L.A. River: The City's Next Hot Food Destination?

Much to the dismay of hungry bikers and walkers, there are no restaurants actually on the Los Angeles River like San Antonio's River Walk or any number of cities that include pleasant cafes on their waterfronts. The Frogspot cafe, though it hosts live music and offers drinks, is not allowed to actually sell food. But until the Rio Nuevo beer garden planned for the corner of Fletcher and Ripple is built, several organizations are doing their best to make the river a destination not only for kayaking and campouts but for communal pop-up dinners.

On Saturday, Nov. 1, the L.A. River Corp is hosting the first in a series of fundraising Dining at Dusk pop-ups at a secret location along the river. The 4-course meal is from chefs Louise Leonard and Debbie Halls-Evans.

Meanwhile, Clockshop, which also hosted the recent campout on the river, is sponsoring the Kan Ya Ma Kan series of events in November exploring Jewish-Arab traditions at Elysian, which also hosts other dining events.
The Nov. 1 dinner showcases Iraqi-Jewish food and traditions, while on Saturday, Nov. 8, cookbook author Clifford Wright will cook a Jewish Syrian meal that includes an oud player. Other events will focus on Tunisia and Morocco.

Here's hoping for even more permanent restaurants in the near future -- how about a disco barge, like in Berlin?