Joan’s on Third's veggie sandwich.
I sit within an arm’s reach of our arts and entertainment editor, Melissa Goldstein, and she feeds me the latest music—most recently a bunch of local bands that we’re featuring in our upcoming July entertainment issue. Of these, Von Iva is now on heavy Nano rotation. The rocking three-woman, PJ Harvey-esque band, has an upcoming August release, Our Own Island, and the first track, “L.A. L.A.,” has the refrain:
LA is slowly killing her
And now she’s got to hide, and she can’t keep on …
I can’t seem to get it out of my head. So of course, this weekend, down in LA for a little girl-bonding trip to visit my friend, Danielle, I was singing it (badly) as we drove—and drove—around town, much to her chagrin.
The irony is that, despite the smog and endless minimalls, LA offers plenty of healthy and casual dining alternatives that SF does not, ones that would never cause a slow and painful death—particularly salads and sandwiches (and well, of course, yogurt; I tried the ubiquitous Pinkberry fro-yo and it did not disappoint).
So, SF, will someone start up some form of at least these two places for the good of us all?
• Tender Greens: Sort of a fast food salad and sandwich joint using local and sustainable food, including line-caught tuna and free-range chicken. I had a heaping plate of Chinese chicken salad with beautiful greens and a light dressing. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just done well.
* Joan’s on Third (8350 W 3rd St., 323-655-2285) might be the best chichi deli and sidewalk restaurant to spot a celebrity, but it’s also got the best California-style veggie sandwich I’ve had in my life: Between slices of soft, but dense, whole-grain bread, you get hummus and cream cheese (yes, both), very thinly sliced cucumbers, avocado, sprouts and buckets of shredded carrots. It’s all in the slicing. I’m telling you, it sounds boring, but I’ve been dreaming about it. I ate most of it before I remembered to take a photo.
