Happy New Year, Fellow Villagers

Now Open: Glendale's Newest Zankou Chicken

NOW OPEN: Zankou Chicken's latest location shares space with Sidewalk Cafe, 901 W. Glenoaks Blvd. in Glendale. We lunched there today, ordered from Sidewalk's huge menu at one counter (w/ Coke products) and got Zankou's shawerma and other garlicky goodies at the other counter (w/ Pepsi products). Pay separately, eat together. Just don't expect to lounge in that comfy sofa area. It's gone. As is the former occupant of Zankou's space, Cold Stone Creamery. (They've seen better years.) Zankou Chicken, 901 W. Glenoaks Blvd. Sidewalk Cafe, 901 W. Glenoaks Blvd.

Nice Day for a Walk Around the Neighborhood

WITH TEMPERATURES climbing mercifully back toward the 70s today, feeling more like the LA we bought into, Mrs. Newbie and I did a lap around central Awater Village: Stopped at All'Aboard boutique (3040 Glendale Blvd.) for the first time since its move from Echo Park. Bought a pillow. Noted The Little Knittery (3042 Glendale Blvd.) is closed for the holidays. Re-opens Jan. 2. Discovered Lula mini spa, 3542 1/2 Hollydale Dr. "One-woman boutique" with organic products, holistic treatments. "Gratuities are respectfully declined." Walked into a dream bungalow, 3433 Hollydale Drive. Fully renovated, 1,400 sq ft, 3 bedrooms. Wished for a suitcase with 698,000 dollar bills to drop from the sky. Walked past Cold Stone Creamery, 3134 Glendale Blvd. Noticed manager's thank-you-good-bye note on the window. Stopped at The Pampered Bird (3183 Glendale Blvd.) and spied autographs on the wall from Miley and Billy Ray. Lunched at Baracoa Cuban Cafe, 3175 Glendale Blvd. Added sliced avocado to my arroz con pollo. Stole the idea from a guy at the sidewalk table. Thanks, guy. And we didn't go in, but it looks like gift shops Amelia Fitzwater and Under the Table are posting after-Christmas discounts.

Atwater Village Signs: 'Wrong Kind of Visual Bleakness'

FROM A DETAILED recap of the Dec. 18 Good Design LA event comes this critique of our 'hood's evolving business mix: "LA's graphic conscience Geoff McFetridge began by describing his Atwater Village neighborhood as a kind of Anytown, USA, with its easy rhythm of liquor store, nail salon, check cashing, nail salon, tacos, pack and ship, drinking water, liquor store, nail salon. "But suddenly he started to notice a new rhythm: yoga, baby clothes, Starbucks, Coldstone Creamery. "'That's the wrong kind of visual bleakness!' he cried. And the biggest problem about the New Bleakness, he said, were the signs, the ugly, anonymous, soulless vinyl signs. He attacked nail salon signage specifically, because 'if you can paint nails, you can paint a sign.'"

The Christmas Eve River Rescue That Wasn't

FROM THE always informative Los Angeles Fire Department alerts: Dec. 24, 2:27 p.m. - River Rescue: LA River x Los Feliz Bl; One caller only; We're still enroute; NFD (No Further Details) Dec. 24, 2:29 p.m. - UPDATE: LA River x Los Feliz Bl; Little water moving slowly in center channel; Still searching for possible victim; NFD Dec. 24, 2:36 p.m. - UPDATE: LA River x Los Feliz Bl; No victim discovered; We will maintain LAFD presence in the area; NFD

Happy Holidays, Fellow Villagers

Hose for the Holidays, originally uploaded by Atwater Village Newbie.

Goodbye Cold Stone Creamery, Hello Sweets for the Soul

CENTRAL ATWATER VILLAGE loses a chain ice-cream shop but gains a mom-and-pop bakery. First the bad news: Cold Stone Creamery Atwater [3134 Glendale Blvd.] will be closing its doors for good on December 21, 2008. The current economic circumstances and cold weather has definitely made its impact on our location. I would like to thank the community for its support and patronage over the passed 3 years. Thank you Atwater Village. Best Wishes, Eugene De Guzman, Manager And now sweeter news from across the street: Sweets for the Soul handmade desserts, announcing the grand opening of our brand new bakery! January 14th. Open 11am - 7pm, Wednesday - Sunday. 3169 Glendale Blvd. The bakery offered sneak treats to neighbors en route to  the Atwater Village Tree Lighting a few weeks ago. (Hence the storefront photo.) Judging by the empty shelves, the soft opening was a hit.

Valleybrink Road: Speed Humps Instead of Cul de Sacs?

SOME RADICAL elements may be calling for a dead-end strategy on Valleybrink Road, but this is the latest in what real community leaders are doing to fight drive-through trouble in Central Atwater Village. From a neighborhood email: Update on the Valleybrink between Dover and Sunnynook speed hump request: "A traffic study was done at the end of 2007, and we were approved for 4 humps on this block. I submitted our signed petitions in June of this year, and we were told we'd see action before the end of the year. "That was before all the budget crises, and in my last communication with the speed hump office, earlier this month, I was told there's a new cue starting in January, and that we might get our humps by March or April." The office of LA City Council District 13 tells me speed humps are proven to slow traffic on residential streets. (Speed bumps are shorter, usually found in parking lots.) Let's hope this strategy leads to fewer grab-and-dash-type crimes on Valleybrink.

This Saturday: Movie Night at the Golf Course

LET'S HOPE it warms up a bit before this Saturday's Atwater Movie Night. It is outdoors, after all, at a time of night when the temp's been in the chilly 40s. Brr! Bring someone you like getting cozy with. Elf Saturday Dec. 20, 6:00 p.m. Los Feliz Municipal Golf Course 3207 Los Feliz Blvd.

Have Yourself a TJ's Little Christmas

DO YOU HAVE friends and family unfortunate enough to live in one of the 20 states without a Trader Joe's grocery store? Here's what we do. Stuff their stockings with these perfect little TJ's yummies: Candied Pecans $3.99 Dark Chocolate Peppermint Truffles $4.99 Butter Shortbread Cookies $3.99 White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Bar $1.49 Mini Assorted Belgian Chocolates $1.99 Dark Chocolate Wedges with Chilies & Cinnamon $3.29 Green Tea Mints $1.99 Chocolate Mint Round Tin $2.99 Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels $5.99 Full disclosure: the caramels might not make it all the way to the sock. See the fully annotated version of my TJ's yummies photo.

Set Your TiVo: Woof Dog Boutique on Style Network

ATWATER VILLAGE'S own Woof Dog Boutique (3172 Glendale Blvd.) is set to appear on the Peter Perfect reality show, sort of an extreme makeover for mom-and-pop businesses, Jan. 10, 2009, on the Style Network. That's channel 130 on Time Warner cable in the 90039. More on the AV forum about how Woof plans a community mixer as warmup to the show that night.