Inside the box

Deep-Fried and Covered in Syrup

Los Angeles artist Stephanie Gonot turns her lens towards Los Angeles' junk food bounty in a site-specific installation for The Box at The Standard, Hollywood. Entitled "LA Eats", Stephanie photographed items from a selection of LA's best known comfort cuisines. Less farm-to-table, more factory-to-thighs and all deeply delicious, Ms. Gonot lists fat-busting favorites:

Pink's Hot Dogs: I had actually never been to Pink's before this project because I thought it was too touristy. It's worth it, as is the long line. I needed the extra time to figure out what to order. Who knew there were so many ways to dress up a hotdog?? I espcially enjoyed the names: Martha Stewart Dog, Emiril Legasse Bam Dog, and my favorite, the Giada DeLaurentis Dog, a 9" stretch of wiener with sautéed peppers, onions, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes and mozzarella. Also, they have the best onion rings ever.

Tacos: Los Angeles is very serious about the taco and I feel like people have their favorites based on neighborhood The tacos I used in this project are from my personal favorite La Reyna, located downtown at Mateo and 7th.

In-N-Out: Get everything. Get anything. It's all good. :)

Philippe's The Original: I found Philippe's pleasantly surprising. The atmosphere is so much fun (there's sawdust on the floors and you sit cafeteria style) and the sandwiches amazingly delicious. I liked the regular roast beef dip sandwich with cheese and a pickle, but my friends enjoyed the lamb dip sandwich and the pork sandwich. I also recommend getting their mustard on everything.

Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles: Soooooooooo good. So fun. Do remember they don't make substitutions for anything. Naturally, their chicken and waffles are great, but I also really liked their collard greens and biscuits and gravy. Budget time for nap after visiting.

Mexican Fruit Cart: After working with all of this greasy food it was nice to visit a fruit cart. You get so much fruit for just $5 (I think this is standard among LA fruit carts?) and it still feels like an indulgence even though it's good for you. Ask for lime and chile salt and you're good to go.


Stephanie Gonot's installation, “LA Eats”, for The Box at The Standard, Hollywood launches on Thursday, January 23rd, and will be on display through mid-February.

Flyer design by Tim Colmant

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