Mmm… can’t you just smell the aroma? There is nothing like a fresh baked…anything! In recent years, the gourmet cupcake explosion has taken over America, and nowhere more passionately than Los Angeles. Our city has a patchwork of impressive ethnic bakeries—Bea’s in Tarzana, Baklava Factory and Porto’s in Glendale (and Burbank), Goldilocks in Filipinotown and Eagle Rock, Phoenix in Chinatown—specialty spots from Pasadena’s Gourmet Cobbler Factory to Culver City’s Gotta Have S’more…but you want a Haute 5, don’t you?

90210 is a number that’s recognized worldwide as the zip code of central Beverly Hills. So when September 2, 2010 rolled around—that’s 9.02.10, get it?—the city decided there couldn’t be a better time to celebrate itself. And what better way to celebrate than with great food? A lot of it.

Hence the Taste of Beverly Hills, a four-day food, wine and music bacchanal (Sept 2-5) set just off the Wilshire/Santa Monica crossing atop the parking structure of Robinsons-May.

You may know him best as a trumpeter (“Tijuana Taxi”). You may know him best as a music industry mogul (A&M Records, Almo publishing). You may even know him best as your neighbor. But Herb Alpert is also an accomplished visual artist.

Don’t take my word for it, though. See for yourself, if you haven’t yet, in his current show, Black Totems, at the Ace Gallery. But don’t wait – on display since February, the show is finally scheduled to come down on August 28.

Looking for something different to do this weekend? Something original, something exclusive, something everyone doesn’t know about already? Come to the Speakeasy.

It’s the season for giving, and no one knows how to put together a fundraising party better than Hollywood. Here are the Haute 5 Charity Gala’s of the season:

Thinking about a day trip? Consider a drive up to Paso Robles. The historic town in the middle of the San Luis Obispo county Central Coast wine region has become quite a hip little hotbed of wine producers, creative restaurants, some cute antiquing, and beautiful scenery.

When an ordinary degustation just won’t do… when you demand the best personal service… when you are as fascinated by the process as the final product in a restaurant… when you want to have an experience you’ll never forget… you want to dine at a Chef’s Table. Here are Los Angeles’ Haute 5:

Balance is something often forgotten in the world of restaurants. So many places either focus on high concept—forgetting the factor of merely making people happy—while others stress “comfort food” staples to the point of predictability. That’s why Upper West is such a pleasant surprise.

One day at SLS may certainly be able to erase an entire week. While many designers emulate (even copy) the aesthetics of Phillppe Starck, there is only one hotel in LA to have his design aesthetic on every inch: the SLS. You have never seen a hotel quite like this—or, I confess, I haven’t.