BUT FIRST (AND ALWAYS) COFFEE

Finding a good flat white used to be harder than finding a Chloe Susanna boot on sale, but fear no more with a game changing cup of coffee from these artisanal coffee houses.
These places are GOOD and worth finding:
Alfred Coffee – my local on this trip, I ordered my Gibraltar next to Will Ferrell. Great coffee + celebrity sighting = SCORE. 8428 Melrose Place, West Hollywood.
Intelligentsia Coffee – A must stop on Abbott Kinney Blvd, Venice. Also in Silverlake.
Caffe Luxxe – They know what they are doing at both outposts, 925 Montana Ave, Santa Monica and Brentwood Country Mart 225 26th Street.
PCPLA – Great coffee so no surprise the guys behind it are from Sydney 456 N Fairfax Ave.
Menotti’s Coffee Stop – Hipster central, 56 Windward Ave Venice.
Blue Bottle Coffee – 830 North Fairfax plus other outposts

LUNCH BRUNCH AND DINNER
The Farm Shop, Brentwood Country Mart. Gorgeous dining space in the produce store.
Squrl – Get there VERY early for breakfast, its tiny and the line goes around the corner. 720 N Virgil Ave.
Gracias Madre –Vegan and Mexican who knew they went together? But they sure do here, the food is so delicious and good for you so it’s a win win all round. 8905 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood
Joan’s on Third – a great day time eating destination. 8350 W 3rd St.
Fred’s at Barney’s New York – an oldie but a goodie for both the salad and the people watching on the terrace. 9570 Wilshire Ave Beverly Hills
The Ivy on Robertson –A classic where you are likely to see a famous face over your chopped salad. 113 N Robertson Blvd West Hollywood
Gjusta Bakery – The daytime offshoot of the famed Gjelina. 320 Sunset Ave, Venice.
EP&LP – Melbourne DJ Grant Smilie continues to slay them with his Asian fusion dining hall and roof top bar that boasts the greatest West Hollywood view. This place is FUN FUN. 603 N La Cienega Blvd West Hollywood.
AOC – Farm to table eating in a gorgeous walled courtyard. West 3rd St West Hollywood.
Gjelina – Inventive and delicious food focusing on seasonal produce. Worth the wait for a table. 1429 Abbott Kinney Venice
Barbette – SoCal seasonal produce meets traditional French cuisine at Barbette, delivering a fresh take on French Bistro dining that feels inventive and new. 7511 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood
The Tower Bar, Sunset Hotel – Old school Hollywood glamour, go for a drinks and dinner in the bar or lunch by the pool, guaranteed a Hollywood heavyweight is talking shop next to you. 8358 Sunset Blvd West Hollywood.
Café Stella – Yes another French inspired all day bistro, but when they are this good – it’s all good. With an interesting take on the French classics, find time to get here. 3932 Sunset Blvd Silverlake
Chateau Marmont – Legendary for a reason, it’s a scene and so much fun to watch. 8221 Sunset Blvd West Hollywood.
Jon & Vinny’s – The hardest pizza table to secure in town. With two outposts (the original at 412 N Fairfax Ave and newly opened 11938 San Vicente Blvd Brentwood) it’s authentic pizza and pasta served up with THE most awesome tunes – no surprise its packed to the rafters day and night, seven days a week. Book well in advance on resy.com

AFTER DARK DRINKS
The Nice Guy, 401 N La Cienega West Hollywood
Bar Marmont, Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood
The Rose, 220 Rose Ave Venice
Sunset Tower Hotel Bar 8358 Sunset Blvd West Hollywood

RETAIL THERAPY
So much retail ground to cover, I have grouped my faves by neighborhood:

MELROSE PLACE, WEST HOLLYWOOD
A fab strip with amazing stores, first stop being the Isabel Marant store with its lush front garden. You will also find Chloe, The Line Apartment, Frame Denim, Equipment, Violet Grey, L’Agence, The Row and Zimmermann. Sydney skin magician Melanie Grant has opened up shop there as has Golden Goose and Veronica Beard. You’ll cover a tonne of bases in this one strip. Head around the corner to Melrose Ave to hit homeware stores including the super luxe Kelly Wearstler showroom. Interior Inspo heaven.

THE GROVE
This outdoor mall is like Disneyland for grown-ups with an outpost of Barney’s, J Crew, Zara, Topshop, Nordstrom department store, Nike and Madewell. Head to the adjacent original LA Farmers Market when you get hungry. Wander further down W 3rd to Anine Bing’s flagship LA store, you won’t leave emptyhanded

BEVERLY HILLS
Robertson Blvd for Intermix; Wilshire Blvd for Barney’s, Saks and Neiman Marcus; Rodeo Drive for the usual luxury brand line up including Saint Laurent, Celine, Ralph Lauren and Tom Ford. The Beverly Centre has all the big names plus Uniqlo, H&M and Bloomingdales and has just finished an extensive renovation so lots of upscale eating options here now too.

ABBOTT KINNEY, VENICE
Home to two of my favourite multi label boutiques, Heist and Steven Allen in addition to a bunch of interesting local designers and stores.

BRENTWOOD COUNTRY MART
A super cute mix of fashion and food in a country market setting. Dedicate half a day to explore Space NK, Intermix, Diesel books, Christian Louboutin, Pippa Small and Sugar Paper stationary. Helmet Langand Theory are just across the car park also.

TO STAY – So many options, but here’s a good round up in good locations:
Sunset Tower Hotel –Old world Hollywood glamour everywhere you turn, the custom gold wallpaper in the bathrooms is reason enough to check in, let alone the sweeping views back over LA. If only these walls could talk. 8358 Sunset Boulevard Hollywood.
The London, 1020 N San Vicente, West Hollywood
The Standard Hollywood, 8300 Sunset Blvd
The Standard Downtown, 550 S Flower Street
SLS Beverly Hills, 465 La Cienega Blvd
The Palihouse Holloway, 8465 Holloway Drive, West Hollywood
SIXTY Beverly Hills, 9360 Wilshire Blvd
The Line Hotel Koreatown, 3515 Wilshire Blvd
The Montage – Beverly Hills haven in the centre of all the action, small and super luxe you’ll recognize it from the Entourage movie plus others. 225 N Canon Drive Beverly Hills
Viceroy L’Herimtage Beverly Hills – This property wins for its generous sized rooms (hard to get in LA) and fab position that sits at the Hollywood end of Beverly Hills.

HEAD TO THE BEACH & UP THE COAST
Santa Monica is really an extended suburb of LA and a great option if you want a beach vacay whilst still being in the thick of it.
STAY
The Palihouse – Very cool converted old Spanish Mansion, it’s great for a longer stay. 1001 3rd Street Santa Monica
The Viceroy – shiny and scene-y. 1819 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica.
The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows – big name hotel with all the trimmings. 101 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica.
SHOP
Third Avenue Promenade – has all the retail you will find elsewhere
Abbott Kinney Blvd – in the neighbouring suburb of Venice
Montana Blvd – great local stores and eating options including one of my faves Blue Plate.
DO
Grab a bike and ride along the beach front promenade from Santa Monica down to Venice beach.
Head north up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu for the quintessential Californian driving experience. Great shopping and eating to be done at the Malibu Country Mart and Malibu Farm Shop.

WHERE TO STAY

Greenwich Village was home for my stay this time, and I loved strolling the streets pretending I was a local, getting ready to bump into Julianne Moore or SJP on my way to a coffee.

Greenwich Village/West Village

The Walker Hotel
The Marlton Hotel
Nomad

Meatpacking

The Gaanesvort

Mid-Town

The Warwick
St Regis
Four Seasons
The Hilton

Upper West Side

The Beacon

SO MUCH STUFF TO DO…. WHEN YOU’RE NOT EATING OR SHOPPING

Some highlights to squeeze into your itinerary….

Walking the HI Line – first thing to do every visit as you get the best perspective of the city from up high. Recently extended, the re-purposing of the old railway line and establishment of a green public space is the ultimate oasis amongst the chaos of the city.

Wander around the meatpacking district, the Whitney Museum has relocated there and there are amazing stores and shops around that area, notably Jeffrey and Intermix. The Meatpacking district still has operational butchers and meat workers located there, amongst the high end boutiques and hotels. Its’ fab to see the two sitting side by side, trucks with their carcass’s hanging out the back.

Brooklyn – a parallel city you will need days for to scour the fabulous that exists in the different neighbourhoods of Williamsburg, Dumbo (what a view from the new Soho House Dumbo), Bushwik, Greenpoint and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Chelsea Market – great food and coffee options, you will walk past this on your way from Meatpacking down to Soho.

Tribeca – just walk and walk

Nolita – North of Little Italy – same thing, walk and walk all the streets. Great boutiques and Café Gitane is located here. 11 Howard hotel is near here too.

Try and see a basketball game at Maddison Square Garden, buy tickets from stubhub.com. An authorized re seller.

Harlem – so many great things going on up there, I would honestly do a red bus tour up there and have a guide run me through the history and points of reference. Haven’t done it, but it’s on my list.

MUSEUM MILE – You could dedicate your entire visit to museums and galleries and you still wouldn’t cover it all off…. start with these: