California Week: Hotel Oceana

Our favorite new tradition (this is our second year) is to take off on a vacation on the last day of school. Last year we drove through Rhode Island and Maine, and this year we did a California road trip. We started in Los Angeles, and on this trip, we stayed on the west side at the Hotel Oceana, which is in Santa Monica, just outside of the mayhem of the 3rd Street Promenade, in a more residential neighborhood, although the Pacific Ocean is just across the road. I can't say enough good things about the property. At check-in, you're offered a glass of prosecco or water--such a thoughtful touch. All of the rooms surround the lovely pool, and the rooms are really spacious. When we got to the room, they had a beautiful fruit bowl for us, with the best tasting fruit we have ever had. Seriously. The note from the hotel management said they had picked it out from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market that morning...sweet!

Breakfast, which is included, is fantastic. It's a European style buffet breakfast, with options like smoked salmon, meats and cheeses, granola, muesli, and then scrambled eggs, some of the best sausages we've had, and then a juice of the day. (They aim for organic and local ingredients.) Sitting outside next to the pool eating breakfast..doesn't get much better than that.

Around LAX

We have one apparently inviolable rule for whenever we land at LAX, and that is that we get into the rental car, and immediately head to the In-N-Out Burger on Sepulveda, which is about 3 minutes away. I say inviolable because no matter how much I try to convince my family that we should try something else out, like say, Gjelina, or Huckleberry, since my husband hasn't been to either, and we weren't going to stay in LA, but head straight up the coast to Santa Barbara...well, I didn't win.  And once I got there, eating the perfect "protein set-up, animal style" burger (it's a gluten-free dream!), I don't know why I was lobbying so hard to change tradition.

On our way back to LAX, I did get my way though. We made sure we had an hour extra to kill before needing to get to the afternoon flight, and we stopped at Gjelina. It's a restaurant that is always packed, annoyingly so. There's always a crowd out front, and it's impossible to get in unless you have time to wait, or foresight to book ahead. But now that there's a Gjelina Take Away next door, you can get a little bit of the vibe and flavor. It isn't cheap—I think lunch for three, plus some meatballs for the plane, came to about $60, but it was certainly cheaper than sitting in the restaurant. From there, it's a straight shot up Lincoln to the airport, and easy to fill up on gas on the way.

LA Places to Stay

Our friend Becky was looking for some ideas on where to stay when it's her son's spring break, and I realized I don't have enough LA hotel info up on the blog. Here are some of my suggestions: If you're going to LA for vacation, especially with a child, stay near the beach. My personal favorite hotel that we always stay at is the Sunset Tower in Hollywood, but when we go, we are not on vacation. We are trying to squeeze in visits with our friends, all who live and work all over the city, and we want to be in a central location. We also like that it has a bar and a restaurant that our friends are happy to come to, so we don't even need to get in a car to go meet them. But that's a very isolated situation, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for most families on a vacation. Here is what I would do--stay at any nice property in Santa Monica or Venice, so that you're close to the beach, the Santa Monica Pier, and Abbot Kinney, which has some of my favorite places to eat.

Venice Beach Eco-Cottages: These are one bedroom cottages, have a 3 night minimum, and the prices range from $215-250 per night. You could shop at the farmer's market and cook dinner at home, (or at least breakfast!) and there's a washer-dryer. (We haven't stayed here--I have just heard good things about it.)

Everyone talks about Shutters, but it's very expensive, and often unavailable. I also figure, if you're going to LA because you want to go to Universal Studios, the La Brea Tar Pits, the Getty, and then to squeeze in a trip down to Disneyland or Legoland, how much time are you really spending in your hotel room anyway? I'm putting in this Loew's Santa Monica, because the downside of the Venice Beach Eco-Cottages is no pool! Loew's isn't cheap, but I bet that since it's a bigger hotel property, you could probably use some kind of mileage program to get a free night. (We have not stayed here.)

Hotel Oceana Santa Monica: We stayed here when Clara was a baby, and I can tell it's been updated nicely since we were there. I loved the location, and the pool in the courtyard. Our really good friends have stayed here many times and love how relaxed and homey the vibe is.

The Viceroy: We stayed here probably several years ago, so I don't have the most current review...but we did really like it. The location was great--there's a great breakfast restaurant right across the street. And it's just up the street from the beach. And a walk away from the Pier.

Our favorite places to eat:
On Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach:Gjellina (for lunch, or very early dinner--it's a mad house at regular dinner hours), Shima, Axe
In Santa Monica: Huckleberry Cafe, Tavern

LA Drive-by

Over Easter weekend, we were in Santa Barbara for a dear friend's birthday, and for a photo shoot (for my new job at Martha Stewart Living). But on our way from LAX to Santa Barbara, we had to see our cousins, if only for a very fast lunch, at one of our favorite places, Huckleberry Cafe. I love this place--it has the perfect farmers market fresh food, simply prepared...just perfect. Clara had the world's best turkey meatballs, and I had a BLT-A, which is just a BLT with avocado. Everyone from California would know what that is, because practically every place makes them, just like everyone out there makes great breakfast burritos, but you'd be hard-pressed to find that here.  One thing to know--they want you to order before you take a seat at Huckleberry, which is a drag if you are with a lot of kids, and you don't want to commit to eating there if there isn't a table. It wasn't a problem for us, but I could see this could have been one if I was with several friends and their kids, and we needed a table for 8. I would say Huckleberry, Tavern, Gjelina, and Shima, are my favorite westside spots (. Now I just have to get to LA for more than 5 minutes.

That is probably the best donut we've ever tasted.

We didn't get one of these, but we sure wanted to.

Mouth of Clara: Favorite #4

(We're away for two weeks, so everyday while we're gone you'll get to read Clara's answers to the question "What's your favorite place you've ever been", in her order of preference.)

SUNSET TOWER HOTEL IN LA (THE PEOPLE THAT WORK THERE ARE SO NICE, THE FOOD IS GOOD, AND I LOVE THE POOL)

(photo: Matthew Hranek)

More on LA

My husband is going to Nashville next week, and I just saw on his computer screen that he was reading a post that GOOP did on Nashville. I sometimes forget to look at GOOP, but when I do, I'm always interested in everything she writes about. So I scrolled down, and saw she had done a big post on where to eat in LA, and I think it's a good one to know about, because the selections are great.  There's everything from the best Korean taco truck, to old school Italian place in Bev Hills, to the great organic sushi place on Abbot Kinney, Shima.  I'm going to go get out my Moleskin LA notebook right now, and write down every one of her suggestions.

Farmers Market LA

I'm not talking about 'a' farmers market....I'm talking about the Original Farmers Market...the one that's been around since 1934, and is completely caught in time, provided you cover your eyes when you pass the outdoor mall (The Grove) that's right next to it.  I love this place.  I hadn't been in a while, but I brought Clara here on our trip a couple of weeks ago, and I could just go there for the signage. We had a really mediocre breakfast at DuPar's, which has their pancake accolades front and center on their menu, which worked, because we thought we had to order them, and they were really not so great.  Unsatisfied, we needed to try something else. Since it was too early to get tacos at the place my friend recommended, we just kept going on the breakfast sweet theme, and went to Bob's Donuts.  Delicious glazed donut. This place is a must stop on any LA itinerary.

(the mediocre breakfast as mentioned above)

(satisfaction!)

(Loteria is supposed to have great tacos)

New Favorite LA Restaurant

Have you ever been to Gjelina on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach? It's amazing. I loved this dish, chickpea with Israeli couscous and harissa and yogurt. We also had a thin crust pizza topped with nettles and ricotta, and a side dish of fava beans with radishes. The people next to us had the lamb burger, which looked so good. It's a great place to go with kids (loud and tolerant and a varied menu), and it's an easy stop on your way to or from the airport (if you can bear to skip the In-N-Out ).

We Love The Getty Museum in LA

Last week when we were out in LA, we made our way to The Getty Museum , one of my favorite museums ever.  I love it because even if your kid ends up completely bored looking at art, you've got great fountains to walk around, amazing gardens, and a great family area, and don't forget the tram ride to and from the parking lot. This time, we did a Family Art Stop , which was a half hour with a guide (free!), who brought us to a painting, and taught us how to study it and have fun doing so. 

First Stop in LA

Just in case my last post scared you (with my overly earnest healthy snack options), fear not:  we are also madly in love with In-N-Out, and it is our first stop the second we clear the rental car parking lot.  The In-N-Out on Sepulveda Blvd. is about a 3 minute drive from the lot, and besides having perfect burgers, it has the best view of the LAX airport.  We like to sit outside, and watch the airplanes come in for landing.