I will remember Los Angeles, in part, by its food—I’ve had some of the most memorable meals of my life in this city. Here are a few highlights, strange and unexpected and delicious:

Taco Stand —

After the Alumni Party at the Paley Center, the five of us who aren’t on our way to Wisconsin walk to find food and land at a small corner taco shop. A stand out front holds dozens of salsas, but it’s dark and I mostly guess and scoop several kinds into Dixie cups. We sit at a wooden picnic table and eat under a streetlamp. I devour my cow tongue taco—it cost three dollars but is worth a million.

Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles —

The restaurant is windowless, and from the outside, it appears like a fortress. We have to fight through a crowd out front to get our name on the list. Fifteen minutes later, we’re called inside. It’s loud and illuminated in low red light. The place seems like it was originally set up as a cover for something illegal, but the cover—chicken & waffles, naturally—was so successful that the illegal business was given up altogether and the chain exploded. All of us get the same thing: a fried chicken thigh and a waffle.

I thought about Mildred Pierce as we dug into our meal. Our class had seen the film earlier in the block; the story is, among other things, of a single mother who finds financial success starting a chicken and waffle restaurant. I imagined Joan Crawford spinning around Roscoe’s. I imagined her flickering like black and white celluloid, waiting on the late night club-goers.

NBC Seafood Restaurant —

Thirteen of us fit around a round table—the ten of us students, our professors, Dylan and Clay, and Esther’s father who was joining us for the night. A massive lazy Susan sat in the center. We turned it back and forth to dole out dishes and cups of hot tea. A platter of pork, chicken, ham, and jellyfish arrived first. This was only an appetizer. Over the next two hours we ate scallops, steamed bok choy, spongy mushrooms, fried halibut, red bean soup, creamy tofu, fish stomach soup, and crispy duck skin and plenty of Hoisin sauce. It was truly a feast. And I was appreciative for the chance to regroup and be reminded of how special this block has been. I couldn’t have asked for better fellow LA adventurers, in food and in film.