Elizabeth Taylor's jewels, clothes, and art are crisscrossing the globe leading up to their auction at Christie's in December
One of our on the ground London contacts returned from The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor exhibition with the following report: "That woman owned some serious bling."]]>
If you've never been to LAX, it's tough to convey to you the precise degree to which the food options spectacularly blow. This Chowhound thread, where a discussion of tolerable LAX restaurants turns into a debate over whether you should flee the airport by rental car or taxi, should help you get started ("the quality of the food at LAX is criminal... LAX ranks among the worst" airports). Heathrow has a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. LAX has four McDonalds's, three Burger Kings, and two of those Home Turf Sports Bars where you can double your vodka for only $2. Not a bad deal, but still.
Now a coalition of Los Angeles restaurant owners and civic leaders is gearing up to change all that. A meeting in downtown last week brought together fourteen of the city's most respected and successful eatery owners, the intention being to turn LAX's food options upside down. From high-end steaks to niche Latin options to sushi that's safe to eat even before a 6 hour flight, the hope of the SSP group is to totally transform the airport's reputation, and to do it with a Los Angeles flair. All of the new eateries will in some way be tied to established local institutions like Nick & Stef's Steakhouse or the Border Grill.]]>
[Photo: Steve Jurvetson / Wiki Commons]
Downtown Los Angeles has been languishing in a perennial state of about-to-be-revived for decades, but in recent years it looks like it might actually be happening. There's always been a vicious cycle: to get people to move in you need businesses, and to get businesses to move in you need people. Finally someone made the decision to just start building shops and restaurants by brute force, hoping that people would subsequently follow. To take only the still-opening but impressively huge LA Live "entertainment campus," you've got Club Nokia, the Staples Center, the new Ritz-Carlton hotel, a Regal Cinemas, and a dozen restaurants including an ESPN Zone, a Yard House, and a Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill.
So while it's impossible to exhaust even a tiny bit of what there is to see and do nowadays, there are some definite highlights—and a few niche locations—where visitors can eat and drink and shop and see.]]>
Los Angeles' reigning auteur of "weird," director David Lynch, doesn't limit his mode of creative expression to the screen. Though better known for helming films such as Mulholland Drive and hawking the benefits of transcendental meditation on college campuses, the fabulously-coiffed Lynch actually began his career as an artist. In 2007, a major retrospective of Lynch's multimedia art was featured at Paris' Fondation Cartier, and earlier this year, a selection of his photographs were on display at L.A.'s Michael Kohn Gallery.
We deemed the latter exhibition, a visual offshoot of the Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse album Dark Night of the Soul, a mediocre representation of Lynch's creative bounds. We've yet to see his paintings in person, but as dedicated Lynch-o-philes we'll be rushing off to see his first L.A. painting show in a decade at Santa Monica's Griffin Gallery. ]]>
In this installment of Off Rodeo Drive, we're calling attention to a Los Angeles shopping destination that some would say looks like a shadow of its former self. Driving down West Third Street just past The Grove, you'll notice many more empty, stripped-down storefronts than there were just a year ago. Contemporary favorites like Built By Wendy and Pixie Market—both New York transplants—have shut down, along with a beloved cookbook store whose departure locals mourned.
Yet, West Third Street remains one of our very favorite places to shop in the city. Stores that have stuck around have earned their loyal clientele, customers which include oft-photographed celebrities ducking into Joan's On Third or Toast for a post-shopping lunch. So, without further ado, here are five stores to hit in the area for a quality retail fix—after the jump. ]]>
Few people saw Ellen DeGeneres' second-coming as an entertainer when her talk show launched in 2003. Now, though, she's adored by many for her signature dance, relaxed interviewing style, and ability to deliver a killer commencement speech, making tickets to Ellen seemingly impossible to come by. The best you can do is try your luck via the booking process, which we're going to walk you through step-by-step. Demand for certain days and times, and your degree of luck, will ultimately determine whether you'll sit in as an audience member.
First, you'll have to consult the online calendar to see if there are open dates in the near future. Already this is problematic. We tried scrolling across dates in December and January and weren't allowed to click on any, which tells us that they're either not open for request yet, or they're full. ]]>
Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is one of the world's most trafficked shopping streets, with the allure of Chanel, Dior, Vuitton, and other luxury retailers attracting shoppers with padded wallets or those just wanting a taste of over-the-top glamour. The first time you do Rodeo, it's all good fun, but the novelty quickly wears off after you realize a few things: a) there are way too many picture-happy tourists milling around, b) its clientele and shopkeepers sometimes live up to the snobbery seen in Pretty Woman, and c) dropping $3,000 on the latest "It" bag may not be feasible.
But you've come to Los Angeles to shop, and shop you will with our guide to what's off Rodeo Drive. There is no shortage of consumer fodder in the city, from West Third Street to Silverlake, and we'll introduce you to what these different neighborhoods have to offer, starting with a nondescript street just east of West Hollywood: Larchmont Boulevard. ]]>
