A non-assassin's guide to Torrance, CA

The South Bay city is getting a lot of attention for the wrong reasons.

Inside: LA’s “prolonged downturn”, how to take a perfect day trip to Torrance, and three no-RSVP-required events at the bottom of this newsletter.

Send your feedback, tips, and more to nobaddaysinla@proton.me.

Metro will be activating its new stations with weekly farmers markets, pickball, salsa classes, and more. This is a three-month pilot program, LA Material reports. Thrilling!!! (BTW, it’s not just LA influencers who are hopping on the Metro. The LA Local reports that there’s been a rise in ridership among college students too.)

Mayor Karen Bass is smiling a little bit too brightly in her photo opp with the President. As Alissa Walker points out:

There’s a way to ask for federal money and appeal to Trump’s ego without throwing your city under said bus. During his first meeting with Trump, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani iconically gifted him two pieces of paper: the 1975 New York Daily News front page with the headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead” and a fake New York Daily News front page with the headline “Trump to City: Let’s Build.” The shrewd move was described as “soft power via Photoshop.” But the real tell was Mamdani’s thin half-smile during their photo together. No dimples for Trump!

This Pacific Palisades book club’s youngest member is 83 years old. “The only way we’ve lost members, unfortunately, has been by passing away or moving away,” says Becky Nedelman. Every book club I’ve ever been apart of has been dissolved by friendship breakups and petty grievances…

The Oscars Red Carpet was not trashed, as a viral TikTok suggested. Rather it was recycled and turned into material for computer cases and car parts.

Madonna was at the Abbey this past weekend. Paper Magazine’s correspondent spotted Lily Allen, Bebe Rexha, Meredith and Seth Marks, Kali Uchis, Archie Madekwe, Jeremy Scott, and a number of Ru Paul’s girls. Doechii was also there for her Runway music video premiere the next day.

The LA Taco has the 13 best restaurants in LA, according to dominatrixes. There’s a Norms shoutout! Eater LA also published this piece where they ask Jumbo’s dancer Scarlett Kapella about her favorite restaurants—but people in the Instagram comments are accusing Eater of ripping off this very LA Taco series (which has, in the past, featured Jumbo’s dancers). Tough call.

Blackbird Spyplane says “don’t count LA out yet.” I wasn’t??? In all seriousness, I think that the upwardly mobile creative class as well as the city’s landlords¹ are overrepresented in the conversation about LA’s “prolonged downswing”, in such a way that makes the situation seem much more dire than it actually is. It’s the outsiders that Blackbird Spyplane is addressing, not the longterm residents. And their narrative is driven by the logic of endless corporate growth, extraction, and consumption—that which makes life difficult for dedicated Angelenos. This weekend, I witnessed crowded food fairs and swap meets and bustling sidewalks in East Hollywood, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, and even Echo Park and Silverlake. There are new restaurant openings every week. It’s still impossible to get a table at the city’s most popular restaurants. Shows quickly sell out. LA’s art scene is more exciting than ever.

The city is still bouncing back from a number of regional crises, in addition to a national economic downturn. But you can easily miss the story of its resilience if you’re only looking at its institutions and not the people in alternative spaces and the underground who are finding creative ways to generate social and economic energy. The club scene is dead but underground raves and unsanctioned parties are thriving. Centers of tourism, like Hollywood proper, are flailing, but smaller corners of the city are lighting up with activity. There’s no denying that some parts of the city are not doing so well. But the narrative requires a reframe that doesn’t center the city’s transient population and its tourist visitors; it needs one that centers its permanent population, the Angelenos who don’t flee at the first sign of trouble.

Torrance, CA is a world-class city

The national media descended upon the sleepy South Bay town of Torrance this week, in search of any salacious details and history that may explain the motivations and mental state of Cole Tomas Allen, the would-be assassin who stormed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this past weekend.

Torrance isn’t exactly a hotbed of radical activity. Before this, the most exciting thing to happen to the town was the arrival of a Super King. But as someone who spent the better part of her preteen years getting steps in at the Del Amo Fashion Center, I think that those sneering from within the borders of Los Angeles proper often underestimate what the place has to offer.

For one thing, it’s home to the largest population of Japanese-Americans in the South Bay, many of whom came here to work at Honda and Toyota’s US headquarters (the latter of which shut down in 2014) in the 80s. Because of this, some of world’s best Japanese food outside of Japan is being served within the humble city’s borders. But that’s really only one reason you may want to cross the 105 to explore this historic town.

How to get there: Car

Torrance is not a walkable city and the public transit options aren’t great either. The only real feasible means of transport is, unfortunately, the car, but there’s plenty of free parking wherever you go.

A walkable area to explore: Old Town Torrance

If you really want to stop somewhere to stretch your legs after the long drive, Old Town Torrance offers a pleasing experience, with historic architecture and even a quaint parklet to walk through. You can walk end-to-end in 15 minutes, but it isn’t that hard to spend a whole day there:

• Plan your trip around the Sunday Flea.

• Grab a coffee at Offset Coffee Roasters, the South Bay coffee chain, or Clutch & Coffee.

• Explore My Doll’s House, one of the last doll miniatures stores in the Greater Los Angeles area, which features special rare and artist-made miniatures. Some of their model sets have been used in films like The Ring.

• Shop Street Faire Antiques for Hollywood regency-era furniture, as well as used books, vintage ceramics, and other knick knacks at affordable prices.

• Eat some of the best Japanese fried chicken you can get your hands on at GABURI Chicken.

• Or have some of the best upscale Oaxacan bites and cocktails you can find at Madre.

Where to see art: the Torrance Art Museum

A couple of weeks ago, Raziq Rauf told me about the Ralph Steadman exhibit, currently on display at the Torrance Art Museum until May 9, which spans 60 years of the influential Welsh artist’s career, “featuring more than 140 original artworks and ephemera, including sketchbooks, handwritten notes, and personal photographs.”

Where to get really affordable sushi: Sushi Yoshi

This place is a cheap, carry-out only, old-school strip mall sushi joint run by one guy, Yuki, behind the counter, which is adorned with more than a dozen Dodger-themed bobbleheads. The sushi combo is $15, and probably some of the best quality sushi you can get for the price anywhere in the greater Los Angeles area.

Where to splurge on sushi: Sushi Inaba

The reservations at this 6-seat sushi counter famously and frustratingly sell out within mere seconds of their posting, but Sushi Inaba often posts last minute openings to their Instagram stories. Its self-taught sushi master, Yasu-san, will enthusiastically guide you through a 20-course meal, which costs $280/person.

Where to get yakitori: Torihei Robata Dining

You can stuff yourself with all the drink and grilled meats your heart desires at this legendary Japanese skewer spot, whose menu includes something for everyone except vegetarians.

Where to get BBQ: The Wagyu Butcher

Marketing has emptied the term “wagyu” of all its meaning and legitimacy, but there is every indication that this BBQ spot lives up to the name. It only opened last year, but the Wagyu Butcher’s yakiniku tasting menu has made fans out of the restaurant critics. According to the NYT’s Tejal Rao, one notable bite “announced itself instantly—the satiny fat on fat, the way it almost dissolved, delivering so much unctuousness with such a light touch, making my teeth feel pretty much superfluous. It tasted, faintly, of caramel. It was absurd.”

Where to get Hawaiian plates: Aunty Maile’s Hawaiian

While Torrance is home to the original King’s Hawaiian (and its 150,000 square foot production bakery), the best Hawaiian fare you can get is less than a mile away at Aunty Maile’s. I’m a fan of the garlic shrimp. Their poke is also outstanding.

Where to get a refreshing beverage: Hula Hula Room

I’m friends with a couple of tiki-heads who can confirm the Hula Hula Room’s bonafides. Walking into the bar from its strip mall location feels like being transported into a beachside tiki hut.

Where to get groceries: Anywhere

There’s no shortage of Asian supermarkets in Torrance, including Seiwa Market, Tokyo Central, and Nijiya Market. These are also some of the best places to get supermarket sushi. Do a supermarket crawl before you head back home to the big city.

TONIGHT: Attend a zine release for ARSENAL PAPER, a “California publication” at the Eagle, where they’ll also be screening a film by the poet Brontez Purnell. No RSVP is required.

TOMORROW: Celebrate CAAM’s new exhibition, A New Song: Langston Hughes in the West, with a live performance of Hughes’s poem, “Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz,” presented by USC Professor of Music Ron McCurdy and his quartet. No RSVP is required.

THURSDAY: Silverlake’s very popular Star Party (which entertained one Jacob Elordi on a date recently) is back on Thursday with performances by Jiji’s Jazz Club. No RSVP required, but parking is limited.

1. Who’s complaining about plunging rent prices? Artists can finally afford to live by the beach again.