MY DAY OFF

Lydia Night of The Regrettes' Day Off In LA Includes Diner Coffee and a Show at The Fonda

"There's nothing better than nostalgic food. One of my favorite things is eating something that reminds me of being young or a certain memory."

By Sadie Bell and Lydia Night

Published on 7/14/2022 at 11:20 AM

Frontwoman Lydia Night & band The Regrettes | Photo by Lissyelle Laricchia

Lydia Night is the frontwoman of the LA-based pop-punk band The Regrettes. The group came up in the city's DIY scene when they were still in high school. They recently released their third record, Further Joy, and will tour throughout the summer, including a handful of major festivals.

LA is my favorite place in the world. I've lived in different parts of the city all my life. I grew up in Santa Monica, which I really wanted to move away from as I got older. My dad and I did eventually—we moved to Eagle Rock on the Eastside, which I love. But it's funny how much I appreciate the Westside now and how I did not understand how nice it was living over there when I was young. My appreciation for the Westside has definitely grown a lot as I've gotten older, and I hope one day I might end up back there.



What I love about LA is I feel like I never have an excuse to be bored. I can constantly find something to do and somewhere to drive, even if it's something that's completely free and I'm alone. There's never an excuse of boredom in LA.


My boyfriend and I live together, so normally if I have a free day, I'll be like, "Dylan, what are you doing? We're hanging out today. We're doing something fun," and he's like, "I'm so down." We'll normally start our day getting breakfast at either Clark Street Diner or Swingers, two of my favorite diners. I love to start my morning at a fun brunch spot where we can get really good coffee and really good food. Swingers is a classic LA diner, and Clark Street used to be the 101 Coffee Shop, which closed during the pandemic. Dylan grew up going to 101 all the time and I grew up going to Swingers all the time, so we both cried over them being shut down. But thankfully, Swingers was bought by the manager, Stephanie, and 101 was bought by the LA bakery Clark Street. They've kept the interior pretty much exactly the same and still have big coffee mugs and that quintessential diner atmosphere. Whenever I go, I love a classic breakfast with toast, eggs, either turkey bacon or sausage, and maybe an avocado and berries. I like a whole spread. And always coffee—coffee is a huge priority in my life.

Kitchen Mouse | Photo Courtesy of Kitchen Mouse

"There's nothing better than nostalgic food. One of my favorite things is eating something that reminds me of being young or a certain memory."

In the afternoon, hiking and shopping are two things I do a lot. I love vintage shopping. There are two locations of this vintage store in LA that I love going to called Bearded Beagle. I also love Wasteland, and there's a lot of great thrifting in the Valley on Magnolia Boulevard. I go there a good amount when I'm looking for nicer vintage stuff.


Later on, my day consists of more eating. A lot of my life revolves around eating good food. I go to Erewhon a lot—sadly, for my wallet. What I get the most for lunch is a combo plate with salmon, sweet potato, and Brussels sprouts, and I love their smoothies. I love to spend an afternoon going to Erewhon and then taking my meal to Silver Lake Meadow for a picnic.



I also like to get lunch at Kitchen Mouse, or one of my favorite delis, Bay Cities. If I'm on the Westside, we have to go because I grew up eating those sandwiches. My order has always stayed the same, too: It's maple roasted turkey with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado oil and vinegar, and some pepper. There's nothing better than nostalgic food. One of my favorite things is eating something that reminds me of being young or a certain memory.

"It's the cutest, most peaceful, little stationery store. They have beautiful fountain pens for calligraphy, stationery sets, the most amazing notebooks, and wax seals. Going in and using their products is like a part of life slowing down."

There are so many things I like to do in the evening; we go to a lot of movies, go bowling with friends, or to an arcade. Before doing anything, though, a night consists of going out to dinner at one of our favorite dinner restaurants, having a little wine, and at least two desserts. My favorite restaurant—the restaurant that I think is the best in LA and will fight anyone on it—is République. It has a perfect atmosphere. It's this big, old building that was actually built by Charlie Chaplin. It's perfectly lit and the music is always really good, which is huge for me.


République is close to The Grove, so we'll also often go see a movie afterwards. Going to the movies is one of my favorite activities. When there are showings at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery, that's so fun. I saw Silence of the Lambs there for the first time and it was so terrifying because it's such a creepy, cool setting.



Another one of my favorite ways to enjoy the night is by going to a friend's show. I've been going to a lot of shows at The Fonda lately, which is where The Regrettes had our last LA headlining show. We sold it out, and that was such a huge moment for us. I felt that way with The Echo before, too. Those little building blocks are so cool when you're from the city and you go to so many shows, and then you get to play there. They're some of my favorite venues ever, so I feel really lucky to get to attend shows and play them.

The Grove | Photo by Stewart and Connie Photography

"There are very few rules in LA on success or what defines a good career. There's a lot of diversity in terms of what people do and the people you can meet."

In high school, I was really obsessed with a lot of bands that would play at venues like The Echo, The Echoplex, and The Smell. I grew up listening to a lot of punk and rock, but that was the first time I got to discover new bands on my own and it wasn't something that I overheard my dad listening to. The LA scene felt like somewhere that could be my own thing, which was really inspiring. But honestly, I feel like my band never fully fit in any sort of scene. We made a lot of friends that we played shows with and were accepted in a lot of those groups that would play around LA a lot in the beginning, but I always felt so young and like I had a lot to prove to all of these, like, older dudes who were making surf rock. I never felt cool enough for that, which is so funny because now that I'm older, I'm like, "Oh my God, that's so ridiculous." That's why I feel so good now making the album that we just made, because it feels extremely authentic to who we are.


But now, we've made our own circle of artist friends that we love and trust and support and who support us, and that feels really good and genuine. There are very few rules in LA on success or what defines a good career. There's a lot of diversity in terms of what people do and the people you can meet. Again, you can't really get bored. So with making music in LA, there's constant shows happening, constant things to soak up and be excited by. I think that excitement that exists and the freedom that exists within artists in LA is what really influences me the most.

Places to Eat & Drink

Clark Street Diner

6145 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles

 

Swingers

8020 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles

 

Erewhon

Various locations

 

Kitchen Mouse

5904 N Figueroa St., Los Angeles

 

Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery

1517 Lincoln Blvd., Los Angeles

 

République

624 S La Brea Ave., Los Angeles

Things to See & Do

Bearded Beagle

5926 N Figueroa St., Los Angeles

4646 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles

 

Wasteland

7428 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles

12144 Ventura Blvd., Los Angeles

 

Silver Lake Meadow

2300 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles

 

Movies at The Grove

189 The Grove Dr., Los Angeles

 

The Fonda

6126 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles

 

The Echo

1822 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles

 

The Echoplex

1154 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles

 

The Smell

247 S Main St., Los Angeles