March is finally over which means my long taco-consuming journey has finally returned me home to Los Angeles. Oh yeah, there were some conferences in there, too, weren’t there? Don’t worry, I was able to tear myself away from the hand-pressed tortillas long enough to peck out a few sentences on my salsa-stained keyboard. Let’s recap, shall we?
Austin
Conference attended: SXSW
Tacos consumed: 10 1/2
Taco highlight: Sadly, this spot is forever reserved for the migas con queso at the late, beloved Las Manitas, which was demolished to make way for a Marriott that is now, of course, on hold! I couldn’t even bring myself to walk by the site.
Non-taco highlight: Getting my michelada in a to-go cup at a restaurant that shall remain unnamed.
Written between bites: Review of Objectified, coverage of the keynote by Zappos founder Tony Hseih, an interview with the founder of Foursquare.
La Jolla
Conference attended: CEOs for Cities
Tacos consumed: 4
Taco highlight: A few of us went to South Beach Bar & Grille in Ocean Beach where my grilled lobster taco actually shattered glass. I am not kidding, the window behind me broke while we were eating.
Non-taco highlight: Seeing the Salk Institute.
Written between bites: Four cool urban organizations who spoke at CEOs for Cities. Coverage of our presentation (including video!) coming soon.
Los Angeles
Conference attended: Unpacking, Laundry & Repacking Expo
Tacos consumed: 5
Taco highlight: As part of a story I was working on, I spent an afternoon sampling taco trucks in Echo Park. But surprisingly I was most excited by my crunchy comfort food of deep-fried beef and pickle tacos one night at Malo.
Non-taco highlight: A plain slice at the new Two Boots in Echo Park.
Written between bites: A story about Smart Design’s new SmartGauge for the Ford Fusion hybrid, which actually trains its drivers to drive more efficiently, a story about walkability and its effect on the ability of cities to lure young talent, and Triumph of the Design Haters, about the recent redesign revolts at Tropicana and Facebook.
San Diego
Conference attended: AIGA’s Y Conference
Tacos consumed: 9
Taco highlight: Was it the open-faced bean tostada with crickets? Was it the crunchy sardine taco (above)? The huitlacoche empanadas? No, I think it was the carnitas on hand-pressed tortillas made in a parking lot made in a parking lot by the gentlemen at La Taquiza. Dude.
Non-taco highlight: Toss up. Andrew Holder’s show at Subtext. Or gelato at Pappalecco. Remarkably the same colors.
Written between bites: Coverage of a bunch of the Y Conference’s knockout speakers: Smart Design’s Dan Formosa, Pinkberry’s Yolanda Santosa, Roshi Givechi from IDEO, Liz Danzico from SVA, Shawn Wolfe, Design Ignites Change.
Which brings us to now. It’s good to be home, but of course I’m still on the move. Starting tonight, I’ll be haunting the roof of the Standard Downtown fairly regularly as Postopolis! LA kicks into gear. Six design bloggers from near and far will be serving up the Three P’s—presentations, panels and parties—with the smartest voices from LA’s built environment every night from 5-10pm through April 4. On the last night, just before the closing party, I’ll be speaking on a panel at 6:20pm with folks from the Architects Newspaper, Curbed LA, and Greg J. Smith and Christina Ulke. No tacos, so I’ll have to settle for gin.
Do stop by if you’re in the hood, but if you can’t make it to LA, just check in with this pretty Twitter thingy!
