Let’s get one thing straight, I LOVE food!!! With that in mind, it was to my great delight that I was introduced to the new “grocery” store in downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District, Urban Radish. I have grocery in quotes because it is so much more than your standard grocery store. The walls of glass let the sunshine stream through to their rustic display of local organic produce, artisan cheeses and sustainable meats. If you find yourself drooling over the food selection, meander over to the robust choice of lotions and soaps. If you happened to drool onto your shirt, they also sell detergent for laundry…a true one-stop shop!

I recommend you visit during lunch time when you are looking to grab a bite of food. They have a wonderful lunch menu served from 11:00am through 3:00pm daily. Shockingly, it just so happened that when I brought my husband to the store for a visit, it was lunch time, hooray! I had the Burrata which is a sandwich described by them as, “Di Stefano burrata, vine ripened tomato, arugula, house basil pesto, balsamic reduction, bread lounge ciabatta, and served open face.” Yeah, yum! I’m not a huge fan of open faced sandwiches, but you can always make it a closed sandwich yourself. Somewhat disturbing to me is that I didn’t think about that fact until I had finished eating my sandwich and was in the restroom washing my face and hands, hmmm. My only defense is that I was in a food trance.

Downtown can be a parking nightmare, but Urban Radish has ample parking in front of their store. They even have a wall designated for electric cars replete with charging stations. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful and, on various nights of the week, Urban Radish hosts different social activities such as Wine Tasting Tuesday Social, Jazz Wednesday, Beer Tasting Social. The store is on the pricier side so it may not become your primary grocery store, but it will be a treat when you go.

Urban Radish is located at 661 Imperial Street, Los Angeles, CA  90021. Their phone number is (213) 892-1570, and their website is www.urban-radish.com (the website is extremely limited, but they are on Facebook as well). Bon appetit!