Update: In all the fabulosity of Saturday night, I screwed up and neglected to post the winning raffle tickets for our eight door prizes. If you were at City Listening and had a raffle ticket, check here to see if you won and email us if you did!

It’s going to be a big, fat, designy weekend here in LA and I hope that you can join me for as much of it as you can muster! First up, Friday, Saturday and Sunday is Dwell on Design, the West Coast’s largest design show and one of my favorite conferences of all time.

For the last few weeks I’ve been writing over at Dwell about all the highlights, including a beautiful tile collaboration between Heath Ceramics and Dwell, a free design clinic hosted by my friends at Architizer, Project H’s GreenAid seed bomb vending machines, David Thompson’s lovely Larchmont Village house, the announcement of a new Cleantech Corridor competition for LA, and an exciting collaboration between Dwell and Arkitip on 10 prints of 10 Dwell houses by 10 artists, including this piece by Andrew Holder (who I was thrilled to interview!). Plus, I got to go to Ed Begley, Jr.’s supergreen house—he’s talking Sunday—and we chatted about riding the bus. He does it!

If all that wasn’t a reason to come out, I’ll be speaking there, too, and I hope you can come by and say hi! Saturday at 12:30pm on the Sustainability stage I’m moderating a panel called Improvising and Improving LA Transit, showcasing how three Angelenos have taken a DIY approach to making the city’s transportation better. On my panel are three of my transit heroes: Dan Koeppel, founder of the 35-mile stairwalk named THE BIG PARADE, which I just wrote about here; Richard Ankrom, the artist who took it upon himself to improve an Los Angeles freeway sign (which I wrote about over at GOOD); and Joseph Prichard, a graphic designer who is improving bike signage, and whose Better Bikeways series I edit at GOOD.

And then at 5pm, same day, same stage, I’m moderating another panel, Watts House Project: Architecture, Art, and Sustainability, about one of the most exciting public art projects in the country, the Watts House Project, featuring Edgar Arceneaux, John Umbanhowar and Frank Escher.

And because I love you so much for reading this blog, I’d like to offer you a special discount on the Dwell conference. You’ll receive $15 off the Dwell Exhibition Plus Ticket (50% off the two-day Weekend Pass) if you purchase tickets online before Friday with the code: DWELL8B

But wait, there’s more! Saturday night, after my last panel at Dwell on Design, I’ll be scurrying up Spring Street to the Spring Arts Tower for our very first de LaB fundraiser: City Listening II.

We’ve got a killer lineup of design writers who are all going to be reading stories about LA, including Frances Anderton on “Living With Gehry,” John Chase ruminating about fun-size Twix bars, Sam Lubell reading bible verses, Tibby Rothman with an amazing (and true) art world story, Nick Adams on LA’s “subway,” Chris Nichols from Los Angeles Magazine, LA Creek Freak Joe Linton, LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne, Rico Gagliano from the PRI show The Dinner Party Download, Brooke Hodge, Adrian Glick Kudler, Tom Marble, Marissa Gluck, and letters to LA from 826LA students. And yes, I’ll be reading my annual poem about design in LA. Plus, anyone who arrives by bike or transit receives a very special walking-themed door prize!

We couldn’t have done any of this without our amazing de LaB community. The event decor is currently being laser-etched by Crimson Collective (the same designers who built that giant bird nesting in the center of this year’s Coachella festival), and we’ll have a silent auction featuring items ranging from beautiful custom-built “barchitecture” by Jason King of Somewhere Something, to a walking tour of West Hollywood’s art and urban design with John Chase, to an amazing airplant sculpture by Kara Bartlet’s toHOLD. Plus, I can’t forget the tireless work of our most valuable de LaB community member: Derrick Schultz, who built our website and designed all the beautiful graphics.

We’ll also have delectable Asian-French eats by Flying Pig courtesy of The Architect’s Newspaper, vegan truffles by Nicobella, our well-named de LaB cocktails, and wine courtesy of FORM. And yes, there will be gelato, well, ice cream—did you really think I could throw a party without it? My good friends at Coolhaus will be serving up mini ice cream sandwiches with a very east-of-La Brea flavor: Horchata!

And because if you’ve read this far I really love you, I want to offer you a discount on City Listening tickets as well, if you purchase online before Saturday. Just use delab to get $5 off regular tickets, which include drinks, food and admission to the show; or delabVIP to get $10 off de LaB Groupie Tickets, which include drinks, food and show plus a guerrilla gardening kit from GreenAid, a very good chance at winning great door prizes, and an after party at the Crocker Club, conveniently located below the venue.

Bonus: If you make it to the after party, you just might get to see me collapse after this overload of awesomeness. Hope to see you there!

The new W Hollywood Hotel & Residences is about a month from being open. I wrote about it for Dwell back in June (and rode out an earthquake during that tour). Last week, I got to sneak inside with some of the architects.

The highlight on the rooftop pool deck is definitely these cool cabanas by Daly Genik.

And, of course, the view. Hollywood for the holidays.

I got to check out some stuff inside, too, like a few of the rooms and the lobby bar.

The rooms closer to the Boulevard are better. This is the unbelievable view from one of the VIP suites.

But I was most fascinated watching these guys hang the Swarovski chandelier.

It kinda looks beautiful just like this, don’t you think?

We’ll be having a de LaB there when it opens next month, so be sure to sign up for our mailing list! More photos here.

What is it about pie this summer? First there was PieLab, the incredible space designed by a team at Project M in Greensboro, Alabama, where folks from all over town can commiserate over a slice of Key Lime and a cup of coffee. Then, when I interviewed Good Foodie Evan Kleiman for Dwell, she mentioned she was embarking upon a Pie-a-Day project, baking it in the morning and taking it with her wherever she happened to go (I bet she’s got a nifty portable pie safe). Sure enough, a few weeks later, she’s made upwards of 18 pies. And out of pure coincidence, when I finally—after eight years in LA, shoot me—made it over to her restaurant Angeli Caffe for dinner Sunday, we got the last piece of Pie #16: Double Crust Apple Pie. They even threw in the vanilla gelato for free.

I am actually not the pie maker in our household; that honor is bestowed upon a man who not only makes excellent apple pies, but makes them with the appropriate Apple logo. But I do have a little something pie-like I like to make this time of year. It’s not sweet—I’ll take savory any day—but it does have a crust, fruit and many, many fans. And it’s perfect to make this week, as the heirlooms start to show their shiny dimpled cheeks at the farmers market.

Tomato Pie
6 tomatoes; any kind really, but I like using Japanese or heirlooms
1 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped basil
2 cups mayonnaise
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Pie crust for two 12-inch crusts; homemade, with lard and butter is the best, but you can also use store-bought

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You can make this recipe as two regular-sized pies but I find that people really like to have their own individual pies (they stay together better, plus they’re so darn cute). Divide the pie crust into 24 balls and roll them out so they’re the size of a small tortilla. Don’t worry if the edges are rough and messy. Drape and tuck these into two muffin tins to make two dozen mini pie crusts. Prick the bottoms three times with a fork, and put them in the oven until they’re golden brown.

Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan of water on high. When it’s boiling, drop the tomatoes in for 10 seconds, just long enough to split the skins. Set aside, and when cool enough, peel and very coarsely chop.

Divide the tomato mixture between the baked pie crusts, and top each with green onions and basil. Combine the mayonnaise and cheese and spread on top of each pie (it should be level with the top of the muffin tin). Salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly to set. Run a knife around the outsides and gently lift out. Serve immediately, or the next morning, cold, for breakfast. Makes two dozen mini-pies or two regular pies.

Adapted from a beautiful cookbook we grew up cooking out of from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Hollyhocks and Radishes.

On this bittersweet morning—I just walked by the Grammy Museum where the staff was placing a memoriam outside and preparing for big crowds—the show must go on, and we’ll all do our best to make Michael proud (one look at Neverland Ranch would confirm he was an avid fan of home design). After writing over at Dwell.com about many of the speakers, exhibitions and events for the last six weeks or so, I’ll be liveblogging the Dwell on Design conference at Dwell.com today. If you’re here, come say hi. We can reminisce about our favorite Michael Jackson song.

Gelatobaby meets Coolhaus from Alissa Walker on Vimeo.

The kinds of stories that people tend to pass along to me fall into three basic categories. If you were to judge me simply by what links my friends fed me in the last few days, you’d have the following: Photos of the just-opened High Line park, a wordplay game called Tom Swifties, a guide to New York gelaterias, and the Ben & Jerry’s ads supporting same-sex marriage.

Your assumptions are correct: I love things that look cool, sound cool, taste cool, and are illegal in some states.

On a scorching May afternoon when I was not only reading about cool things but also trying to keep cool by working in the coolest room in the house, with my face pressed to the cool hardwood floor, I received a link from my friend Sarah Rich, an editor at Dwell: Architecturally-significant ice cream sandwiches with flavors named things like Frank Behry and Neutrapolitan. I leapt from my sweaty pool on the floor and rejoiced! It was a trifecta.

Not only did the ladies who owned this hot pink-and-silver truck slapped with magnetic headshots of architects love ice cream and design as much as I, they had paired it beautifully with wordplay. If we we didn’t end up being best friends, we certainly would make great nemeses.

But things went smoothly from there, as ice cream-related friendships often do. And a few weeks ago, atop the funny lump of a hill that holds the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House, as the sun barely set over a gloomy Los Angeles, as intrepid drinkers clinked rosés plucked by Silverlake Wine, Gelatobaby met Coolhaus. All archi-puns aside, Natasha Case and Freya Estreller have the foundations down for a good sandwich: built-to-order, on soft cookies, with the option of an edible rice paper wrapper. It was love at first Mintimalism bite. I also somehow walked away from this meeting with a free six-pack of toilet paper. Which was good, because we were running out.

But this frozen fairy tale does not end there, my friends. Thanks to my fellow friend-of-cold Sarah Rich, and the folks at Dwell, this encounter quiescently ripened into a full-fledged quest to discover the next master of architecture, ice cream and wit. If you, like me, felt the puns welling up from deep within your inner vat of design knowledge, then you, too, can churn out Coolhaus’ next architecturally-significant flavor over at Dwell’s Sweetest Contest Ever.

For the contest winner, there are just desserts. Coolhaus will be serving the best-named sandwich at Dwell on Design‘s A Night at the Movies on June 27, the same night you’ll get to see a film by Eric Bricker—who I interviewed for Dwell, and who actually went to my same high school, go Longhorns!—about the most important architectural photographer on the planet, Julius Shulman. Of course, I’m not eligible to win, but I’d like to hope that someone out there has already submitted the most appropriate one: Orange Julius Shulman. Orange sherbet between two fluffy vanilla cookies, served on a contact sheet.

Until then, I encourage you to spread the word about the wonders of Coolhaus as well as this rather delicious parlour game. If you need any licks of inspiration, they’re only a Tweet away.