Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [134]
Artists’ Inn & Cottage B&B (off Map; 626-799-5668, 888-799-5668; www.artistsinns.com; 1038 Magnolia St; r incl tax & breakfast $135-225; ) Just three blocks from a Metro Gold Line station, this lovely Victorian farmhouse has 10 artist-inspired rooms and suites, some with fireplaces and canopy beds. If you don’t like frilly Laura Ashley, ask for the Van Gogh or Expressionists rooms. Smoking is verboten but drinking is not: rates include postdinner port enjoyed in the privacy of your room. Check-in is from 3pm to 6pm.
Bissell House B&B (Map; 626-441-3535, 800-441-3530; www.bissellhouse.com; 201 S Orange Grove Blvd; r incl breakfast $195-350; wi-fi) Antiques, hardwood floors and a crackling fireplace make this secluded Victorian B&B on ‘Millionaire’s Row’ a bastion of warmth and romance. The hedge-framed garden feels like a sanctuary, and there’s a big pool for cooling off on hot summer days. Except for the boldly striped Prince Albert room, the decor is pretty frilly-flowery. The Garden Room has a double Jacuzzi.
TOP END
Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa (Map; 626-568-3900, 800-241-3333; www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/hunting ton; 1401 S Oak Knoll Ave; r from $260, child under 18 free; wi-fi) Take away the palm trees and this dignified hostelry could be a French country estate complete with rambling gardens, giant swimming pool and covered picture bridge. Rooms are daubed in regal reds or blues, but the heavy drapery and patrician furniture collide with the flat-screen TVs and other 21st-century touches. The Sunday brunch ($55) is a pricey but memorable treat. Parking costs $25.
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EATING
With great produce, innovative chefs and beautiful locales, LA’s cuisine scene is as exciting, varied, fun and adventurous as the city itself. The best of California cooking makes creative use of local, seasonal and fresh ingredients and flirts with foreign influences, be they Mexican spices, Asian cooking techniques or Mediterranean flavor pairings. Other trends come and go; right now small plates, Kobe beef and spicy tuna are hot meal tickets, but LA’s fickle eaters may well have moved on to something else in a few months’ time. Some of the most exciting food comes courtesy of LA’s huge immigrant populations – from Ethiopian watt (stew) to Mexican pozole (stew) and Vietnamese pho (soup), you’ll find it here.
When choosing a restaurant, don’t let decor be the deciding factor. Yes, some of the best-designed LA restaurants offer exquisite cuisine – Crustacean, O-Bar and Koi – but some of the tastiest meals can come from blink-and-you-miss-’em lairs like Yuca’s, Sanamluang, Zankou Chicken and Tacomiendo.
Reservations are definitely a good idea at dinnertime. To score a table at the trendiest places, either call several days ahead to book or opt for an early or late-ish slot on a weekday, which may also fit well around seeing a show.
Restaurants with good selections for vegetarians are denoted with . For more choices, check out www.vegparadise.com. For more of the lowdown on the cuisine scene, Click here.
Hollywood, Los Feliz & Silver Lake
BUDGET
Yuca’s (Map; 323-662-1214; 2056 Hillhurst Ave, Los Feliz; mains $1.40-4; 11am-6pm Mon-Sat; ) Location, location, location…is definitely not what lures people to this parking-lot snack shack. It’s the tacos, stupid! And the tortas, burritos and other Mexi faves that earned the Herrera family the coveted James Beard Award in 2005. Grab a cold one at the liquor store next door and dig in.
Café Tropical (Map; 323-661-8391; 2900 Sunset Blvd, Silver Lake; sandwiches $3.50-5.50; 6am-10pm Mon-Fri, 7am-10pm Sat & Sun; wi-fi) Che would feel right at home in this Cuban bakery and coffee shop where an entire wall is swathed in photographs of the revolutionary heartthrob.