La Road Trip
This past weekend I took a last-minute, spur of the moment LA road trip. Our house is under construction and there is a layer of dust literally everywhere, so when a friend emailed and invited me to a holiday brunch I immediately said yes, I would be there. I was joined by a friend and the two of us hit the road for a road trip filled with eating, drinking and sightseeing. It was a whirlwind 36 hours but so much fun.
So first off, we did a lot of eating. That is what road trips are for right? At least in my book they are. When we arrived in LA we checked into our AirBnB in Downtown LA. I wouldn't normally stay in downtown LA or DTLA as they call it, but all the great new food spots seem to be down there. So since it was a road trip heavily revolving around new restaurants, we stayed close to the food. (Side not our AirBnB was great - definitely recommend it - it was in a huge high-rise with all sorts of amenities like a pool and beautiful rooftop deck)
When we got into LA on Friday night we had a late, late dinner at Bottega Louis . I wasn't blown away by the food but the space is huge, white and beautiful.
Go for the pastries but pass on dinner. (in my opinion).
Saturday morning we woke up and went to Commissary for breakfast. The space is spectacular. It looks like a greenhouse, complete with hanging plants and all. The food was delicious - we ordered the breakfast burrito and they put the hash browns in the burrito. Genius! Along with one of the best cappuccino I have ever had. It is the little things right? Especially early in the morning. The restaurant is in the Line Hotel in Koreatown , we didn't stay long but the spaced looked neat. Definitely in a part of LA I had never seen before.
In between eating we saw some sights, saw some family and hit up the Remodelista LA Market which was full amazing small artisanal home designers.
For a late lunch we ate at Grand Central Market. Grand Central Market has been a downtown LA food staple since 1917 but recently got a little face lift with the arrival of some new vendors. The space is a mix of the old and new - with some delicious new food ideas and the mainstays mixed in. This was one of my favorite spots because the old and the new blended perfectly.
We had cocktails on the rooftop of the Ace Hotel. The drinks were delicious and the company even better, I got to meet up with a friend I hadn't seen in at least 8 years. So crazy. Definitely recommend the Ace (get the Lefty Lucy tequila cocktail) just get there early so you can grab a seat.
After a couple cocktails we decided that we would press our luck and try to get a table at Bestia. I had never heard about Bestia before, but it seems like it is the hippest/coolest/trendiest restaurant in LA. Even though it is in a really bad neighborhood. Our cab drivers(both to and from the restaurant) asked us where the hell we were going (literally). Well, right in the middle of downtown LA's Skid Row, is a trendy restaurant. So trendy and busy that it took us 2 hours to get seated. Yes, 2 hours. Thankfully I had a couple cocktails to make that a little better but it was still brutal. Was it worth it? Maybe..maybe. The food was delicious but the attitude of the patrons was the worst. Plus is it ever worth it to wait 2 hours for a seat at a restaurant? I am not sure. I know I sound old, when I lived in New York that was an average Saturday night.
On Sunday we woke up and went to my friends brunch in Venice/Marina Del Rey. It was actually a blogger brunch so I got to catch up with lots of other bloggers (or basically my internet friends). After a quick pit stop in Santa Monica to see another old friend we hit the road. All in all it was the fastest most packed weekend I have ever had but it was amazing. So amazing that I kind of want to do it all over again soon.
