Yelp's Passport to Culver City spanned over a week long and brought over 600 Yelpers out to local businesses. They did everything from Zumba, to eating and drinking and exploring art galleries. It was a week chuck full of culture, full of local businesses and full of community!
Sunday started the week off with a Zumba class for all levels "Gundam Style." Sunday morning brought some sexy dance moves to the Brasil Brasil Cultural Center for a free Zumba class and lunch at Leaf Organics.
Over 80% of the attendees were new to Yelp and over 90% were new to
Zumba! The group of 30 were all smiles while they shook it every which
way. After working up an appetite, they walked next door to Leaf Organics for a gourmet, organic lunch! Rena T shares the best part of the event: "Brittany emphasized that this is a community event, and she did a great
job community-building by providing name tags and encouraging us all to
meet and interact during these activities. So big kudos to
Brittany for coming up with this exciting, healthy and fun introduction
to Culver City businesses and growing the community!"
Monday was Jazzy at The Culver Hotel.
This classy affair was filled with gourmet passed bites, an open bar
with hand crafted cocktails, live music, a photo booth from ThePinkShutter.com and a custom red velvet Yelp cake from SuzieCakes! Mel D shares: "Culver City?? If it weren't for Brittany B, I would have never given
this city a chance. Growing up in LA, Culver City was never considered
cool. Boy, have things changed!" Check out more photos here!
Tuesday followed with an ice cream social at Cool Haus.
This was intimate gathering and a chance to taste over 4 flavors of
very unique ice cream and homemade hot chocolate with marshmallows. The
sweets didn't stop there!
Wednesday was a dessert tasting at Essential Chocolate Desserts. Sarah M shares, "They made sure everyone satisfied their sweet tooth with ice cream samplings
(such as red velvet cake ice cream with real red velvet cake crumbles in
it… *drools*), a tray of chocolate everything (brownies, truffles,
macaroons, amongst other amazing samples) and an assortment of cakes
that were to die for (the banana cake was mouthwatering)."
Thursday night got everyone moving with the Art Walk!
Over 8 galleries and 12 sponsors made this one delicious and cultural
evening! Galleries included: Think Space Gallery, SPF:a, Susanne Vielmetter, M Bird Studio, George Lawson Gallery, Western Project, and Bruce Lurie. But this wouldn't be a Yelp event with out bites and bevvies! Options for the night include My Vienna, Gotta Have S'more, Capriotti's, Platine Cookies, Zico Coconut Water, Helena Wirth Cakes, Batch 19, Madria Sangria, VeeV Vita Frute, and Diabolo. The walk was spread over a mile in Culver City's art
district and was filled with Yelpers, carrying their totes and
discovering a new part of their city! Nancy R sums it up well: "Walking. Art. Food. This is as good as it gets. Also, getting to know
a different nook of this great city is also a major plus. Not only did
Yelpers get to enjoy treats from business located all over the city, but
we became culturally aware while doing it." Photographer Ryan Caliendo's photos of the evening can be seen here!
Finally, we ended Passport with a bang with an Elite closing party at Polentoni! Elites were treated like royalty. Free flowing wine and a buffet spread of gourmet Italian classics like aranchini, pizzas and capresse was just the beginning of an all night affair. Joan S sums up the event perfectly: "Holy pasta, did we ever get a ton of delicious food last night. We were
treated to a complete sit-down dinner, beginning with appetizers and
ending with dessert. An endless supply of wine flowed into glasses as big as fishbowls. No surprise that chef Roberto got a huge round of applause from a very
grateful mob of more than a hundred happy Yelpers. Thank you so much,
Polentoni. Did I mention there was live music? Did I mention that Brittany sure knows how to throw a par-tay?! Very well done! Overall, such a fun evening. Great food & great dinner conversation in a lovely setting." See all the photos from this magical evening here!
Special thanks to Picture Healing, who snapped shoots at most of the above events as well as The Pink Shutter Photo Booth, who had a photobooth at several of the above events!
Until next time!
SYOY
The Skinny Critic
LA West Community Manager
