The C Word

Are you getting sick of hearing the "c" word? Not that one you perv. The one related to this weekend's closure of a major freeway. Well join us next Fri, Jul 22  from 630-830 pm to celebrate (another c word) the end of the use of that word, for a year at least. We will be joining the Friday Night Wine Tasting at Barnsdall Art Park in Los Feliz in conjunction with Silverlake Wine. Tickets are $25, must be purchased in advance and includes a limited edition wine glass. If you don't drink wine and want to join us winos anyway, admission is $5. You can also purchase a ticket for a guided tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House (at designated times). Food trucks will be available as well.

And since this weekend's closure is going solve all of our fair city's traffic woes, then there should be no problems getting there next week! ;)

4800 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles 90027
323.660.4254

P.S.- If you are even reading this far and do get stuck in traffic this weekend, just think of this song.

Its summer!

It's been a busy month and this is sort of last minute so we'll make it easy (relatively). Join us this Fri, June 24 from 630-8 pm at Rosewood Tavern to celebrate the start of summer and hopefully the end of June gloom (i.e. slutwear time! John is prepping his thong collection as we speak.). Located in the heart of the increasingly hip Fairfax Village area, this month old chophouse has the look of an old tavern/saloon/pub (think dark subway tiles and lots of dark wood) brought to you by George Abou-Daoud. You may remember we visited his last place District on Sunset about a year ago (and closed recently). This place has a focus on craft beer (28 on tap) and scotch. So there it is. See you soon!

P.S. And by "slutwear" we mean feel free to wear anytime AFTER this event.

448 North Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles 90036
323.944.0980

Màs DOA + tour

Join us downtown next Fri, May 20 at Màs Malo. The new-ish location of Silverlake's Malo. You may be familiar with Tracy Beckmann Design when we visited her other project, The Tar Pit about a year ago. She renovated this historic large, domed space with a chevron motif to create a jazzy feel. This space was the former location of Clifton's Cafeteria "Silver Spoon" (opened in 1975) which has been closed and empty since 1997. Before that, its was the Brock and Co. jewelry store built in the 1920s.

We will be on the loungy mezzanine level to perhaps sample some of their tequila based cocktails. We will also get a tour of their "tequila vault" housed in the former vault of the jewelry store and now holding around 240 tequilas and 30 mescals. Then down to the 70s inspired late night/weekends only bar in the basement. Some of you old ladies may remember this as the location of the "The Garden of Meditation" diorama that had a life sized statue of Christ kneeling in prayer when it was Clifton's. Ahem, I will stop there.

So come on down. We'll even modify the time to 7-830 pm so you Westsiders can join us.

515 West 7th Street, Los Angeles 90014
213.985.4332

CORRECTION: Piano Bar = Red Medicine

Oops. Did I say "Piano Bar?" I really meant Red Medicine. Sorry guys. When I originally wrote the previous write-up, it was for our usual 2nd Fridays event but this Friday the 15th (the 3rd Friday) is the start of LACMA's "Jazz at LACMA" series which means crowds and loud music—not quite conducive to the "deep, intellectual" conversations we have about design at our events. So we are moving venues. Just down the street from LACMA to Red Medicine.

Red Medicine opened a few months ago with an unusual approach to Vietnamese/French cuisine and cocktails from the founder of the every growing Umami Burger chain. While receiving mostly positive reviews, they also received some backlash when they kicked out and posted a picture online of LA Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila. The interior is designed by movie production designer Charisse Cardenas and has the look of what seems to be a growing trend, particularly in restaurant and bar design, of using reclaimed/rustic wood and steel. So please join us on Fri from 630-8p. (Hey we're finally out of Hollywood.) I'm sure if you behave, there will be no picture taking and online posting.

8400 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills 90211
323.651.5500

image from Eater LA

Piano Bar (update 04.08.11: please see new post for venue change)

And by piano bar I don't mean a bunch of silverhairs singing Judy Garland around a baby grand, I mean famed architect Renzo Piano and his latest addition to the LACMA campus, Stark Bar. This bar and adjacent restaurant Ray's (named after Ray Stark, the late film producer) serves seasonal cocktails, a California-centric wine list, and artisan beers and spirits. Although the best time to come this open air bar is probably on a warm summer evening, that's also when Jazz at LACMA starts up—which means large crowds. Preview the drink menu here, save your change (if you didn't give it all to the IRS), and join us next Fri, Apr 15 from 630-8pm to celebrate tax day.

5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles 90036
323.857.6180

image from EatShopSleep

A Mini Bar Crawl/Tour

Why hello! Did you think we left you? Not so fast. As many of you know (and a few of you may have been cruising since its opening), the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a Los Angeles landmark that hosted the first Academy Awards in 1929 and has a long list of notable residents from Marilyn Monroe to Marilyn Manson. Major renovations in were completed in 2005 by designer Dodd Mitchell, but we will be visiting the latest additions to the hotel. First up the intimate Library Bar—while not new, the menu here is always new as well known "mixologist" Matthew Biancaniello creates cocktails based on farmers market ingredients and your personal tastes. We will then move to the bar at the newly opened Public Kitchen and Bar designed by Studio Collective—an open space adjacent to the lobby that has that 1920's-1940's vintage, lofty feel that seems to be the trend these days (think marble topped counters and butcher block tables). Finally, we will crawl up to The Spare Room designed by the same team (2 for 1 special?) and open for a couple of months now. This lounge has a feel of a vintage game parlor but more Art Deco-y. In fact there are 2 bowling lanes here as well as comfy oversized seating for other types of game play (um, board games that is).

So hope to see you next Fri, Mar 11 from 630-8p. Cheers.

7000 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood 90028
323.466.7000

Back to Friday plus another tour!

Happy new year everyone! We had great success with our last building tour at Sunset/Vine in the summer so we are having another! Actually not for from the last one since Hollywood seems to be the place to be these days. We're hitting up sbe's (SLS Hotel and The Abbey to name a couple) newest hotel project The Redbury. Designed by photographer Matthew Rolston who seems to be expanding his repertoire to include music videos and experiential design, The Redbury is described as "boho chic." You can decide on what it is when you take our special tour that includes their outdoor event courtyard and a couple of guest rooms.

As this is a special event, please reply to let us know if you will be attending this Fri, Jan 14 Fri, Jan 21 (new date) from 630-8p. Thanks.

1717 Vine Street, Hollywood 90028
323.962.1717

London in L.A.

Join us as we continue DOA 2nd Fridays on Thursday, Dec 9, at The London West Hollywood (is there a West Hollywood London in the UK?) for our holiday extravaganza from 630-8p. And by extravaganza I mean a bunch of gay designers standing in a circle drinking. Fun no?! The reported $54 million spent to transform the former Bel Age Hotel into Hollywood Regency style by David Collins Studio matches the year it was completed—(so) 2009. We will be at the rooftop bar with a gorgeous panoramic view of the city and was described by Concierge.com as the "World's Sexiest Rooftop Pool" (whose designation may change after we John visits). Come for some holiday libations and surprises!

1020 San Vicente Boulevard, West Hollywood 90069
310.854.1111

Thu is the New Fri; Old is the New New

Basically we're trying out a new night, Thursday so we're keeping it simple and going back to an old favorite, Palihouse (sorry not Melrose Spa—I said "old favorite" not "old standby" Jim). Same time, 630-8pm. Can you handle it? Of course you can. See you this Thu, Nov 11 in the lobby lounge.


8465 Holloway Drive, West Hollywood 90069
323.656.4100

It's October!

While the weather decides if it wants to be summer or fall, we have decided on the next place for our next gathering, Bar Covell in Los Feliz. This cozy months old bar probably won't be winning any design awards, but it does manage to create a warm and intimate neighborhood vibe with its collection of vintage flea market finds—keys, cameras, pages from an encyclopedia to name a few. Its kind of like being in a hip friends' home cocktail party (unlike some of the high design whorehouses we've visited in months past—and I'm not talking about Michael's house). The owner and manager hail from nearby Cafe Stella and Silverlake Wine respectively and have created a tightly curated selection of wines and beers with a small noshing menu. We know hope you missed us last month, so please join us this Fri, Oct 8 from 630-8pm.

4628 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Feliz 90027

323.660.4400

Eater LA

No New Mail

We know you've been obsessively checking your email wondering why you haven't heard from us. Well we decided to cancel this month's gathering. So go enjoy the last days of summer and we'll see you on Fri, Oct 8.

It's Clinique, I mean, DOA Bonus Time!

Hope you are all having a great summer! Next Fri, Aug 13 from 630-8p, we will be gathering at the new Bodega Wine Bar in Hollywood. Yes, we met at a wine bar last month but we know there are many winos out there. Plus, they also serve beer, sake, and soju cocktails and have a small noshing menu. This 3rd location of the wine bar is designed by MAKE Architecture and features like its other locations a wine wall as well as a dangle of oversized light shades over the seating area. Following the event, you can stroll next door to the newest location of Tender Greens or catch a movie at the Arclight.

SPECIAL BONUS OPPORTUNITY:
This bar is at the base of the infamous and formerly perpetually under construction Sunset Vine Tower (former home of Beige at 360°). We have a set up a special opportunity to get a tour of the model units on Fri at 630p. Please reply to this email if you are interested so we can get a head (yes please) count.

Hope to see you.
6290 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood 90028
323.464.3400