|
The incredible view of Beverly Hills from our room at the
Italian-chic Mr. C hotel. |
John and I are just back from a fabulous weekend on the West Coast. I love visits to LA. You can pretty much wear whatever you want and still feel a-OK about having left the house. Honestly, I am intrigued by the get-ups people wear! I dressed like an urban farmer all weekend (John Deere baseball hat and Vans) and felt just great. Even the traffic doesn’t bother me: As long as you get in the car to drive, say, from Beverly Hills to Santa Monica past peak traffic times, you are golden. And I never take the 405.
Another plus: I find everyone in LA so nice. Coming from New York where “aggressive” seems to be in the genes, LA is refreshing. Maybe this sounds naïve, but I am in LA quite often, so I think I know of what I speak. Sure, there is attitude and such to be found, but everyone seems so much more chill than the folks in New York.
John and I checked into the just-opened Mr. C hotel at the edge of Beverly Hills, and we loved it. The latest from the Cipriani family (the crew behind Harry’s Bar in Venice and NYC’s Cipriani restaurants), Mr. C occupies the former, circa-1962 Loews hotel, and it’s all easy-breezy chic—from Riva speedboat-like polished wood to white leather. And the views from the Mr. C are eye-popping. Our room on the 11th floor had superlative vistas stretching from Century City across Beverly Hills to mid-Wilshire. Each evening John and I hunkered down on our terrace with the hotel’s signature Bellini cocktails (peach nectar with Prosecco) and watched the sunset. Pure magic.
|
| John and I stocked up on flowers for a design client's home from this charming flower truck parked on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. I love the whole truck culture in LA: You can get everything from every type of food under the sun to flowers. Genius! |
Each day we set out to explore the town, from wandering around Venice, Beverly Hills and Culver City to Little Ethiopia, Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades.
We sipped Sazerac cocktails at the swanky £10 bar at the Montage Beverly Hills hotel and dined at Scarpetta, superstar chef Scott Conant’s Italian eatery. (The simple spaghetti with tomato sauce is a treat!) Plus, we slummed it at Norm’s and Dinah’s Family Restaurant and kicked back the vino with our dear friend and publicist extraordinaire Jill Eisentadt-Chayet at Thomas Keller’s chic Bouchon Bistro. We chatted up our pal Staci Cain at our favorite vintage outpost 45 Three Modern Vintage Home on Fairfax, and we met with our custom furniture guys out on West Adams. We also visited the food trucks on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice and dined at the very cool and high-style Deck 33 at the just-remodeled Custom Hotel by LAX. Plus, we saw The Help (needed major editing!) and wandered up and down North La Cienega to browse the design outposts.
That’s just scratching the surface of our LA pilgrimage. But I am battling a bit of jet lag, so more anon.