WORK • Thursday Routine
ESTEE STANLEY • owner • Gone Bananas Bread
Neighborhood you work in: Brentwood
Neighborhood you live in: Hancock Park
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
A Thursday morning at the shop usually involves baking, organizing the store, interacting with customers and thinking of new ways to get the word out on Gone Bananas Bread.
What’s on the agenda for today?
We’re doing a collaboration with Melinda Spigel of Melinda Maria Jewelry. We’ve launched a raspberry blueberry banana bread with lemon cream cheese frosting. It’s now available!
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Most weekends I end up at Carmel on Melrose, my neighborhood Cheers. I love the atmosphere! The smoked eggplant and feta brulée is to die for. They also just started doing brunch, so that will definitely become part of my weekend routine. Right now, Leora in Beverly Hills is my favorite brunch/lunch spot. Their shakshuka is my favorite thing to eat there, but everything is divine.
Any weekend getaways?
Seattle is one of my favorite weekend getaways. I usually stay at my friend’s place which is tucked away in the woods and right on the water. On special occasions, I love to dine at Canlis. It’s a really beautiful place. I always visit Pike Place Market, too. It has some of the best spicy noodles I’ve ever eaten (there’s no specific place, they’re all good).
What was your last great vacation?
Costa Palmas. Unlike a lot of other areas in Cabo, in Costa Palmas you can go in the ocean. It’s very relaxed and peaceful. My favorite chef, Ludo, has a restaurant there called Del Fin, which I highly recommend. I also recently stayed at The Manner hotel in New York City which was really cute. The rooms are beautifully designed and the hotel has a great rooftop with amazing views of the city.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I just got a Rivian and I’m obsessed. It’s forest green, a color I’ve always wanted. It’s huge and probably a bigger car than I should be driving (I may have crashed the back already), but I have a Great Dane and she fits fabulously. It reminds me of the original trucks, like a Cherokee, and it’s not an insanely expensive car, like other electric SUVs.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Dries Van Noten is my favorite designer from Belgium. I used to shop his pieces in Barney’s, which has since closed, but thankfully, he opened a store in West Hollywood a few years ago. The store is even better than the website because they have such a range of pieces that you can’t find online or in any of the department stores. There’s also an archival room which has his archived samples and pieces for sale, which are nearly impossible to get anywhere else. I recently bought a pair of nylon sling-back flats with chrome crystal detailing that I wear almost daily since they make any outfit pop.
Where are you donating your time or money?
I’m on the gala committee for A Sense of Home. They help people who are homeless or in foster care find furnished housing. The owner, Georgie, knows all her clients, and the charity has such a warm, caring vibe. I donate to PETA and other animal charities and I’d like to expand on that. If someone wanted to give me a 100-acre animal sanctuary to run, I’m ready for it!