dream was to make sure me and our kids were all right," Manley said as she showed off family photographs. "He wasn't my boyfriend. He was my man."

The two killings have brought a tension and eerie stillness to Watts not felt since  - almost two years to the day - September, 23, 2013, when for rapper Kevin "Flipside" White, 44,  of the Nickersons and Markice "Chiccen" Brider, 29, of Imperial Courts, were shot and killed within minutes of each other, allegedly by Grape Street Crips.  (For more on that check this link  http://www.krikorianwrites.com/blog/2013/9/24/watts-tense-after-2-killings-3-arrested-from-grape-st)

As rough as it is, Nickerson Gardens might have the best sense of humor in town.  But, Tuesday afternoon it was unusually somber, a combination of sadness for JB, concern a street gang battle was looming and a resigned awareness that its fiery past could be so easily rekindled.  At the gym, in the office, in the courtyard where JB died, the animation so prevalent in the projects was gone.

"Senseless, senseless, senseless," said Ronald "Kartoon" Antwine in a powerful Facebook post that drew dozens of agreeing comments.

LAPD's South Bureau Commander Phil Tingirides, who as captain of the Southeast Division was instrumental in developing better-than-ever relations between police and the Watts community - sought to squash fast rumors the killings were part of any Nickerson Gardens Bounty Hunters Bloods against Jordan Downs Grape Street Crips conflict. 

"People are scared, but right now it does not look that way," said Tingirides. "We need to hold off. Fortunately, the community is helping out and we are getting a lot of calls." 

Over on 105th Street, the family of Elijah Galbreath gathered and quietly greeted neighbors, friends. and out-of-town relatives who had flown in from other states to be with them. 

"They killed me when they killed my baby," said Elijah's mother Timeca Person. "They are taking out kids away forever."

When told of the earlier killing in Nickerson Gardens, Elijah's aunt who had flown in from Arizona, expressed shock.

"They haven't learned yet," said Vertrice Dooley, who recalled Elijah as respectful, funny, quick to dance and helpful. "Elijah was kind to everybody. If there were younger kids who needed any kind of help, he was happy to help them."

Mileon James, the football coach at Augustus Hawkins High School where Elijah had  transferred, spoke of the teenager's maturity, talent  and goals.

"He wanted to make his mom and dad proud and be able to get them in a better place," said James, "Elijah had this charisma about him. And he was freakishly athletic." 

Moran Galbreath, 43, Elijah's father, sat on a bench near the family home front door and spoke passionately about his son's death and that of so many other black males.

"This has got to stop." said Galbreath, 43, "We are crying and marching over police killing us, but we are annihilating ourselves. We are steadily destroying our own people."

With a distant gaze, Galbreath proudly talked about that game against Huntington Park High when his son "single-handedly brought his team back"  to a stunning victory.  "He was so determined."

Proud dad recalled the time he took Elijah to see his older brother Daylon who is at Langston University in Oklahoma on a scholarship. 

"Elijah got to work out with his brother and the team there and he turned to me and said 'This is me."

On 103rd a few yards from Grape Street, dozens of "murder candles" were lit in that all-too-familiar site of a fast memorial to the street slain. Moran Galbreath shook his head. "Our kids deserve more than this. Our kids don't deserve to be candles on a corner."  

There was a vigil for Elijah tonight  on 103rd and Grape. There were no television crews. 

Elijah galbreath leans on his grandma

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Planned Parenthood Official: "Hunt For Tiffany Fox's Baby Daddy Narrowed Down To 32 Tinder Users."

When veteran Mozza chef Tiffany Fox announced back in March that she was pregnant, her friends excitedly hugged and congratulated her. But, those very friends - as  well as people who only know Fox casually - all had the same thought: "I wonder if she has any idea who the father is?"

Sunday, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood announced that more than 357 Tinder users have been "cleared" of fathering the child, "We have narrowed it down to 32 Tinder users.

Fox, who almost single-handedly (well, maybe double handedly) popularized Tinder  the so-called "naughty quick date" phone application, had often gone on the record saying she had never slept with anyone she meet on the "hook up" app.

However, interviews with friends. motel owners, vice cops all found that hard to believe. Some even disagreed vehemently.

At the "Dare-U-Inn" motel on Hollywood Boulevard near Hobart Avenue, manager  Kim Trac  said he often would see Tiffany "many many time a day. Different men. Sometime boys. Always loud noises in room. Customers complain But, me no get involved."

Sgt. Alison Yates of LAPD's Hollywood Vice, said that Fox was never on their radar as a "working girl" as, in his words. "She did it for free."

"Free?," said one Tinder user who spent time with Fox. "It cost me dinner at Providence. $327. That's not free to me. The fucked up thing about it, was I didn't even get a kiss. After that night, I quit Tindering."

Others, some apparently petrified over news that Fox was pregnant have also distinguished their Tinder application. Since Fox's baby announcement, Tinder membership is down 27%.

While news of the pregnancy was generally well- received, some were disappointed. 

"When I found out Tiffany was pregnant, I was bummed," said Kate Green. "I knew I had to find a new person to drink with."

A woman claiming to be Tiffany's 'BFF" said she couldn't believe it when she heard the news a baby was on the way. "I thought it was some kind of joke," said Tanya Bautista.

Nancy Silverton didn't think it was funny at all. 

"I think when she heard Celeste was pregnant, she went out of her way to make a baby," said Silverton. "She figured with Celeste out, she'd have to work harder, Everyone knows she's lazy. Even at her baby shower, she couldn't even make the pie shells. She bought them from the 99 Cent Store."  

UPDATE - As Krikorian Write was going to press, word came out that one Alfie Lytton, an Englishman who worked briefly at Osteria Mozza, has claimed that he is the father of the baby boy whose name will be J

"Tell those 31 other dudes, those Tinder fools, to go fuck themselves. I'm Tiffany's baby daddy."  

Moruno At L.A. Farmer's Market Becomes First Take-Out Window Ever To Win A Michelin Star

Acknowledging that "To Go" was an integral part of the dining experience not only in America, but the entire planet, Michelin, the world's most prestigious restaurant guide, has finally awarded one of their coveted "stars" to a food take out window.

Winner of the single Michelin is Moruno, a Spanish-themed soon-to-be-actual sit down restaurant that for the time being is offering only take out food at the Farmer's Market, the Los Angeles landmark at Third Street and Fairfax Avenue.

Moruno, which loosely translates to "skewers", opened in July in the southwest corner of the market in the space formerly occupied by Amy Pressman's "Short Order" near Dupar's.  Anxious to get cooking, the owners. David Rosoff and Chris Feldmeier, decided to open a take out window rather than wait for all the permits needed for the full-blown restaurant which is expected to open in the next few months.

Reaction to the Moruno take out window has been overwhelmingly positive.

"I think it is fair to say that when it come to take out windows, Moruno is in a class all by itself," said Michael Ellis, the Michelin Guide's international director. "More than 3.2  billion people a day worldwide order take out, so why should Michelin ignore them. From now. on, thanks to Moruno's lead, we will not."

Though admittedly humbled by the honor, co-owner Rosoff said both he, Feldmeier, sous chef Derek "Der Wreck" McCabe, prep cook Marissa "Two Kitchens",  as well as LSB (Lead Sandwich Bagger) Hector "Prince of Troy" Lopez all suspected a recent customer was, in fact, a Michelin inspector. 

"I have to admit we had an unfair advantage because the inspector was wearing one of those golf shirts you see guys wearing at company conventions and it had the Michelin Man where the alligator usually is," Rosoff said.

Sources in the Michelin Guide said that "Los Escobar de la Escobar", a take out window in Medellin, Colombia was "almost" awarded a star, but two of the guide's inspectors were kidnapped by a prep cook and a security guard  which, according to one of the sources "is not conducive to winning Michelin stars."

Part of the beauty of Moruno is that one can order from the  take out and walk 18 feet to the tables of the Farmer's Market and relish the food and enjoy the people watching.

A customer, Ralph Waxman, raved about his Moruno take out window lunch, "I had a delicious lamb sandwich, a outstanding  pork moruno, those brilliant lentils with yogurt  and I looked up and I saw Helen walk by. If that's not a lunch worthy of a Michelin star, well, than what is?"

http://morunola.com/

Deb michail A happy customer, points to moruno chef chris feldmeier