Umami, Hash, and more...

LONG BEACH, CA -- It has been an insanely busy and productive couple of weeks since I returned to California from the Wisconsin wedding. From a work standpoint, there hasn't been a single day since I got back that hasn't been 100% productive to the absolute limit, including weekends for that matter. That said, we have been getting a lot of important things done, and sometimes you get into a groove! For the most part I've been in the LA area, although last weekend I spent a night down in Laguna Beach cranking out a ridiculous quantity of production. It feels good to be productive!

March 11, 2012 - Gorgeous view makes working alright on a Sunday in Laguna Beach, CA.

In non-work related news, however, there have been a couple of other interesting developments in the past couple of weeks. First, UmamiCatessen opened up in downtown Los Angeles. UmamiCatessen is a spin off the traditional Umami Burger, featured to some extent in this blog and much more heavily on my facebook and foursquare profiles. UmamiCatessen is a huge (6,000+ sq. ft.) restaurant at 9th and Broadway in Los Angeles, nearly the size of three or four Umami Burger restaurants combined. The reason for this? Well, UmamiCatessen is five restaurants in one! In addition to the newest, eighth Umami Burger location, the Catessen is also home to The Cure (Kosher), Pigg (NOT Kosher), Spring for Coffee (coffee/drinks bar), and & a Donut (a dessert bar).

UmamiCatessen's soft opening was on March 3, the same day as the Wisconsin wedding. However, no doubt I made my visit the first day I was back, the night of the 5th. Needing another trip, I did round two on the 10th. Having now been twice, I have a few observations. 1) Having sampled at least one item from all five restaurants, I can confirm that the other four are very good restaurants, and it is worth trying them. 2) That said, they are simply not as mind-blowing and earth-shattering as a Hatch Burger from Umami. In other words, it is more or less what I expected, but in a good way. I will say that I really enjoyed the ambiance in a larger space and semi-industrial, semi-postmodern feel. There was a wait the entire time, but never for more than 30 mins given the large number of tables. Despite that, the restaurant was always full, even at non-peak hours and during the week. Overall, I'd give UmamiCatessen a solid 4/5, but that Hatch Burger alone is still the best burger on this planet.

March 10, 2012 - The Hatch Burger - it is simply the best. UmamiCatessen, Los Angeles, CA.

 The other news of the past few weeks comes with respect to the Long Beach H3. Hashing, if it has not been properly explained thus far, is running and drinking... yes, together. Collectively known as a drinking club with a running problem, hashers meet up once a week in a predetermined location, and for $5 you get a few hours of running and drinking to places and in quantities that are undetermined prior to the start. From the running standpoint, we really have no idea where we are going. The runs are generally between 3.0 and 7.0 miles in total distance, although there are "beer checks" every 1.0-1.5 miles, where you can find beer, water, and sometimes other beverages too. The checks help to slow down the pack, and it breaks up the distance nicely so that almost anybody can run. In fact, there are usually 10-15 walkers to complement the 60-70 runners as well. Eventually we make it to the "on in," or the end of the run, where there are snacks, more drinks, and a fun party atmosphere. After songs and "down down's," we head to the "on after," usually a restaurant or bar somewhere nearby. That, in a nutshell, is hashing.

As a training and distance runner for over a year and a half now, as has been documented well in this blog, I first heard about hashing in late summer and early fall of 2011. Finally on January 8th I actually woke up early enough on a Sunday to get myself down to Long Beach, where I experienced my first hash run. Ever since I have been hooked, and have made it a point to do whatever possible to make it to hash - so much so that I even flew back from my San Francisco trip a month ago in order to make it in time for hash in the morning.

What is recently new is that the past two weeks, hash runs have switched from Sunday mornings to Thursday nights. As such I have been heading down to Long Beach in the early afternoon to beat traffic, have been working from a boba tea spot near CSLB, and then making my way to the hash around the start time. So far it has worked out great! Yesterday was Chasen's (who introduced me to hash) birthday run, and his 25th hash overall. For me it was my eighth, and I am hoping for a name sometime soon!

March 15, 2012 - Hashing in Signal Hill, CA - about to start!

Well folks, that is about it as far as updates go on my end. The travel circuit is going to be picking up and in a hurry soon, and I am very much looking forward to that, but I will post updates when I actually have them set. Until then, GO BADGERS in this March Madness insanity, GO HAWKS in the push for the playoffs, and have a nice weekend everybody!