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Best Venice Beach restaurants, La Copine, Hollywood Hills real estate, Sparrows Lodge, Okaeri Calistoga, MORE
WORK • Thursday Routine
Crystal clear
CLAIRE WADSWORTH & NIKKI HILL • owner & GM / owner & chef • La Copine
Town you work in: Flamingo Heights, Yucca Valley
Town you live in: Landers, CA
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
It’s the beginning of our work week at the restaurant. We’re prepping, setting up the dining room and patios, getting ready for service. Deliveries are coming in that have to be put away, and it’s always a crunch getting ready in time for our family meal break at 1030a. Doors open at 11a. Later, we’ll be hyper-focused on our upcoming cookbook release for La Copine: New California Cooking from an Oasis in the Desert (out now! -ed.). We have meetings with the publisher, PR team, and restaurant collaborators.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
We’re going to Birba in Palm Springs to get down on some wood-fired pizza and housemade pasta. We heard Michelle Obama ate there with her daughters once, and tbh, got a little jealous that they haven’t been to La Copine yet! Here’s hoping.
How about a little leisure or culture?
We love dogs, crystals (Spellbound Sky in Palm Springs), oracle readings, music and film, Good Hang (the podcast), dinner parties, and hiking. Looking out our kitchen window, we have a view of Goat Mountain, which has the most incredible 360-degree (unobstructed) view at the top of the high desert. The only times we really leave the desert are for concerts. The last show we went to was Patti Smith at Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, and before that we saw Erykah Badu in Las Vegas and Cyndi Lauper in Palm Desert.
Any weekend getaways?
We just went to Palm Springs for the film festival and stayed at Sparrows Lodge, which is divine. Next week, we’re heading to Las Vegas for the Lunar New Year and to see the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere! We love to go places by car, so we can bring our dog. We can get to Big Bear in an hour, door-to-door, so we go there often and stay at Sessions Retreat or The Burgundy. Jacumba Hot Springs is pure magic: don’t even look it up, just go. A little further than that would be Valle de Guadalupe for Mexico’s buzzing wine country, and a visit to Conchas de Pierre for a memorable meal (oysters and sparkling).
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
Massages. Get one every time you’re on vacation. Also, oracle readings — support your local witches. And to our customers, we can’t recommend a trip to Joshua Tree without also recommending a visit to the Integratron and Noah Purifoy Outdoor Art Museum.
Where are you donating your time or money?
ACLU, Flamingo Heights Community Center, Joshua Tree Institute of Mentalphysics, Mojave Desert Land Trust, and we’re currently participating in the ‘Love Your Park’ fundraiser for Joshua Tree National Park Association.
GETAWAYS • FOUNDLISTING
The Storybook Coast
Where the detour becomes the destination
Follow Highway 1 north from Los Angeles, as the coastline shifts to rugged cliffs and long stretches of open ocean, before arriving at Carmel-by-the-Sea. The weekend destination is reminiscent of a slower, more timeless California. Few places in the world compare to Carmel — the quaint town favors whimsical cottages and secret passageways that encourage wandering more than overplanning. Originally an artist colony, Carmel has managed to maintain an endearing charisma and picturesque allure. Days unfold here between the white-sand Carmel Beach, locally sourced dining, and hidden courtyards lined with independently owned galleries and shops. It feels refreshingly analog, the kind of place that rewards lingering a little longer.
→ Book a trip: Carmel-by-the-Sea [spon]
LA RESTAURANT LINKS: Food mashups are having a moment in LA • Ignore that recent garage sale, Cafe Stella back open in Silver Lake • West Adams’ Alta Adams officially coming back • Ballyhooed deli Ggiata opens in Echo Park • Top pie-veyors Fat + Flour closing Grand Central Market location this Sunday • How does Traxx, the bar inside Downtown’s Union Station, make money? • Are LA restaurants too loud?
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Restaurants, Venice Beach
Our 9 favorites in the neighborhood. See also: Larchmont Village, West Adams, Echo Park, Chinatown. Paid subscribers access the complete Nines archive.
Dudley Market (Dudley Ave), vinyl records, killer wine list, raw bar, fresh-catches w/ crowd that always spills out into street, reserve