Silver Lake

Saucing is a science at Silver Lake's new Gobi Mongolian BBQ House. Modeled after a restaurant that co-owner Mike Buch went to as a child in Hollywood, Gobi has taken the low-rent, MSG-addled Americanized Mongolian barbecue concept and given it a sunny, Facebook-generation makeover. A big part of that is a selection of 11 house-made sauces, including several that certainly weren't found in your parents' friendly neighborhood Mongolian BBQ hut, including lemon-mint, Asian pesto and smoked oyster.

As Danny Hoch ambles through Echo Park, a familiar sight catches his eye. Although he's far from his home in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, Hoch instantly recognizes the telltale signs of approaching urban Armageddon: pasty-faced guys in porkpie hats, prowling for overpriced espressos; pierced and tattooed young women pushing strollers; a vintage clothing store rubbing elbows with a Salvadoran pupuseria.

The question all over Silver Lake is: Have you been yet? Been where? To LA Mill, the new coffee boutique from the tony Alhambra coffee roaster that supplies many of L.A.'s top restaurants. For coffee aficionados in the neighborhood, this is a banner year.

They've talked about -- and fought over -- the six-acre patch at the edge of the Silver Lake Reservoir for nearly a decade. Should the flat, grassy area created in the early 1950s when a stagnant reservoir cove was filled in with dirt be turned into a park? Or should it remain a fenced-in habitat for wildlife?

Tonight, "House" goes on after the Super Bowl on Fox -- and its strike-forced season finale airs Tuesday. Earlier this week, we caught up with the show's Dr. Lisa Cuddy -- Lisa Edelstein in real life. She was in the car on the way to LAX at dawn, leaving for a month on a Lifetime film in Hawaii. Fun fact: In 1986, she was the queen of the New York City club-kid set. Your parents were just in town! My parents left yesterday. They were going on a cruise with some friends. They were very excited.

After several weeks of draining, Silver Lake Reservoir is nearly empty now, save for some random puddles on the basin's bottom. The emptying of the reservoir began in January. Water officials said the action was necessary to eliminate water contaminated by bromate, a carcinogen formed by the interaction of bright sunlight, chlorine and natural bromides that exist in groundwater.

This house is on a Silver Lake knoll known by the locals as "Pill Hill" for the many prominent physicians who lived in the neighborhood between the 1930s and 1980s. Even today, however, there are at least 50 doctors living in the area, according to George Mimnaugh, who just finished a major renovation there. Mimnaugh, a Grammy-nominated art director who designs CD packages, also restores homes.

Billy BASHA revs the throttle on his orange Lance scooter and takes off down Sunset Boulevard. Basha is on a mission, but not just to deliver pizzas. With Andiamo -- a new Italian cafe in Silver Lake -- he, wife Megan Dillon and chef Anthony Spinella are part of a growing restaurant movement that combines eco-friendly business practices with high-quality organic ingredients. After moving from New Jersey to Los Angeles in 2003, Basha had an eco-epiphany.

One . . . more . . . step. Almost there. Top of the hill. Don't step on the smashed guavas. Step over the giant philodendron. Ignore the snapping dog. More than 75 years ago, Laurel and Hardy struggled to maneuver a piano up these 131 Silver Lake steps in the classic comedy "The Music Box," cementing the staircase in cinematic history. Hauling an oversized load up the oxygen-depleting ascent hasn't gotten any easier, but it's worth the trip. Huff. Puff.

Silver Lake Reservoir -- the century-old neighborhood landmark drained earlier this year -- started to look like its old self again Wednesday. The reservoir got its first drink in months when officials turned on the water Wednesday to start the 20-day process of refilling its 600-million-gallon, clay-based shell. The emptying of the reservoir began in January.