sent from: The High Street, Esher, Surrey, UK. destination: Culver City, California, USA

– Have you seen the…?
– I have!
– And did you?
– Yes!
– What was it like?
– You remember that thing?
– Of course.
– Like that.
– NO!
– I mean it!
– But how did you ..?
– Like this.
– Oh. My. God.
– I know.
– OH. MY. GOD!

When it came time to pick a place to enjoy with friends for my birthday the following year, I had to go there. Out of that was born our Supper Club, a dining club where we got together with friends to sample as many of the great cheap eats (normally ethnic food) that were available. 

Over the next two years we covered LA from East (Taiwanese food at Indian in San Gabriel) to West (Santa Monica Vietnamese at Saigon), North (Turkish Iskender in Reseda at Sako’s) to South (Westchester Burmese food, Mutiara). We tried to keep it under $20 a head, and with only a few exceptions managed to meet that goal. It brought our diverse groups of friends into contact and I got to know Maria’s friends far better than I could have otherwise. It was a celebration of where we lived, the diversity of Los Angeles people and a great reason to get out of work to be reminded of the importance of ones friends. 

The club continues on in our absence, but we have yet to start the London equivalent. I didn’t think this was going to be another missive to how much I missed LA, but somehow here we are again. Dammit.