L.A. AWAY, OKAY!
Okay, L.A. is a great big freeway, we’d agree. In fact L.A. does have some of the oldest and most extensive freeways in the world, and yes smog, although the air is now 50% cleaner now than it was in 1958, believe it or not. And, L.A. is vast, very vast, in fact the greater L.A. basin, comprised of dozens of famous towns like Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Hollywood and more, could easily be a state onto itself; and if it were it would easily be one of the richest and most prosperous states in the Union! But L.A. is way more than freeways and gobs of money, it is a hotbed of culture, most obviously in entertainment, but also in food, fashion and just about everything else.
You could easily spend a month in L.A. and not visit every museum there is to see and you’d be hard pressed to hit every hot new restaurant in town, never mind check out the famous old places and hole in the wall finds. As far as night life, well there are few cities in the world that compare. Moreover, just like New York, you're bound to be seated next to or run into someone famous. If beaches are your thing, take your pick of endless white sand and if fashion’s important to you you’ll love all the super cool places to shop with the famed Rodeo Drive being just the glittery and opulent tip of the iceberg!
So, if you’re going for a weekend getaway as we recently did, or if you're planning to stay even a week our advice is don’t try to bite off more than you can chew! Take it easy, take it slow; part of the fun of Tinsel Town is letting the vibe of the place enter your system, watching the beautiful people, interacting with the diverse culture and getting a bit of an understanding of the neighborhoods, its grit and its glamor. There are guidebooks devoted solely to this city and if you are planning a first trip they might well be worth picking up a copy. Below is how we spent a relaxing and eye opening weekend in this incredible place.
GETTING THERE
L.A. is, obviously, an international destination and you can easily fly from almost anywhere in the world into LAX. Granted it’s pretty much a hell hole of an airport, but then hopefully you won't be spending the weekend there; hopefully. From central California to L.A. there are essentially two routes “The” 101 or “The” 5. We don’t know why they add the “The” in Southern California, but when in Rome, or in this case L.A. go with the flow! From San Francisco the drive will normally be around seven to eight hours unless you hit bad L.A. traffic in which case it might take twenty five hours; but let’s not go there! On a side note, this is a car town, with a car culture. It is not a walking city and we don't recommend relying solely on Uber. If you don’t drive here, rent a car!
WE STAYED AT
We started staying at Thompson hotels mainly because of their dog friendly policy but have grown to find that we enjoy their hotels whether Fido is with us or not, be they in Zihuatanejo, New York or San Antonio. In fact, our recent stay in the Thompson in San Antonio was interestingly one of the best overall hotel experiences we’ve ever had. The vibe of the Thompson Hotel group seems to be trendy and hip without throwing manners, friendliness and courtesy into the wastebasket.
We’re happy to report that Thompson Hollywood is no exception to this rule. In our book, the initial arrival is a telltale sign of what lies in store for one when you’re staying at a hotel. The staff that greeted us handled our luggage and took our car was friendly and affable. Several outstanding employees assisted us during our stay including Cameron (shockingly an aspiring actor) who went above and beyond to make us feel at home, Prya, the lovely desk person who was a wealth of ideas for our visit and smoothly assisted us in a room change and Jordan one of the most efficient and affable bartenders we’ve ever run into (and we’ve run into a lot of them).
After a room change from a pretty, but pretty small room we thoroughly enjoyed our spectacular corner room with views not only of the Hollywood Hills but also of the distant downtown. The design ethos here is what we would call comfortable modern with nice touches such as coffee table books and throw comforters. There is a very well equipped (with the odd exception of stretch mats) gym that happily looks out onto some fun old buildings and trees. And there are two bars, one on the rooftop and one on ground level, both of which are beautiful. Oddly the hotel restaurant was abruptly closed at the time of our visit; shockingly it appears a hotel group and a Chef didn’t get along!
In a city filled with spectacular and even legendary hotels, the Thompson provides a great option in a newly hip and very central location with just about everything you can ask for in a hotel.
WE ATE AT
MOTHER WOLF
Our good friend and former Editor and Chief of “Bon Appetit” magazine told us “you two are staying right next to one of the hottest tickets in town”, so we just had to go. Here Chef Evan Funke has created a clubby Italy meets Hollywood meets classy bordello kind of atmosphere. The food is based on the rustic and hearty cooking of Rome. We’ve eaten all over the Eternal City and Mr. Funke has done a very nice job here of re-creating the experience of this culinary style.
Mark and I competed on season four of “Top Chef Masters”, and our fun and tireless host was Curtis Stone. So, we were excited to read that he had opened a steak restaurant in Hollywood just around the corner from where we were staying. Believe it or not, the celebrity himself was not on premise the night of our visit, but we still managed to have a good time if not a reunion! The modern dining room is soothing and comfortable and the steaks are delicious. In addition the sommelier was able to offer some outstanding wines by the glass, something one rarely finds and a nice touch.
Bacari in Silverlake, is a restaurant that makes one feel like you are at the “right” place. Just off a typical L.A. strip of tatty buildings in this newly trendy area, tucked back a bit is the restaurant Bacari, which while it has a beautiful and rustic interior space, really is all about its intimate secret garden. The menu here claims to be inspired by the food of Venice, but it's quite unlike anything we’ve encountered in Venice. The small plates are highly varied, fun, reasonably priced and almost uniformly delicious. For such a large and hip place, we found everyone to be very friendly and interested in providing us with a great experience. Chef Lior Hillel and the Kronfli brother’s definitely have a hit here and one we’d return to again and again!
We ate twice during our visit to L.A. at this super(ba) comfortable cafe/bread heaven. First off, the atmosphere here is warm, creative and fun; there’s a beautiful courtyard and on cold rainy days (like the ones we encountered) there is a rustic chic indoor dining room complete with a cozy fireplace and a gorgeous open kitchen. We knew we had picked a great place when our warm, friendly and efficient waiter enthusiastically recommended the bread sampler plate; three kinds of outstanding bread slathered in delicious butter. The brunch menu was even more interesting and well thought out than the lunch menu which is saying something and we agreed this is the sort of place you could enjoy on a weekly basis. Another fun thing about Superba Hollywood is without a doubt the people watching; this is a neighborhood joint and it seems just about every gorgeous neighbor decided to drop in while we were there; it is Hollywood after all!
LANGER’S DELICATESSEN -RESTAURANT
When you go to Langer’s, have the number 19; it's one of the best sandwiches we’ve ever had! Our former Chef Lee Frank of M.C. Perkins Cove and then Arrows and now at his own place, Otis in Exeter New Hampshire, first took us here a few years ago; it is another reason we love him! Though we are not experts on the subject, for us this is the best Deli in the country and we’ve been to all the famous ones. Not only is the food outstanding and generous, the service is kind, friendly and efficient. No wonder the place is always packed. One note of caution, Langer’s is in a pretty rough neighborhood. On our most recent visit our car was towed from a parking lot conducting a bit of a scam. Retrieving it from downtown was not only unnerving but expensive. So, park with care or take an Uber!
Butchery at Gwen
PLACES WE PARTIED
Now this is a rooftop bar the way you expect it to be in the center of flashy, classy, crazy Hollywood. The outdoor areas are pretty and as advertised have a Cote D Azur vibe and the interior spaces are sexy and glamorous. If you go for cocktails at 5:00 or thereabout, you will find the vibe to be chill and laid back with excellent and professional service, go later and you encounter a happening club scene. The crowd is gorgeous and dressed to impress.
Wonder of wonders, a great and fun gay bar that hasn’t been closed, still exists in the boho neighborhood of Silverlake. The scene here feels like the old days before Grindr, and pandemics, crazy, cooky and friendly people out to meet each other or just hang out in a hip and comfortable setting. The drinks here are perfectly prepared and the place is just hands down a lot of fun!
PLACES WE VISITED
There is almost no end to the places to visit and see in L.A. from DisneyLand and Universal Studios to Beverly Hills and the beaches, one could spend a year and never see it all. So one thing to think about when planning a visit to L.A. is the fact that this is a gigantic spread out monster of a place and the freeways can get really clogged. It’s sometimes better to choose an area and visit things relatively close by, and then return and do the same in another part of town another time rather than try to cram too much in. Otherwise you can easily spend half your time in a traffic jam! Hollywood, where we stayed, is pretty central to most things that visitors to the city want to see and most of the things we list below were less than a half an hour drive from our hotel.
When my dad was a kid, he and his family visited his rich uncle who had a date plantation in Anaheim, the future home of Disneyland. This was the 1930’s and he recalled riding around in his uncle’s fabulous automobile called a Leach. When, years later, he visited the Petersen Museum he was amazed that the first car he encountered was a Leach and probably his uncle’s car since they made so few of them. Ever since hearing this story I’ve wanted to visit this world's largest auto museum and on this trip we were determined to go. We weren’t disappointed! This is a car lover’s paradise with amazing exhibits like the Warhol meets Mercedes and the electric car exhibit. Be sure to spring for the extra “vault” tickets; it’s well worth the dough to see over 250 of the world's rarest autos.
HOLLYWOOD
When I was a kid we visited friends in Santa Monica and Ensino frequently. We never went to Hollywood because in those days it was a drug infested mess. But times have changed and it is now an up and coming even hip area and if you love movies then it’s really worth the trip to walk the Hollywood Walk of Fame. While the street still has a honkytonk feel to it, one really gets a tingling feeling when you see all those star’s names that line the sidewalks, each bringing back memories and stories.
If you enjoy food markets as we do, then this is a “must do” while in L.A. Originally opened in 1934 The Grove as it’s called, sprawls over a vast outdoor space and has over 100 vendors. This is a great place to pick up a casual bite to eat. Our advice is to just wander about and take in the crowds and the venues and decide which of the myriad of food stalls piques your fancy. The adjoining super high end mall is also worth a visit if you're in the mood for some good shopping.
SILVERLAKE
If you need a serious dose of hip and cool look no further than Sunset Junction in Silverlake. Be forewarned, there’s plenty of attitude here in the shops and cafes, so our advice is to relax, and enjoy the scene since it’s impossible to be pretty, rich or cool enough here! There are tons of fun places to check out in this neighborhood. We got a hoot out of SECRET HEADQUARTERS, which is a comic book nerds paradise. If you’re in the market for some sneakers check out UNDEFEATED which has a fun eclectic collection. MADEWELL, which purveys oddly reasonably priced denim and some other cool clothing as well is another good stop. And for cool home accessories, check out CANDID HOME. After or during all the shopping in this area you’ll need a little caffeine, and we were thrilled to see they now have an LA COLOMBE COFFEE here, and while it’s not quite as nice as the original in Philadelphia, is still damn good.
What we call the New Getty Museum is without a doubt one of the most spectacular museums in L.A. and perhaps the world. Built on the foundation of the oil tycoon J. Paul Getty’s money, the collection is impressive and varied. The endowment for this institution is also impressive with the result that significant art is continuously being added to the collection. What really “takes the cake” here though is the stunning architecture of the building, the gorgeous gardens and the setting itself with views over all of Los Angeles.
When I first told an old family friend, who’s husband had built the Santa Monica Pier, that I was going to the Getty Villa, she said, “Oh, we used to go to the most marvelous parties where Getty built that house!” And, I must say the villa today is marvelous too! The oil magnate was fascinated by Greek and Roman art, and to house his world class collection of Greek and Roman art he had built a studiously authentic recreation of a Roman villa to house it. The art is beautiful and the buildings and grounds are even better!
THE BOTTOM LINE
L.A. can be a bit intimidating but it is well worth a visit, even many visits. So, pack your hip duds and head to Tinsel Town!