Evoke Yoga
“Build strength, balance, and flexibility while linking breath to movement as you flow through a sequence of poses meant to get the body moving in every direction on every plane.”
– Evoke Yoga
Using the ancient Indian practice brought to the western world a little over 100 years ago, the science of yoga can be used as a tool for flexibility not only for the body but for the psyche as well. Essentially yoga was meant to break the limitations of your personality allowing you to bypass the culminations of your experiences, genetics, karmic substance, thoughts, emotions and relationships that make up the way you express yourself, especially if you express your self in less than desirable ways.
A discipline of breathing and patience allowing you to become that person you wished to be in any particular situation, the yoga science is a system of bridging the gap between who you are and the you need to be at any given moment.
Like water.
Yoga flexibility comes first from the body then flows into every aspect of your life, physical emotional, karma, all flexible. You are like water, able to fit into any container, or lay as calm as the stillest pond.
At Evoke Yoga you’re not only a person. You are a presence slowly stretching your circle into a spiral of scheduled classes from Hot Yoga to Roll & Relax; meant to kick your butt, tone your body, clean out your repository, roll your muscles and lift you to a new level of awareness. Co-Owner, Vivian Nguyen is bright, positive and active and knows just how to motivate anyone interested in the ancient practice.
Evoke Yoga is located at
212 W. 7th Street
UEVOLUTION
Pascale Rothman, owner of UEVOLUTION, has gone through hardships that most woman never have to go through. From a very young age she was forced to pull from her inner strength in order to someday, “live life to the fullest opposed to just surviving.”
With proper support making healthy choices and adding an exercise regimen to your daily routine is best fit with UEVOLUTION. Pascale’s modern day wellness club is complete with a dedicated team to help you commit and reach your physical, psychological, social, economic and environmental goals.
UEVOLUTION encourages mindfulness of yourself and those around you while helping you gain the tools and lifelong skills you need to change your physical landscape and keep it that way.
Located in the sublevel of the City Loft Square Apartments on Spring Street, just a few steps down lead to the well designed gym equipped with state of the art equipment, body weight conditioning programs, work-out room, treadmills, free weights, indoor cycling, showers, tanner and a personal steamer.
They also offer full body Swedish massage known to reduce tension and soothe sore muscles, increase circulation, and promote total body relaxation.
UEVOLUTION is located at
621 South Spring Street
Lab3
Cindy Ayvar and Melissa Mitchell are two Downtown pioneers celebrating their One Year Anniversary as shop owners of Lab3, on 7th and Main.
When visiting Lab3 expect to find a collection of objects, any of which make the perfect gift for family or friends. Lab3 carries unique items rescued from time; with modern day gifts sharing the same space as antique gifts made in the early 1900s.
Cindy and Melissa first met while working in the fashion industry and realized they shared the same vision for opening a shop in Downtown that would have nothing to do with fashion.
There are more novelty items than you can count, yet you will never grow tired of exploring the fascinating pieces of collected memories found at the store.
Most items are made in America but so unique in circumstance you probably won’t find them anywhere else, like the numerous greeting cards they carry that just can’t be found in the local pharmacy.
Each piece tells a story and reaches for the heart strings. Shopping for gift items locally is made simple and fun by Lab3. Its like opening a treasure chest of countless heartwarming gifts and decorations.
Cindy and Melissa clearly share in the same vision and enjoy watching their customers wow over their gifts. Yet, selling the hand-selecting heartwarming collectables isn’t always easy. Their favorite item, a vintage record player hidden within a portable carrying case, was sold to a loyal customer, but only because they felt that customer would give it just as much love as they did.
In a store where anything you pick up can make you smile, Lab3 is a feel good location full of gifts anyone can appreciate. Many years from now, their adventure stories of traveling the country, hand-selecting collectibles for the Lab, will be as bold and exciting as Downtown itself. There time spent here can truly be seen as a gift of a lifetime.
Lab3 is located at
132 W.7th Street
Latres Lingerie
Tres Haslett is the owner of LaTres Lingerie Boutique opened on Main Street and 7th in the summer of 2011.
With plenty of satisfied customers both men and women, Latres features imported and domestic dainties made from silk and lace with the ability to enhance any sexual situation or any body type.
Bras range in sizes from A to K and anything can be ordered custom made to fit. Lacy silks, panties, hosiery, slimming wear, designer lounge apparel and others are displayed throughout the shop welcoming visitors and offering their lives a taste of sensuality.
It all started when her husband demanded she find some place else to store her beloved 8 foot high Victorian armoire. So she, being a girly girl and big fan of lingerie, decided the perfect place to store the Victorian piece would be to showcase it inside a new downtown lingerie store.
Tired of the same old lingerie? Latres offers hard to find intimates, made by companies who have existed for over 100 years. Quality products made for the best fit; tasteful items, and those with body enhancing support you will surely feel cute and sexy in are all found at Latres. New Year. New man? New Lingerie!
Latres Lingerie is located at 111 W. 7th Street (R9)
CREPES SANS FRONTIERES
Owner and head chef, Ruth Hudin, offers the Spring Arcade Building something unique with her authentic french food located within the buildings runway. Hudin says she picked the location to coincide with the buildings plans to establish a restaurant row within the massive glass covered corridor spanning from Spring to Broadway.
Ruth states the location reminds her of the Parisian shops of Europe.
So feel like your dining in Paris while ordering her nutritious crepes. Crêpes San Frontieres crepes are different from other places because they are made the traditional way using whole wheat and gluten-free buckwheat flour as opposed to the typical white flour.
Apples, strawberries and bananas are sliced right before being added to sweet crepes loaded with nutella and topped with whipped or ice cream.
Crêpes filled with imported smoked salmon, fresh dill and crème fraiche (heavy cream) are served with cappuccino, Origina, home made lemon aide or Kangen Water®.
Crepes Sans Frontieres now offers Acai Bowls loaded with anti-oxidants and omega fatty acids to help support your immune system.
Crepes Sans Frontieres
is located at 541 S. Spring
THE NICKEL DINER
Monica May started the Nickel Diner with her partner Kristen Trattner in 2008. No stranger to owning an eatery, May owned the café Banquette, on Main Street, but it wasn’t really fitted with a kitchen. They felt there wasn’t really a place to eat downtown, and hoped to fill that niche.
The Nickel Diner grew out of the desire to feed the neighborhood. Its a restaurant where we can get what we want: real food that feeds the neighborhood.
Very much a community effort when it started, the partners spoke with Downtown neighbors and investors to build the dream of the diner into a reality. They opened in the heart of the recession and are still going strong five years later.
Nickel Diner has since become a destination spot with a reputation for good food and healthy options, loved by foodies looking to explore new recipes as well as people who just want a bite.
While they don’t actually offer menu items for a nickel, their prices are reasonable. You can get a stack of three buttermilk pancakes for under $7, and the cinnamon swirl brioche French toast, which Los Angeles Magazine recently listed as one of the “What A Hunk: Our Four Favorite French Toasts in L.A.” is under $9. The Nickel Diner has a reputation for their brunch and they have the lines around the corner to prove it.
The Nickel Diner is
located at 524 S Main Street
NAIL SALON
Salon owner, Allison Lee saved enough money from working in the salon industry to open Nail Salon in Fall of 2013.
The art of manicure has an ancient history. From 3, 000 years ago the people of ancient India, Egypt and China covered the tops of their nails in everything from pale tones to silver and gold. One hundred years ago in Downtown, women wore short, almond shaped nails covered with aromatic oil and polished with a soft cloth. Then shortly after, in 1925 pink nail polish was created becoming an instant best seller.
By the 1940s Revlon Cosmetics had already produced a full line of awesome nail colors.
The 70s was another revolutionary period for the finger tip as the profession of manicure designer was first defined as a specialist who can paint and pierce nails. These designers led the way artistically to what would become a modern day fashion explosion.
A symbol of success, today, the manicure branch is one of the strongest in the cosmetic industry. Whether you’re going full rock star, or looking for something appropriate for work, maybe just a clean manicure, or the newest techniques; including highly decorated nail extensions made from gels cured by a UV lamps that are guaranteed to last two weeks, who can have it done at Nail Salon.
Nail Salon offers comfortable seating, warm foot baths, friendly personalities and a hot towel foot wrap that’s to die for. The sofas are deep to help aid in relaxation, and workers like Sichan K. Chey keep customers smiling with warm positive attitudes and sharp sense of humors.
To keep up with sanitary regulations Lees salon uses most things disposable as witnesses by the tiny files cut into 1 inch squares, perfect for a single use. Then there is a sterilizer to wash the metal tools.
The Nail Salon was a complete build out, Lee bought everything including the charming decorated antique bike with magazine rack basket. Visit Nail Salon for everything you need for regular hand and foot brilliance.
Nail Salon is located at
125 E. 6th Street.
BUTTONS AND BOWS
Overwhelmed and über-excited at the same time, customers love this place! Loaded with funky accessories and jewelry must haves Buttons and Bows is an awesome vintage store.
SHOES. LOTS AND LOTS OF SHOES
Gorgeous one-of-a-kind shoes. This is a place where one can really go crazy with quality vintage finds.
Not only are they chock-full of great vintage finds, they are also a consignment shop. You can buy or sell your gently used wares here as well. Buttons and Bows carries a lot of name brand vintage designers with names were sure you’ve heard more than once.
Buttons and Bows is a partnership between the second daughter of Bob Marley, Karen Marley, and Monique Aquino, so you can bet the vibe stays erie. The shop spares no empty space as most of the walls, elevated surfaces and floors, are taken up by numerous vintage treasures. Buttons and Bows also helps host Shop Walk, a quarterly event that supports the fashion industry in the Historic Core. Not so unlike Art Walk, Shop Walk gives visitors a chance to mix and mingle with style at participating boutiques and take advantage of special discounts.
Buttons and Bows is
located at 548 S. Spring Street
ARABELLA’S PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Arabella Ayala is a tax expert who does income taxes and accounting for many businesses around the Downtown area. Working in Downtown for 22 years, she first started as a tax consultant at H & R Block on the east corner of 7th and Main where she stayed for 17 years. Later deciding to open her own business in the west side of Main, where she’s been now for 5 years, Arabella braces her self for the flood of work that will be coming during tax time in 2014.
Clients who trust Arabella with intimate information, social security numbers, gross incomes, personal status, and other private matters, most of which she has known for a long time, seek out Arabella’s experience on a consistent basis. She knows all the loopholes, new shortcuts, laws and regulations and takes a class every year keeping herself updated on any new changes that may affect her clients.
Originally from Guatemala, she’s raised three artists, two boys and one girl who’s art can be seen exhibited on the walls of her office. While her kids were young, she decided to go into accounting because it allowed her to work less hours leaving valuable time to tend to her three young children. She started with a few clients and since has grown. Now she is in the stage of her career where she has a lot of experience and a lot of clients, references and a cool location to back her up.
She loves the changes happening to Downtown, and loves the fact that two of her children, now grown men, have opened up their own store, Weird Beers, just down the block from her accounting location Spring on 7th.
Tax time is coming. Contact Arabella for rates and services for quality accounting and for a dependable resource to help you with the IRS.
Arabella’s Professional
Services is located at
111 W. 7th Street #R2
THE MUST
Bar owners, Coly Den Haan and Rachel Thomas return to the Historic Core at a new location located on the ground floor of the newly renovated Jefferies apartment building on Main and Winston.
For years fans of the popular food and wine bar have been waiting patiently for the duo to re-open after the controversial and outwardly stressful forced closing of
their previous location on 5th and Main in 2010.
The new location boast, like most new bar build outs, 2,800-plus square-feet of gastro-pub style dining, high ceilings, full bar, exposed brick walls, and signature warehouse concrete pillars. The Must takes it a step further by adding a private tasting room, a basement wine cellar and vegetated outdoor patio seating.
A fresh new restaurant bar of completely new design, The Must offers comfortable indoor seating and a more than full wine selection with bottles picked from elevated wine cabinets that continuously line to decorate the walls.
Although, food items on the menu may come with names like, Yo’ Mama’s Chicken, a $17 dish of Mary’s ½ roasted boneless chicken, fried corn mush and peach chutney, Cholo Fried Rice for $13 with your choice of carnitas or smoked tofu with cilantro, avocado, jalapeno, onion and fried rice or D’s Nuts, mixed nuts flavored as sweet, spicy and of course salty; rest assured their labels may be a bit stereotypical but their flavors are not.
The Must is located at
117 Winston Street
CURIO
Lora Myers at 23 years old may be the youngest DTLA female business owner on our list. Four months ago she opened Curio Los Angeles a moderate to high end fashion apothecary on 5th and Spring.
With a background in retail and plenty of industry advisors, Myers, being a 4 year downtown resident, noted the changes to the neighborhood and set on a course to open Curio, seeing it as a good opportunity loaded with potential.
The space at Curio is not complex. It’s adorned with clothing racks, that hold their many designs and offer plenty of space to move easily between them. With concrete flooring, and high ceiling it is well lit. The Curio logo (a pyramid incased inside of a circle incased inside of a pyramid), can be found on the window.
But there is something mysterious about Curio that draws you in. Curio is a women’s and men’s multi-line boutique that embodies a dark, edgy style with true hippy flare. Curio is a boutique where downtowners can find fashion that inspires them and transports them to an enchanting place with all the elements of earth, wind, sun, and water, wrapped up in one simple garment or piece of jewelry.
A destination for those who are enamored with the magic of the California desert, the nonstop movement of city dwelling and the serenity and beauty of that famous LA sunset. With a clear vision and strong commitment to not taking fashion – or ourselves – too seriously, Curio will be LA’s new mecca for that super stylish, and free spirited downtown dweller.
Curio is located at 125 W. 5th Street
