90028 Travel Guide
Restaurants
New LA Restaurant: SHIN
October 17, 2008 at 12:00 PM | 0 Comments
Actors used to have to win awards to qualify as A-list celebrities, but nowadays you really haven't made it until you open a restaurant.
Gerard Butler of "300" is the latest to join the actor/restaurateur crowd: His Korean BBQ joint SHIN opened in Hollywood earlier this week.
Butler, who was spotted making out with reality star Shanna Moakler at the restaurant opening, has a bevy of celeb-investor friends on board, including music producer Mark Ronson, Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas and DJ Steve Aoki.
Oh yeah, and the food. The traditional Seoul-style dishes--thick sliced pork belly, bone-out marinated beef ribs and BBQ tiger shrimp have us interested in more than just star factor.
Related Stories:
· SHIN [Official Site]
· Gerard Butler & Shanna Moakler = New Couple? [Just Jared]
· Celebrity Restaurants coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: SHIN]
Celeb Travel
Concert Travel: Hollywood Palladium Turns Up The Volume
August 27, 2008 at 8:45 AM | 0 Comments
L.A. concertgoers, rejoice! The Hollywood Palladium, once host to both the Rat Pack and the Grammy Awards, will reopen this fall with a gala concert by the 2008 equivalent of Frank Sinatra, Jay-Z.
The Palladium has been closed for repairs since being purchased by Live Nation in April 2007. Martin Luther King Jr. once spoke at the Palladium despite a bomb threat and artists from The Rolling Stones to the Red Hot Chili Peppers have performed there. But for us, it'll always be known as the backdrop to this scene from "Almost Famous" starring Kate Hudson:
Tickets for the Jay-Z show go on sale September 5.
Related Stories:
· 2007: Live Nation Inks Palladium Deal [Billboard.com]
· Jay-Z To Open Renovated Hollywood Palladium [Billboard]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of Jay-Z performing at Glastonbury 2008: dannynorth]
Celeb Travel
Brit Goes Paris-Free, If Only For a Night
November 30, 2006 at 12:52 PM | 0 Comments
Mother-of-two Britney Spears made an appearance at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood last night, as reported by TMZ. Her new BFF Paris Hilton was nowhere to be seen. Britney was instead spotted hanging out with oil heir/oil head Brandon Davis.
The Roosevelt is popular among celebs who need a good base for their drunken tirades. Lindsay Lohan has been videotaped outside the hotel calling Paris Hilton a "cunt," but the two are now back to being buddies. A full-on power trio including Britney seems imminent, though if Brit really is buddies with Brandon, it could put Lindsay off.
Brit's more likely to check into the Beverly Hills Hotel than the Roosevelt for an overnight stay, but the latter is her party destination of choice. It's also rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, whose shadow can reportedly be seen in a mirror next to one of the hotel's elevators. Ghosts or no ghosts, we think the recent string of exposing Britney pictures (Google it, that's as far as we're going) is infinitely more haunting...and gross.
Update:
Ok, y'all are coming here for the Britney kitty photos. We tried to protect you, but you won't take no for an answer, so here you go. Don't blame us when you need therapy.
[Photo: The Bosh]
Related Stories:
· Britney Gets "Greasy" [TMZ]
· Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]
Attractions
The Magic Castle
October 23, 2006 at 4:43 PM | 0 Comments
The Magic Castle in Hollywood is a very apropro attraction for the Halloween season. Home to The Academy of Magical Arts, Inc. and a sort of golf club for professional magicians (minus of course, the golf club), the Magic Castle looks like a haunted house both inside and out. A mansion built in 1908, the "castle" went through many incarnations, first as a multi-family home, then an elderly care home and a small maze of apartments before TV writer Milt Larsen turned it into a private club for magicians in 1963.
Today, the decor is dark, freaky and a bit gothic. But don't be too scared. There's all sort of hokey haunted tricks going on from a piano that mysteriously plays any song on request (we asked for "Oops I Did It Again" and we got that) to a chirping ghost bird to paintings that move to real-live magicians hanging around to do card tricks.
The castle however does feature live performances in proper theaters with stages, pretty assistants and oddball names like the Parlour of Prestidigation and the Palace of Mystery.
You can also dine there as the restaurant serves dinner each night and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, along with several bars.
However unlike most Haunted Houses, the Magic Castle is a members-only place. So you need to know someone to get in and when you do, you must abide by the castle's dress code which state coat and tie are required for men (no denim, no zippered jackets, sweatshirts or sneakers) and women should be in a cocktail dress , skirt or matching pantsuit.
This may sound stuffy but in a town where people still wear Uggs with jean skirts and Ryan Seacrest t-shirts, it's quite refreshing.
Insider Tip: If you go this weekend, that is if your Magic Castle connection lets you go this weekend, costumes are strongly encouraged.
[Photo: Comic Mummy]
Celeb Travel
Christina Aguilera at Les Deux
August 18, 2006 at 6:25 AM | 0 Comments
Does Christina Aguilera ever get starstruck? Well, if she does, the perfect place for her to ogle the celebrities would be Les Deux, consistently one of Hollywood's most exclusive clubs. It started as a restaurant but underwent a makeover when sit-down restaurants lost cachet in favor of lounge areas that happen to serve food.
Les Deux offers high-concept dishes like cupcake towers (for a mere $40), and offering unique, quirky edibles is a hallmark of elite Hollywood spaces. Also worth noting is that Christina's elegant getup is by no means required right now in even the fanciest L.A. restaurant - how funny that she's become such a lady at a time when Lindsay Lohan et al run around in oversize sweatshirts and leggings.
Related:
Clubs
Wilmer Valderrama's Twin Tween Paramours at the Cabana Club
July 14, 2006 at 10:25 AM | 0 Comments
The Cabana Club in Hollywood is one of those infuriating "hotspots" that have managed to build a certain cachet without actually being all that awesome. While it's true that you'll catch a celebrity or two, it'll be of the Wilmer Valderrama variety--and you'll be fighting for his attention with 12-year-olds, no less.
Part of what makes Cabana Club desirable, it seems, is the massive amount of work it takes just to get there; there's absolutely no parking, so you'll have to wait and pay for valet. As with most places in Hollywood, that difficulty is the key to "in" status. One last rant about the place: there's a pool meandering through the room, and yet guests are not invited to take a dip to try to cool off after a night of dancing. Next time we're there, we hope to see this ridiculous rule broken.
Clubs
Basque in Hollywood
July 13, 2006 at 10:05 AM | 0 Comments
If a celebrity has their birthday party at a certain nightclub, it can count on an endless stream of customers for at least two years--nearly the entire lifespan of many clubs. Basque , in Hollywood, was the lucky host to Lindsay Lohan's birthday party last year, and the crowds haven't let up since.
It's perfectly central to the Hollywood nightlife scene, but the club isn't resting on its location laurels alone. They're serious about the Spanish theme, with mosaic tiles and dark wood everywhere you look, except behind the bar, where barely-clothed women doing burlesque routines add a little spice to the place. Who needs flair bartending when you've got jiggling ladies?
Celebs
Paris and Paris rumble at the Roosevelt
November 16, 2005 at 6:11 PM | 0 Comments
Pity Paris Latsis. Not only did he have to endure the most public of breakups, but he then had to witness his ex-fiancé cavorting about with another, even richer, Greek shipping heir, Stavros Niarchos III. What's a poor little rich boy to do? If you're a celebrity in H-town, the answer is to head off to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for a night of boozin' and rubbernecking. Paris L. (nicknamed Boy Paris, according to E! Online's Ted Casablanca) did precisely that, only to run into the one woman he'd been trying to avoid, Miss Paris Hilton herself.
"It was terrible," fessed his friend. "Paris was there. They had a terrible confrontation. We don't know why it wasn't in the gossips."Well, hon, it is now! And P.L. even hit the Roosevelt soon after to celebrate an out-of-town friend's birthday. Way to stand yer turf, bro!
This makes multiple times in the past couple of months that the Roosevelt has resembled something out of West Side Story, yet we are fairly sure paying guests still can't get an ounce of service at the place.
Related Stories
· Hotel Roosevelt Coverage [HotelChatter]
· Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
· The Awful Truth: Post-Hate [E! Online]
