L.A. Part I: Family, friends, Courtney Cox, and miscellaneous ramblings
Well, we made it intact on the flight over from Dulles with the baby in tow. First time for that. We opted for the Baby Tylenol trick, which worked well on our usually fussy infant. On arrival, my mother and sister picked us up and we made our way to Pasadena. As I’m now a visitor to my own home town, it feels surreal coming home. Always something new to look at now. Much new construction around Staples Center. Residue from the housing boom, many new lofts and a new Nokia Theater. Wonder if it will be similar to the one in New York, where my friend Brian and I saw Antibalas a couple of years ago.
Once in Pasadena, more new construction abound. A gigantic, multistory Whole Foods on Arroyo Parkway, but otherwise same ol’ town. We settled in had a welcome dinner that night with old friends.
Friday, we relaxed a bit and then, as promised, Mom watched the kid so we could have a night out. We had reservations for Spago, Beverly Hills around 7 and managed to find the place fairly easily. Thanks to my iPhone, plugging in directions is relatively painless. Following them while driving is another matter. Can get a little dangerous, so it is only recommended at stoplights.
Once seated in the spacious outdoor (it is 60-something in L.A. at night this time of year) patio, we opted for the tasting menu, which came highly recommended. This proved to be a good choice. While my less-than-stellar memory can only recall certain dishes, I can say that all were at least good, if not excellent.
We loved the amuse bouche selections, which started off with spicy tuna in a miso/sesame-encrusted cone. This was followed by Puck’s version of the English classic “Toad in the Hole,” which had a soft, flaky pastry surrounding a quail egg yolk. Next up was an oyster dish. I can’t recall much about it other than that it was good. Then it was on to a Langoustine in curry dish, which we liked. Veal sweetbread was fantastic followed by one of the best pasta dishes I’ve yet had, a celery root agnolotti. A stunning venison plate came next, which, much to our delight was some of the best game meat we’ve yet sampled.
At some point in the evening as we were working through our main courses, I joked about seeing celebrities. Last year, when we came out for my nephew Jaymee’s wedding, we spotted Ashton Kucher and Demi Moore at an Italian restaurant in Los Feliz. So, sure enough, not long after the joke, in walked Courtney Cox, David Arquette and another couple we didn’t recognize. M, who is painfully adverse to something so pithy as being “caught” eyeing a celeb, refused to look, just as she didn’t last year. I told her that she just didn’t know how. As the son of a filmmaker, my father had taught me the art of “the look.” You simply do a 1-2 second passing glance at the person. Just long enough to “identify” without making them uncomfortable. Even plan ahead. Pretend you are going to look at someone else or part of the decor and “glance” at the celeb midway through your scan. M finally “got it” and confirmed the spotting. She even helped me identity Mr. Arquette, whose name I couldn’t recall.
Done with the quick burst of semi-excitement, the cheese course arrived followed by a variety of chocolates for dessert. A superb meal. In my all-time top 10 for sure.
Tags: celebrities, construction, family, Food, holidays, losangeles, pasadena, Travel, vacation
