My Los Angeles: Dope Kitchen's LA Top 5
South Bay resident Nicole (@Dope_Kitchen) takes a break from getting high in the kitchen to share her Top 5 spots in the city
Hi friends! We’re back with another installment of “My Los Angeles”, an interview series where I ask LA residents their top 5 spots in the city. Today, I’m talking to Nicole, also known on the internet as Dope Kitchen. Nicole and I started as coworkers almost 5 years ago, and thankfully our friendship transcended into real life! It has been SO fun to watch Nicole’s brand grow - and the best part? It was all a happy accident, born out of boredom during quarantine. Fast forward to now, and Nicole has quit corporate life in order to pursue content creation and expanding DK full time. OKAY GIRLBOSS! Read on to discover Nicole’s Top 5 spots in LA!
NAME: Nicole D. aka Dope Kitchen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOURSELF: I'm a Content Creator and I develop fun, healthy, and simple recipes via Dope Kitchen - a comedic, chaotic cooking channel exploring how much fun cooking can be when fueled with a little bit of cannabis. I've lived in Los Angeles for over 8.5 years and although I consider myself to be a bit of a homebody, I've got a few favorite spots that I'll visit time and time again.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
AREA OF THE CITY YOU LIVE IN: Hermosa Beach
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN LA? 8.5 years - time flies!
LA SPOT #1: Inspiration Point in the Palisades
This spot is tucked in the northernmost point of Palisades Park and it’s a beautiful, quiet place to watch the sunset and make out with a Bumble date with the Santa Monica pier in the distance and the Santa Monica Mountains north of this viewpoint.
LA SPOT #2: Rose Bowl Flea Market
Thrifting used to be overwhelming for me until I went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market for the first time. There’s a little bit of everything there - vintage clothes, small local designer brands, plants, jewelry, quirky home items - really, anything you could imagine wanting to spend money on. Getting lost in this massive flea market is one of my favorite solo activities - treat yourself to some coffee beforehand, then spend a few hours on a Sunday morning contemplating buying yet another plant you’re going to kill, or a vintage sweater you certainly don’t need.
LA SPOT #3: Cultured Slice in Hermosa Beach
Coming from a girl who used to live a few blocks away from Bay Cities Deli in Santa Monica, this place is the SPOT for a delicious sandwich in the South Bay. The bread-to-sandwich-filling ratio is top notch, and the people who run the place are very sweet. The bread is so fresh and soft, and their menu has so many delicious sandwich options, it’s fun to keep coming back to try something new each time.
LA SPOT #4: Majordomo
By far, one of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles that I have visited multiple times. Go with a small group and call ahead to pre-order the Whole Plate Short Rib, and you MUST order the Macaroni and Chickpea - it’s like a cheese-less cacio e pepe and I still have dreams about how delicious it is.
LA SPOT #5: Marvin Braude Bike Trail
I’m a very active, outdoorsy person so the entirety of the Marvin Braude Bike Trail is one of my favorite places to be in Los Angeles. I used to live in Santa Monica, so I’d hop on the bike path from that neighborhood and travel all the way to the end of the bike trail in Redondo Beach. Stop on the Redondo Beach Pier for some food to refuel before biking back to Santa Monica. Now, I travel the opposite way - I start home in Hermosa and bike up to Santa Monica or the Palisades and grab lunch at a familiar old spot. Pro tip: wear cushioned bike shorts or make sure your bike seat is comfy, because your bits will be screaming from the 30-40 mile round trip, especially during the bumpy section around Marina del Rey.
If you haven’t already, make sure to follow Nicole across all of her platforms - TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
As always, feel free to reply directly to this email with any suggestions or feedback for what you’d like to see in future TTS newsletters! Until next week… You can find me on TikTok :) Ta ta for now!