Around Town - Chef's Night Out

7th Annual Restaurant Awards and Chefs Night Out
July 26, 2009

Some of Los Angeles’ most noted chefs and restaurateurs will join several award-winning Napa Valley wineries for Angeleno magazine’s Chefs Night Out, on Sunday, July 26, at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica.

The magazine’s food critic Brad A. Johnson and Tasting Panel Editor Anthony Dias Blue will honor L.A. chefs Josiah Citrin, Walter Manzke, Bruce Marder, Joachim Splichal and Adrian Vasquez and others. The event will also include cooking presentations and recognition of the “Best of Show” winners of the San Francisco International Wine and Spirits Competition.
Guests will indulge in delicious cuisine, fine wines and all things delectable while benefiting the children of Children’s Institute.

Here are the details
p>When:Date: July 26, 2009
Time: 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm
4:30 – 6:00 pm VIP Reception (VIP Ticket Required)6:00 – 8:00 pm Chefs Night Out Event
Where:

Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows
101 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Purchase tickets before the event to ensure availability.

Also:
$250 VIP Ticket includes: Chefs Night Out event plus a pre-event reception from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. with top chefs, presentation of Angeleno’s Restaurant Awards, and tastings of SF International Wine and Spirits Competition’s “Best in Show” winners.

$150 Ticket includes: Chefs Night Out event from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Guests will be treated to culinary creations prepared by top L.A. chefs paired with award-winning wines and spirits.

Food, wine and doing something good for Children's Institute...what's not to like?

Around Town - Sunny Santa Monica

Another perfect Mother's Day

the sunny Santa Monica beach

totally LA casual in shorts and flip-flops

checking out the Los Angeles Barbecue festival

with the bairns

priceless

Mixing It Up For Mother's Day

Beladora.com Blue Topaz Briolette Earrings in 18K $995

Beladora.com Blue Topaz Briolette Bracelet in 18K $995

Beladora.com Pink Tourmaline and Blue Topaz Ring in 18K $695

So here we are...Mother's Day already. I've already given my bambinos a hint of what I would like and I'm trusting that they'll come through for me. Instead of doing the traditional Mother's Day brunch, this is how we're gonna roll....my son's idea obviously.

And if I didn't have music on my mind right now I would have suggested to the de Ville brood that they check out Beladora's Gifts Under $1000

for a little something shiny by Temple St Clair, David Yurman, Roberto Coin, Tiffany, C. Ellen, D. Grisogono, John Hardy, Rhonda Faber Green, Mikimoto, Greg Ruth, Zolatas, Cynthia Bach, Kisselstein-Cord, Laloaounis, Chaumet, Bvlgari or Cartier.

Around Town - Where To Take The Euro Boys

Your friends from the frosty northern German city of Hamburg stop in LA to see you on their way to skiing in Colorado and you are suffering from the worst cold you have had in 5 years. So where do you take them that is attractive and interesting enough to give them a flavor of LA and low key enough that you can survive in your sad snivelling condition.

The place to go is the Casa Del Mar Veranda in Santa Monica with its great view of the ocean and full of the stereotypical beautiful people. OK, so there isn't a great choice of non domestic beer, your friends are just going to have to settle with Bud Light, but they won't mind as view is so pretty, particularly the tall leggy blondes that keep walking by.

Then dinner, and the explanation of the fact that here in LA it's pretty much either sushi or Italian...so off to Sushi Roku. Crowded and crazy yes, but that's what Santa Monica is. I'm pretty sure that they had no idea of what was on the menu, or the difference between sushi and sashimi and when I ordered my usual salmon sashimi, they weren't too enthusiastic about sharing it.

A trip to LA isn't complete without a stroll around my hood, Beverly Hills. Yes the magical land of Prada and Zegna where the streets are always clean, the flowers are always in bloom and the Bentley's always roll.

No stop in Beverly Hills is complete without lunch at E Baldi. Italian food, of course on Canon Drive, which is like the Beverly Hills equivalent of a mall food court. From the Italians, Cafe Roma, Il Pastaio and Enoteca Drago, to Spago, Maestro and The Montage, there's a restaurant about every 20 feet up and down the street.

The best is E Baldi with their carpaccio of tuna and arugula salad, which let's face it, is as close as you can get to sashimi in Italian cuisine.

Then a quiet dinner at a local neighborhood haunt, The Brentwood. More like a private club for the Brentwood elite than anything else, the fare is great American food...but at a price. Roast chicken, pork chops, fish and chips, and some seriously good french fries and creamed spinach. It was a big hit with the Germans, who were looking for something to eat besides raw fish!

Next time it's going to be my trip to Hamburg, where a sunny 70 degree day is considered a heat wave. Oh well, whatever the weather, there will be plenty of beer and wienerschnitzel.

Around Town - The Santa Monica Scene

Last week, with the rush to vote on the Stimulus Bill (which not one Senator had actually read all the way through) I was asking myself are things really that bad that we need to create Federal Obligations that exceed the World's GDP? Are people at all concerned about 65.5 trillion in actual Federal Debt?

I decided to get out on the town with my peeps to see if there really is a recession because so far I haven't seen any signs of it in my hood.

The Huntley Hotel

So I started with my date at the Penthouse bar at the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica. It was early still, not too crowed and I liked the vibe. Modern decor I'd call "sexy beach" by Thomas Schoos accented with off white, low loungey tables on one side, banquettes against the picture windows on the other and a white bar in the middle.

More than the decor I liked the view...sparkling from Malibu to Palos Verdes along the coast and crystal clear to downtown LA.

The Penthouse Restaurant

Needing something a little healthier than cocktails, we decided to try the Penthouse Restaurant for dinner. Seated at a window table, it was the best view I had ever had at a restaurant in LA...absolutely stunning. My date was pretty stunning too so all around I had visual delight.

I wish that I could say that the food was delightful too....but it just OK. (You can skip the crab cakes and I don't even want to know what was in the amuse bouche...it was so not good)

In spite of the food, the restaurant was packed with shiny happy people. I definitely didn't discern any economic pessimism at the Huntley.

The Bodega Wine Bar

After dinner, still in the investigative mood, we decided to head over to the Botega Wine Bar. I hadn't tried it yet....although it had been highly recommended by both my in house council, Renee and by young Mr. de Ville. And while I did like it...it was a bit too crowded and loud and I just wasn't feeling it so off we went to The Wilshire.

Now typically I like the Wilshire....not so much for the bar but for the restaurant which is killer expensive but the food is great. I had thought that it might be a little quiet given the price point but I was wrong again. It was hopping like everything else in town...a little too hopping....so we went to Holly's Lounge next door.

Holly's West Lounge

Holly's was the perfect place to check out the mood of the younger generation because the average age was around 24. As we settled into a low sofa with our light beers in hand I definitely didn't get the feeling that anyone there was concerned about the Federal debt being so large that the government would be functionally bankrupt for the rest of their lives.

But then I remembered that this is Santa Moncia, the Westside, where the hedgefund and entertainment industry scions live and play....

where recessions never happen and all things are enchanted...

And I thought to myself....excellent.....a pool of future clients....