The Silver Lining: Volume 002
Musings on living the good life: food, culture, art, and products designed to inspire. Top picks from me to you, every Thursday.
Welcome to the second issue of The Silver Lining! Thanks for being here.
I’m Scott Silver, an LA native living on the Westside after a decade in the Bay Area + a few years in Manhattan. I’ve always had a passion for finding and creating the perfect ambiance. I hope these weekly snippets help inspire you to do the same!
Quick editors note: Thank you for the outpouring of encouragement and support for last week’s inaugural issue. On to Volume 002…
Top Track
I spent this past weekend watching Hulu’s reboot of High Fidelity (big fan so far). Episode 1 featured a personal all-time-favorite song of mine, a 2011 single titled La Foret by french pop-rock artist Lescop:
Nearly ten years later, it still holds up.
Audiophiles across the internet agree — Season 1 is filled with bangers — and Zoë Kravitz is mesmerizing as a Brooklyn record store owner in search of love.
High Fidelity, a reboot of Nick Hornby’s novel and the John Cusack cult classic of the same name, premiered on Valentine’s Day. Stream it on Hulu.
Artist Date - c/o Julia Cameron
Lots of great concerts coming up the next few weeks; here’s a sneak peak of two I’m particularly excited about:
Drama plays two shows in LA end of the month, and I’m amped to seesinger/producer combo Via Rosa and Na'el Shehade take the stage. Via’s voice is a gift to behold in person.
Drama’s tour is cross-country; grab tickets when they stop by your neck of the woods.
Jordan Mackampa, a Congolese born artist who currently resides in London, is going out on his first headlining tour across the U.S. in March and April:
Based on the live set he played last week for KCRW, we’re in for a treat on March 27th at the Moroccan Lounge.
Barefoot Contessa Bootcamp
House Campari. It’s on the menu at Mario's Bohemian Cafe, a cozy mainstay on Washington Square Park in San Francisco. A frequent Negroni drinker, I was immediately intrigued and ordered one on my last Bay Area visit.
It was delicious —almost like an adult Coca-Cola, if you can imagine that?
Upon returning home to LA, I called up Mario’s barkeep for the recipe: what exactly goes into the House Campari cocktail? Turns out there’s no Campari at all, but instead equal parts of:
Carpano Antica Formula
Punt e Mes
Sweet Vermouth
Mix the ingredients above, then float a healthy amount of Prosecco to finish. Serve over ice with a slice of citrus.
Antica Formula, made by Carpano since 1786, is a higher-end Vermouth that’s a mainstay on my bar. Use in place of cheaper Vermouth for a more sophisticated Italian Aperitif, i.e. a Negroni or Americano.
SKU(s) of the Week
I, along with many of my millennial peers, have sought refuge in high-rent urban meccas replete with great restaurants, bars, and all the modern conveniences of city living.
One way we’ve tried to balance out our metropolitan digs is through connecting with nature via….houseplants. Lots of them. The New Yorker recently called out our love affair with plants, and I’m just as guilty as the rest of you.
Cue this week’s SKU: the Haws plastic 1-pint watering can. Haws, a British heritage brand from the 1880s, has crafted fine home and garden accessories for literally centuries. Their unique design offers a gentle water stream, turning your once-a-week watering routine into something of a weekly meditation + spa day for your plant-fam.
The Rowley Ripple Copper watering can from Haws. It’s beautiful, but the plastic one for 1/4 the price gets the job done too.
If you’re looking for a fun house warming gift, consider pairing a Haws watering can with Sophie Lee’s Living with Plants hardcover. Informative, affordable, and unique. #winwin.
Table for 2
Carolos Tomazos is best known for the now shuddered Santa Monica greek restaurant Inotheke, which served some of the best greek food I’d seen in LA.
Lucky for us, he’s opened a new spot called Ela Greek Eats at Lincoln and Rose in Venice. It’s more a fast-casual vibe, but don’t let the stripped down decor fool you. His food is as delicious as ever; it’s the perfect low key date night spot. Add it to your list!
The Greek Salad from Ela, which literally is the most common of Greek words, meaning “Hey!” or “How are you?”.
Social Starlette
Srinivas Gowda has gone viral after he broke a 30-year-old record in Kambala, a traditional buffalo race in India. I loved this story for this mesmerizing photo that showcased athletic prowess from around the world. Run, Srinivas, Run!
Social Action
Each week, we’ll highlight one way to give back, either locally or globally. This week we’re featuring: Friends of the LA River.
FoLAR has endeavored for over 30 years to restore community connection and natural ecology as the single largest unifying force on the river – educating, empowering, and mobilizing over 50,000 Angelenos to repair habitat and fight for the policies that will reclaim our collective right to a healthy, thriving, and equitably accessible Los Angeles River.
This Saturday, join FoLAR for a habitat cleanup along the Sepulveda Basin, or learn more about year round river events on their website. Join the River-lution!
That’s it for Volume 002. New issues of The Silver Lining drop weekly on Thursdays.
I have two requests of you this week:
If you’re enjoying the content, I’d greatly appreciate you sharing this out with friends, family, and others in your network who might enjoy it!
Please submit any feedback you have on the first two volumes, as well ideas for future issues, directly to scott@thesilverlining.la