ITGR Laurie-Ochoa

Laurie Ochoa is arts and entertainment editor at the Los Angeles Times. Before participating in a panel on the rise of downtown L.A., she talked about her strangest job (managing a men’s department store), what she’s reading (a book about a demented form of journalism set in Ukraine), and her favorite condiment (Dijon mustard) in the Zócalo green room.

 
Q:What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?
A:
In college, I was the men’s department store manager at Miller’s Outpost, so I sold Levi’s and had to know how much 501s shrank. I still remember: 1 inch in the waist, 2-3 inches in the length.

Q:What word or phrase do you use most often?
A:
Cool.

Q:What are you reading right now?
A:
I just got off the plane from Chicago and was reading Andrey Kurkov’s Death and the Penguin, which was fantastic. It’s kind of about a demented form of journalism and paranoia, set in the Ukraine.

Q:When’s the last time you got a traffic ticket—and why?
A:
I was stopped recently because my husband [restaurant critic Jonathan Gold] was sitting in the back seat and didn’t have his seatbelt on. So that was an odd ticket. He got the ticket, I didn’t—he’s an adult and should know better.

Q:What’s your favorite plant or flower?
A:
I like sunflowers a lot.

Q:What was the first album you bought?
A:
Aerosmith, “Rocks.”

Q:What’s hanging on your living room walls?
A:
Pictures by our friend Virginia Hoge, who’s a painter. Some family pictures. Odd things like that.

Q:How do you procrastinate?
A:
Many, many ways. Email. Radio. TV. Magazines.

Q:What’s your favorite condiment?
A:
I guess Dijon mustard, because you can use it in salad dressing, sandwiches.

Q:What’s the worst thing about being married to a restaurant critic?
A:
[Laughs.] There are times where it can be hard to get through a meal without someone coming up and wanting to talk. Which is usually okay. But if you’re in the middle of a conversation, it can be a little distracting.

 
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.

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