The Semi-Tropic in Echo Park

I finally made it to Semi-Tropics at 1412 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026. It was a reunion with Nat Gale of LA Department of Transportation. I miss working with this guy. He was my main comrade during the fourteen months I was the Creative Catalyst Artist in Resident at the department. Without Nat, much if not all of the projects I instigated would never have happened. We had always talked about going here but for some reason never made it. Nat's a regular here and has actually DJ'd here before. Nat has a history in radio with a specialty in Jazz and Hip Hop. Recently, he's steers the Vision Zero campaign for LADOT. The service was beautiful. Our server was fun, informative and charming as hell. The mussel dish was spectacular. Smoked mussels in a sauce with these slices of toast that reminded me of the pan con tomate I enjoyed so much in Barcelona. The tamale con mole negro was so good. That is a must if you ever go there. The key between a great meal and a fabulous meal is the company, of course. It was really great to hang with Nat again. Good times, good times.