66. Best Sight L.A. for Coffee, Cheesecake and Channeling a Sleeper Hold

In. L.A. it is currently award season.  In honor of award season, your CaliforniVacation SoCal gal (aka Lori Bjork) is having fun creating categories for "Best Sights L.A." awards.  Today's category is no exception.

Without delay, the award for "Best Sight L.A. for Coffee, Cheesecake and Channeling a Sleeper Hold" has to go to delizia Cafe & Catering on Ocean Front Walk (301 to be exact, at the corner of Rose Avenue) in Venice, California (most days opens at 8 am...call first 310.392.3900).

If you have been following my award blog posts, you know there is a method to my madness with the sights I've chosen to honor.  I am highlighting sights one might consider for what I have dubbed Bjork's "Hotel California Tour".  The Hotel California in Santa Monica is an award winner in this series.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I created awards for location sights in the movie, "I Love You, Man".  Doing so is fortuitous because some of these location sights are in Venice, Santa Monica's next-door neighbor to the south.  

Today's award winner is the sight from the movie where Lou Ferrigno as Lou Ferrigno puts Jason Segel as Sidney Fife in a sleeper hold, which I personally found funny.  So, I just had to go there.  You know how I am.

You know how sometimes "they" say "the third times the charm"?  With delizia Cafe & Catering, this was true for me.  

First visit. When I arrived ready to eat, it was about 5:50 pm.  They were no longer serving.  I was told they closed at 6 pm.  Now I did pretty good in school.  So I feel confident that 6 pm is after 5:50 pm, but what do I know?  Seriously, what do I know?  It's all good, though.  I ended up eating somewhere else that evening, which I enjoyed.

Second visit.  Thinking I had until 6 pm but "just in case", I arrived there at 5:30 pm.  Closed.  

The charm.  I arrived at 4 pm and they were still open.  Whoo hoo!  Celebration time.  C'mon!  (BTW. Had they not been open, it would have been my last visit.)  That is when I noticed a different sign delizia had posted stating they are open until dusk.  Upon asking, I was told if it is slow they will close early.  At any rate, this is not the place you go for dinner.  Breakfast?  Yes.  Lunch?  Yes.  Dinner?  Only if you are over 80.  Okay, that was not very nice.  Strike that.  Dinner? No.

Delizia is owned by an authentic Italian woman who loves cooking and is good at it.  Except for the croissants (which are technically French, so I feel we can forgive her) and the bagels (which are not Italian either), Delizia's food is lovingly created in-house for your eating pleasure.  They are also one of the few places I've noticed, so far, which serves Illy brand coffee.  Illy is one of the world's leading coffees produced in Trieste, Italy.

This is a place to enjoy a cappuccino and croissant for breakfast, pizza or a panini for lunch or (like I did) coffee and cheesecake for an afternoon snack (to name just a few of their food choices).  After stepping into the cafe to order and pay, step out into the eating area to enjoy your food and the Venice beach area view.  And don't worry about some over zealous character coming up to hassle you like Sidney Fife did to Lou Ferrigno in the movie.  The eating area is sectioned off with a short fencing.

Ahhh!  It feels good to safely celebrate the sights of L.A.

P.S.  If you read my blog, "Would You Call The Police?", you may recognize the six-story building in the delizia photo as the same building in the video.

18. not 2Beach

So you are not such a big fan of the surf and sand.  What oh what else can you do if you find yourself in Manhattan Beach?

How about a massage?  There is Trilogy Spa on the 2nd floor of the building in this photo (taken at the corner of Valley/Ardmore and Manhattan Beach Boulevard).

There are a number of excellent restaurants.

Downtown Manhattan Beach is an equal opportunity coffee house placement zone.  Here you will find Starbucks, Peets Coffee and Tea, and The Coffee Bean.

Maybe Jamba Juice or Noah's Bagels is more your speed.

Maybe you are an ice cream fan.  Choose between Cold Stone Creamery or  Manhattan Beach's very own Manhattan Beach Creamery.

Are you a little more artsy?  Paint pottery at the Color Me Mine.

Find out a bit about Manhattan Beach's Metlox Pottery history at the Metlox Town Plaza. 

Or get your shop on. 

Manhattan Beach is home of Skechers HQ. 

You will also find an American Apparel, Diane's and many other fine shopping experiences.

Downtown Manhattan Beach also boasts a grocery store, Von's, across from the Metlox Town Plaza.

One thing you will find little of (at least in walking distance) is overnight accommodations.  Shade Hotel provides the only overnight accommodations in downtown Manhattan Beach.

Of course, as I mention in my 2Beach blog post, T. Harv Eker teaches that the poor tend to think "or" while the rich tend to think "and".  If you are looking for a great weekend getaway, Manhattan Beach certainly offers much in the way of 2Beach AND not 2Beach.

Who knows?  Maybe I'll see you there.