What’s Haute Los Angeles

By Valentina Zuric

Seen as a colossal slice of heaven, Los Angeles is a world filled with haute allure. In a city where the quest for what’s in and what’s out is as ephemeral as a cactus flower, What’s Haute LA gives the lifestyle connoisseur the lowdown on the best offerings of the City of Angels.

THE PENINSULA
9882 Santa Monica Blvd.
Beverly Hills
310.551.2888

Located in the heart of Beverly Hills, The Peninsula is the only hotel in the area to receive the distinction of a AAA Five-Diamond and an ExxonMobil Five-Star rating for 14 consecutive years. With 196 appointed guest rooms, including 36 suites and 16 private villas, the hotel is designed to resemble a private residence nestled amid tropical gardens and located in a prestigious neighborhood. With Belvedere named as the “Best Hotel Restaurant in Southern California” by the 2006 Zagat Survey, the hotel strives to hold its reputation for luxurious accommodations and unsurpassed service. Known for their legendary Peninsula service (with Lexus vehicles available for guest transportation and a unique 24-hour check-in/check-out policy), Peninsula Hotel also offers luxurious comfort, extraordinary dining, and sophisticated facilities.

SPAGO
RESTAURANT
176 N. Canon Dr.
Beverly Hills
310.385.0880

With a menu changing seasonally to showcase the best of California’s produce, it’s no wonder the flagship Wolfgang Puck restaurant is at the forefront of Los Angeles’ culinary scene. Talented Executive Chef Lee Hefter delivers the culinary sophistication demanded by an upscale Beverly Hills elite crowd, enabling Spago to remain as one of L.A.’s top-rated restaurants, despite 24 years of taut competition. With glamour apparent everywhere throughout its high-style indoor/outdoor space, Spago glows with the aura of celebrities and honed California cuisine, setting the standard as one of the best-known restaurants in the United States.

OPERA NIGHTCLUB
1650 Schrader Ave.
Los Angeles
323.960.3300

With a beautiful sea of people projected in a blanket of fire and fog, this glamorous nightclub is as elegantly allotted as its velvet rope is stringent. Not even remotely recognizable from its barn-like days as Vynyl or Club 1650, the redesigned locale has become very upscale, with lines building in advance to opening and staying firmly entrenched throughout the night. Those who make it past the rope and into a myriad of archways and candlelight will be able to enjoy the DJs spinning the latest thumping dance tracks.

BEVERLY
HILLS HOTEL
9641 Sunset Blvd.
Beverly Hills
310.276.2251

Surrounded by 12 acres of tropical gardens and private walkways, this five-star hotel provides privacy and tranquility in a truly residential setting. As a place to see and be seen, this “Pink Palace” is at the doorstep of some of the world’s finest shopping-the Golden Triangle, Rodeo Drive, and Santa Monica Boulevard. The Beverly Hills Hotel has been the place to stay for captains and kings since 1928. Even Milton Berle once said, “This hotel has been through more wealthy hands than Zsa Zsa Gabor.” With the ambience of a city resort, the Beverly Hills Hotel provides 204 guest rooms, including 38 suites and 21 bungalows.

OLE HENRIKSEN
8622 W. Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood
310.854.7700

To maintain what Ole Henriksen, owner of Ole Henriksen Face/Body Spa, calls the “Hollywood Glow,” he uses his skills in the 5,000-square-foot spa in order to make clients sink into oblivion. “When you have flawless skin texture, you will always glow with ageless beauty,” says Ole. Ole’s passion is skin care, said by Allure magazine to have been sent from “Skin Care Heaven.” With a range of products to impact the skin’s renewing powers, clients can choose from renowned anti-aging crèmes, eye-lifting gels, truth serum-collagen, and exhilarating cleansers. The spa will immerse your senses in an oasis of serenity with a staff of highly skilled technicians and a full menu of extravagant indulgences.

VALENTINO
3115 W. Pico Blvd.
Santa Monica
310.829.4313

This 32-year-old flagship continues to maintain its position as Wine Spectator magazine’s top wine cellar, with a selection of 140,000 bottles including unique gems such as an 1893 Château Lafite-Rothschild. Executive Chef Angelo Auriana seeks out the finest and freshest ingredients, whether it is cheese from Puglia or white truffles from Piedmont. The décor is both stylish and intimate. Once guests pass the ivied entrance and enter the secret garden they find a gleaming patio that is romantic for two, private for four, and comfortable for a group of 10. At Valentino, the mostly gourmand and deal-closer crowd is able to indulge on the grandest treasures in the culinary world, including the San Daniele Prosciutto dish with Tirolese speck and melon pearls, and the Colorado lamb chop with Gorgonzola and port wine reduction. Valentino brings the spirit of Italian dining to Los Angeles and the chic Santa Monica space continues to be admired by Italian food enthusiasts nationwide.

URASAWA
218 North Rodeo Dr.
Beverly Hills
310.247.8939

Standing as one of L.A.’s most sumptuous restaurants in town and located just a few steps off Rodeo Drive right in the middle of Beverly Hills, Urasawa, open via reservation only, retains the title as the most expensive sushi restaurant in the world. When you dine here, you dine with your own personal chef, as he crafts a meal with the freshest ingredients set on 300-year-old antique tableware. The sushi is at its apex, adhering to the whims of Chef Hiroyuki Urasawa as he fillets the fish while forming the sushi rice with his hands and sprinkling just the right amount of wasabi, soy, and sharkskin-grated sudachi on top. Urasawa seats only 10 privileged patrons at a time for a 29 course meal that lasts roughly four hours.

W LOS ANGELES
930 Hilgard Ave.
Los Angeles
310.208.8765

Inside W’s door, you’ll find solace, refuge, and the style and sophistication you deserve. With frosted glass steps revealing a fiber-optically lit waterfall, the W Hotel gives the illusion of walking on water as you enter its premises. This witty and whimsical 15-story hideaway is perfect for design-savvy hipsters and business travelers looking for cutting edge style. As a boutique hotel located in a residential neighborhood, W Los Angeles is famous for its all-suite configuration, eye-catching ’60s architectural detailing, and angular furnishings. One can step outside to W’s tranquil pool and cabanas; stay in and sample the local produce, boutique wine, and artisan cheese at Nine Thirty; or de-stress at Bliss Spa, featuring movie-while-you-manicure nail stations and luxe men’s and women’s lounges. As W’s motto stands, your wish is their command, and they’re willing to provide whatever you want, whenever you want it.

S BAR
3240 Wilshire Blvd. #401
Los Angeles
213.381.3388

Sam Nazarian and Brent Bolthouse have put their stamp all over West Hollywood. Now they’re ready to make their mark with the bohemian-inspired Philippe Starck-designed S Bar, which opened mid-October. S Bar, a new intimate lounge on the corner of Hollywood and Vine, is highlighted with four wall-size photo canvases of Versailles from French photographer Patrick Tourneboeuf, allowing the ambience to evoke the urban and eclectic style of an artist’s warehouse gallery. The place is furnished with informal groupings of mismatched “flea market”-style seating and cocktail tables. A cocktail program is available featuring fresh organic juices, herbs, fruits, and vegetables, allowing guests to imbibe unique concoctions.