I had a French Friday yesterday. Wasn’t a planned thing, sort of just happened. I had lunch at Marche Moderne at South Coast Plaza, to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Our reservations were at 12:15pm and when we arrived the place was bustling. Men dining in suits and women wearing their designer clothes and collagen plumped faces. Oh to live in Orange County!
With a nice bottle of chilled rose’ and a lamb merguez sandwich in front of me, I was quite happy. This was probably my fourth visit to Marche Moderne and hands down the best visit. My biggest gripe the last time I was there, was that the music was too loud and not my preference. I had to ask the server to turn it down, but to no avail. I believe that the music should not overpower your experience, but to enhance it. The music should add to the ambiance and be subtle. This time it was.
We shared the pistachio cream puffs and 2 scoops of sorbet and were feeling satiated when the bill came.
That evening I drove to Downtown LA (DTLA- an acronym I just learned) and met up with friends at 
Perch. Perch is a French bistro and lounge, located on the corner of Hill and 4th Street. As the name suggests, it sits atop the roof of an old building. It takes two clunky elevators to get to the 15th floor. Once you make it to the top, the views are incredible!
We arrived just before sunset and luckily for us, the weather was perfect. We grabbed some drinks in the inside bar and headed up two more flights of stairs to the spacious rooftop bar. Since the weather was so great and being it was early Friday evening, the place was packed. I can get claustrophobic at times, but the space was so large and open it was pleasant. The lower terrace had a live band and is where you can order food.
We were seated on outdoor couches with a coffee table as our dining table. I didn’t mind not being seated at a proper table since our view was so incredible.
I ordered the Moules (mussels) with a side order of truffle fries and my companions order the steak frites. 
We accompanied our orders with a nice cabernet sauvignon. DTLA at night is simply beautiful.
To round out our night, we walked to Library Bar. Library Bar is a bar located on 6th Street, diagonal from The Standard Hotel. It has a reputation for being a University of Southern California (USC) hangout. Since it was the night before the SC and Stanford football game and that we are alumni; we had to check it out. The bar is decorated with a library theme. Books filling the walls and cozy leather couches and chairs with study lamps as the décor. There was a friendly D.J. mixing tunes, as the hipster bartenders were shaking up drinks. After a few libations, we called it a night.
I think French Friday was a hit!
Marche Moderne Website: http://www.marchemoderne.net/
Marche Moderne Address: 3333 Bristol St #3001, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Perch Website: http://perchla.com/
Perch Address: 448 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Library Bar Website: http://librarybarla.com/
Library Bar Address: 630 W 6th St #116A, Los Angeles, CA 90017
