Swinger's in Santa Monica

I love Swingers.  It's been one of my favorite Santa Monica eateries since the first time I ate there, shortly after it opened.  It's fun (there's a juke box and 60's-70's ambiance), the wait staff are always awesome (chatty, hip and always seem to get my order right), the food is lucious and fresh and the menu is lengthy. 


Friendly dogs are welcome -- they're not allowed inside but the long, narrow patio affords responsible dog owners the opportunity to have their dogs stay by them while they eat, talk, drink, laugh, meet and enjoy the experience of including their dog(s) through the day.  The wait staff will even bring a container of water for your beloved pooch. It's wonderful seeing several dogs curled up on the sidewalk by the patio tables where their humans are seated.  Recently, new bike posts have been installed on  Broadway next to the patio area so cyclists can secure their bikes to something sturdy rather than a parking meter. 


I stopped at Swingers Saturday afternoon after a couple hours of walk-about errands.  I was super hungry and I had to pass Swingers on the way home. I ordered my "usual": a burrito from the breakfast portion of the menu.  I sat at a patio table and within 15 seconds I was asked what I'd like to drink. Coffee and a glass of iceless water (that's the way I like it) were delivered in less than a minute.  BTW: their coffee is really good; I drink it black.  Minutes later I placed my order and settled in to read the "Santa Monica Daily Press".  By the time I was ready to read page two, the burrito arrived.  I'll admit the place wasn't that busy but even so -- that's fast.  I snapped the photo below and sent it with a text message via Loopt then dug into the warm, flavorful burrito awesomeness.  

Buried inside the whole wheat burrito are quinoa, spinach, black beans, some tomato-based sauce and really interesting flavorful spices.  There're probably more ingredients inside but I don't know what they are -- other than divine. The topping is the most delicious chipotle sauce I've ever tasted (garnish of spring onion tops). 


Swingers offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night nosh. The menu has plenty of interesting and delicious food for omnivores, vegetarians and vegans.  Many of my non-vegan/non-vegetarian friends now love Swingers.  If you live or work in Santa Monica and haven't eaten at Swingers... you really should.  Bring your out-of-town guests -- they won't forget the place and they'll probably want to go back every time they visit. 


The only drawback eating there, right now, is this view of the building across the street (NE corner of Broadway and Lincoln Blvd.)

Yep.  Another of the too-many, look-alike boxes being built in Santa Monica.  Fortunately, it  rained earlier so there was no construction cacophony and I could enjoy my burrito in relative quiet. 

Cooking Always Gets Me Into Trouble.

I hate to cook.  It always gets me into trouble but I accidently made an ain't-no-diet-today delicious pot of vegan spaghetti sauce.  I don't know how it happened since I made it from scratch with no recipe.  Of course, I am one-quarter Italian. Maybe that explains it.  


I rarely cook but yesterday was an exception since I was out of boxes that say, "just add water" so I was forced to actually make a meal. If I could settle for a life time of oatmeal and Pop Tarts, I wouldn't have to cook.  Cooking involves dangerously long and sharp knives, garlic aromas that linger longer on the finger tips than skunk stink on a cat, onion tears and fresh luminous vegetables -- the kind of fresh vegetables I impulse-buy at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market on Arizona and Second Street.  In the midst of all those lovely vegetables, I'm dazzled by their vegan beauty and I forget that I always manage to slice off a tip of fingernail along with the mushrooms or slice myself while vivisecting the bell peppers.  All I can remember is how delicious the vegetables are and I kind of disregard my distaste for the process it takes to make a pot or pan of anything. My relationship with cooking is something of a metaphor to the wisdom of a one-night stand. But I digress.

Ohhhhhhhh the temptation!

Today the sauce was in its better-the-second-day stage and simmers on the stove.  At some point, it turned into a kind of magic elixir that requires repeated "does it need anything?" taste tests. I seem to have no ability to stop myself from visiting the pot for just one more 4 ounce ladle of sauce (no pasta)  -- just in case it suddenly got better or worse or needs some additional herb.  Since I live alone, there's no one to shame me into some form of self-discipline or to block my way to the kitchen.  Therefore, the only way to stop me is to put locks on the kitchen doors that slam shut between 8pm and 9am. Of course, locked doors would block the only indoor path to the bathroom.  An unavoidable midnight piddle would require a furtive, nightgown-clad trip out the front door, along the length of the bungalow to the brightly lit back door. Odds are, I'd lock myself out. I don't even want to think about the humiliation of being reported by the resident homeless guy in the alley for disturbing the peace, then being booked and printed for attempted breaking and entry while still in my nightgown.  Cooking always gets me into trouble.  

Santa Monica Farmer's Market's Tempting Items