I am admittedly a bit of a coffee snob. Okay, I am a total coffee snob. Fortunately, I live close to the best coffeehouse in the entire LA Metroplex: Jones Coffee. I’ve had Intelligentsia, La Mill, and Urth–all of which make exceptional coffee–but I would honestly rank Jones at the top of the heap in LA. The Jones family has been growing coffee for five generations, and they roast all of their beans on site. And because they grow and roast their own beans, they are able to sell their …

South Pasadena is home to an inventive catering company called Room Forty. The owner, Steve Fortunato, also lives in South Pas. Room Forty is innovative because they take just as much care shaping the aesthetics of an event as they do in creating the food. In Fortunato’s own words, “Room Forty is a mobile hospitality company that exists to create dining events,” a “virtual fine dining restaurant without walls.” I have been to one of his events and have experienced firsthand his ability to bring the elegance of a sophisticated …