Around Town - Tis The Season For Tea At The Montage

After complete craziness at the office this past week, I was pleased to be able to enjoy yesterday afternoon at a holiday tea at the Montage Hotel. 
Only a block and a half from my office, and one of the prettiest places in Beverly Hills, the panelled library off of the lobby lounge with its cozy fireplace, was the perfect place to catch up with the ladies over a glass of champagne and a beautifully served tea.

Here's how the table was set....unfortunately, I am incapable of taking a good photo with my iphone
so here's an image from the Montage website. Isn't the hand painted china pretty?

I must admit that I do appreciate this whole afternoon tea thing...it is a great way to de-stress.
What I want to know is if the United States was primarily settled by the English, how is it that America lost this great English tradition?
Does anyone know?

Around Town - Dinner and the Scene at BOA Steakhouse

So where do you go for a family dinner on a drizzling Saturday night to soak up the LA scene?

The answer of course is the sleek and sexy BOA Steakhouse on Sunset Boulevard

The menu was basic and straightforward, american cuts of steak and potato type of side dishes, except of course for the de rigueur Kobe and Waygu beef, which all respectable restaurants seem to have to serve now.  The wine list was extensive.  The service was helpful and friendly.

But let's face it, you don't go there for the food.  You go there for the scene

and sitting at the front table, there was quite a scene to be seen especially in the loungy bar.

Would I go back there, probably not except maybe for the chocolate hazelnut cake, which was delicious.As

Also, it might be nice in the summer months, when you can sit outside on the terrace.

But I could happily skip the bar scene which seemed to consist mostly of hipsters and hookers.
The LA demimonde, if you will.

(I wish that I had taken a photo of that not so young curvy brunette in the turquoise sequin halter style top, uncovered midriff and white jeans with sparkle playboy bunny logos on the back pockets, I kid you not.  Who wears that on a rainy October night?)

As usual I wore my typical conservative outfit of which nothing was new and most was really old.

A Ralph Lauren black label long cashmere long sweater and matching shell in chocolate brown over a Michael Kors wool pencil skirt in heather brown, all purchased 3 years ago (on sale) at Neiman Marcus.

A pair of Patrick Cox pumps purchased in Paris 12 years ago but seldom worn due to the high 4 inch heels.

An alligator belt that had belonged to my husband, and that I had shortened, which had to be close to 20 years old and a vintage alligator clutch by Kleinberg Sherrill that was 25 years old.
Oh, and the scarf, which I believe I bought last winter sometime....in fact it is very likely that I picked it up at Walgreens for maybe $7.99.

Naturally, I wore some old jewelry too.

I'm glad that I went to BOA, just to see what all the hype was about. 

But now it's been there, done that.

I can move on.

Around Town - The Taste of Beverly Hills

So many restaurants....so little time...

The event schedule
The restaurants
The wineries

Since I tweaked my back in Mexico (don't ask) and have now had to cancel my weekly training sessions at the gym, there will be no superfluous wining and dining for me.
But for everyone else
Bon Appetit!

Around Town - Slumming It At The SLS

After hearing for months about the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
I finally got around to seeing what all the buzz is about

It was indeed way hip

and the public/private division gave it that one extra level of exclusivity

The decor was exceptional with calculated coolness by designer Philippe Starck

I had dinner in one of the private dinning rooms

which was just a little too starkly Starck for my taste

Fortunately, it was vastly improved by the color, the candlelight and the company

The food at Tres which I had heard so much about was what I would have expected,

good but not exceptional

Next time, I would like to try the main restaurant Bazaar

Or, instead of waiting in a long line for my car with the usual actors and other industry types, get to the SLS early in the evening and have dinner at Altitude on rooftop pool deck and enjoy the view.

If you haven't already tried the SLS I recommend that you do, if only just to have a drink and to bask in the vibe.

Around Town - Another Week Of Dine LA

Bad economic news, continued recession, growing unemployment
how does the restaurant business in Los Angeles deal with all of this?
Dine La restaurant week, of course.

What's the idea behind dineLA Restaurant Week?
dineLA and dineLA Restaurant Week were created with two goals in mind-driving business for our local restaurant community; and building awareness for Los Angeles as one of the premier dining cities in the world.

and

What are restaurants offering during dineLA Restaurant Week?
Participating restaurants will opt into one of three dining categories and present a specially priced three-course meal for lunch and/or dinner. Diners will be able to choose from three choices for each course including appetizer, entrée and dessert.

So last week's dine LA event, with special prices, was an opportunity for me to try two new restaurants, and so I did.
Both were full, obviously the dineLA concept was working.

Wolfgang's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills

I liked both my dinner and the ambiance at Wolfgang's steakhouse, with no nonsense food and a chi-chi Beverly Hills crowd....was that Mickey Rourke in the hat? Perhaps the best thing about Wolfgang's was the fact that it was on Canon Drive, an easy 2 block walk from my office.

Upstairs 2 in West Los Angeles

Upstairs 2, was the opposite of the platinum triangle located Wolfgang's.

A wine bar situated above a warehouse wine business, The Wine House, located in an industrial area next to the 405 freeway, it was a foodie retreat with delicious food and an incredible wine by the glass menu. It may just become my new favorite hang out.

The restaurant business is huge in Los Angeles, and it employs a lot of people...yes, many of them wanna be actors. I'm very glad to see that DineLA is having a positive influence on local business.

This city has weathered the recession fairly well in spite of the real estate meltdown and all of the economic problems with the State of California. It makes me happy to know that LA isn't going the way of Detroit.