Cleaning our plates at The French Laundry

All it took was one phone call. So of course we had to go.

Securing a reservation at The French Laundry – considered one of the world’s best restaurants – is supposed to be difficult. You have to call two months to the day in advance. If you’re lucky enough to get through, you likely will have to put your name on the waiting list – and then hope and wait. And you’ll likely have to try again. And again.

You should know that making that call was Kenley’s idea.

Kenley and I don’t self-identify as foodies. I don’t like to cook. Kenley doesn’t like to eat vegetables. But if you read this blog, you know that we have enjoyed exploring our still-new city of Los Angeles by dining at its incredibly diverse eating establishments (including The French Laundry’s sister restaurant, Bouchon, in Beverly Hills).

And in Kenley’s past life as a copy editor for SmartBrief, he edited the Culinary Institute of America’s newsletter. So he’s very familiar with chef Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry and its impeccable reputation.

So on Nov. 23, two months to the day from our wedding anniversary, Kenley was working from home. I was shopping online rather than battling the crowds at the malls. Kenley casually suggested that I should call The French Laundry, just for the fun of it.

It happened to be the day after Thanksgiving, when most people are recovering from a turkey-induced haze and not making plans to eat a nine-course meal.

I dialed. A voice answered. I asked whether it was possible for our party to be put on the waiting list. The voice said our party could be seated at 5:45 p.m. or 9:15 p.m.

Gulp! We were giddy – and a little scared!

I started planning a trip to Napa Valley.

*****

The French Laundry topped Restaurant magazine’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2003 and 2004. It’s the only U.S. restaurant to have reached No. 1, and it reigned as the magazine’s Best Restaurant in the Americas from 2005 to 2008. Chef Keller was honored with the magazine’s lifetime achievement award in 2012:

“His iconic restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, effectively revolutionized American cooking, combining classical French techniques with distinctive, locally sourced quality ingredients years before such an approach became de rigueur.”

The French Laundry also is one of two restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area to have earned three stars from the Michelin Guide (The Restaurant at Meadowood is the other), and Thomas Keller is the only chef to have earned three stars for two different restaurants at the same time (Per Se in New York is the other).

The notoriously hard-to-please celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain declared The French Laundry “the best restaurant in the world, period” on one of the first episodes of his TV show “No Reservations” in 2005.

Oh, yeah. This was going to be good.

*****

The French Laundry is a small stone building along a quaint country road in Yountville, Calif., about 15 minutes north of Napa. (It actually was once used as a French steam laundry.)

If not for the small bronze sign on a stone wall at knee level, you might drive right past it. There’s no valet. You just park on the side of the road next to the restaurant’s garden.

When we arrived, it was dim and hushed inside. We were seated at a table in a cozy nook next to a stone wall, which I believe was hiding the wine cellar on the other side.

The attention to detail was almost flawless. We were presented with the chef’s tasting menu, and it had “Happy Anniversary Shelly and Kenley” written at the top. They had asked how to spell Kenley’s name when he called to tell them we were celebrating our anniversary. But they didn’t ask how to spell mine. Like I said … almost flawless.

The wine menu was displayed on an iPad; the printed version is more than 120 pages. We felt totally overwhelmed for a split second, but the waiter (there were several) read us perfectly and suggested two half-bottles of red from the Napa Valley area.

The wine offerings sell for up to $8,000 for a bottle of 1997 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon. Fortunately, the waiter’s recommendations fell precisely into the much, much more moderate beverage budget that Kenley and I had agreed to earlier. Another waiter even joked with the men at the other table that the big news of the day in the wine world was that the price of Trader Joe’s “Two-buck Chuck” was going up to $2.49 from $1.99 because of bad crops in 2010 and 2011.

Because we were celebrating our anniversary, the waiter asked us whether it would be “appropriate” if he brought us a glass of sparkling wine, on the house. Um … totally, dude.

The glass of bubbly was specially crafted for The French Laundry by nearby Schramsberg Vineyards, which we had plans to visit the next day.

Then, the food began arriving.

First were light gougeres of Gruyere — essentially small, delicate cheese puffs. They were followed by salmon tartare cornets.  (Kenley called them fish ice cream cones, and we had a similar dish at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, in Beverly Hills.)

Then the first course of the tasting menu arrived: Keller’s famous oysters and pearls, which is tapioca with Island Creek oysters and white sturgeon caviar.

(We at first didn’t feel comfortable taking photos, especially after I had read a piece in The New York Times a day earlier about restaurants being camera-shy. But then we saw others snapping pics, and we figured since we likely weren’t ever going to do this again, we might as well document it.)

Next we received another off-the-menu surprise dish: egg custard with white truffle and homemade potato chip served in an egg shell.

The custard was followed by the first of three bread offerings — sourdough, pretzel, multigrain, brioche, pain au lait and more. The bread was so good it was hard not to try all of the selections, but we remembered the wise words of our friend Tug Baker, who writes a column called Tug Eats Everything — don’t fill up on starches. We each chose a different type of bread and then carefully broke the rolls in half so that we could have a taste of both. A waiter caught us and laughed good-naturedly at our rationing, offering Kenley a job in the kitchen for his precision with the knife.

One of the best things about this experience was that Kenley, an extremely picky eater, had to eat everything on his plate. No way were we letting even a tiny morsel go to waste. So when it came to the salad course — winter chicories, including Cara Cara orange, Marcona almonds and rose hip — Kenley looked skeptical. Then, he took a bite … and proceeded to clean his plate. Days later, he’s still talking about how fresh and flavorful the salad was.

Our first entree was the sauteed fillet of Atlantic black bass with Arrowleaf spinach, parsnip puree and saffron-vanilla emulsion. It was an unexpected flavor combination, and it turned out to be my favorite dish of the evening.

Before each dish, we were presented with silverware specific to each course. The server quickly and quietly whisked away the dirty sets and replaced them with shiny new ones, taking care to ensure the pieces were arranged perfectly on the table. I think that job must be among the most stressful at the restaurant.

I had never seen the large spoon that was served with the bass. It looked a little like a large spork. I thought to myself, “I’m out of my league here.” (Internet research later determined the utensil in question was likely a sauce spoon. The Los Angeles Times even wrote an article headlined “Sauce Spoon sighting.”)

The second entree was a New Bedford sea scallop “poulee.” Our waiter explained that it was the chef’s take on a deconstructed clam chowder. The scallop was served with small but thick chunks of Hobb’s bacon, celery and petite onions.

Our third entree was a “Liberty Farm Pekin duck,” served with Tokyo turnips, sprouting kale, mint and Cumberland sauce. I admit I don’t eat duck very often, but this was the best I have ever had.

After the second or third entree, I started to feel pretty full. In true French style, the dishes were all very rich. My mouth was puckering because of all the salt. I guzzled lots of water. Then I worried that the water was filling up my stomach. I again thought back to Tug’s recent food challenge.

And then the final entree was delivered to the table: Snake River Farms “Calotte de Boeuf Grillee.” Snake River Farms is known for its American Waygu beef, which sometimes is called American Kobe beef. It’s possible that I won’t ever have a better steak again.

A waiter then asked: “Are the two of you ready to move on to cheese?” Kenley’s answer to that question will never be “no.” We were offered a final bread selection and served Andante Dairy “Acapella,” which is made from goat milk and served with dried persimmon, young fennel, pine nuts and black truffle.

The cheese was followed by a sorbet course: a Star Ruby grapefruit “float” served with “pain d’epices” — a French spice bread — and marshmallows.

Then came the desserts! It was almost like we were just getting started. First to arrive was a passion fruit “swiss roll,” with Valrhona chocolate cremeux, caramel mousse and banana ice cream.

Then we enjoyed a Bakewell tart, with Fuji apples compote, “pain de gene” and toasted oat glace.

But the best was the cappuccino semifreddo and the cinnamon-sugar doughnuts, with a helping of caramelized macadamia nuts and chocolate truffles!

I simply couldn’t eat any more, so I asked for a to-go bag. And it was the most elegant to-go bag ever! It included the remaining macadamia nuts, chocolate truffles and an additional favor — shortbread cookies in a tin with The French Laundry pin logo on the top. We also were given folders with copies of our menu and our receipt, which was on an old-fashioned laundry tag.

To help us transition back to the real world after our three-hour-plus dinner, Kenley and I went down the street to a dive bar called Panchas and ordered beer from plastic cups. Definitely more our speed.

I don’t want to know how many calories we consumed in those three hours. Likely enough for several days. And indeed it would be several days before my body felt like it had regained its balance, though some of that probably had to do with the wine tastings we participated in later.

Our main takeaway from The French Laundry experience: The food is indeed extraordinary and commands respect, the service is unparalleled, and yet there is very little pretension. We walked in worrying that we’d be intimidated, but instead we were immediately set at ease. The waitstaff seemed genuinely happy to share in our experience, which nicely illustrates chef Thomas Keller’s philosophy:

“When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food — only the idea of it — then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy, that is what cooking is all about.”

Come to think of it, that’s not a bad motto for anniversaries either. On the downside, Kenley’s gonna have a tough time topping this next year.

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For — But I’m Close

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please welcome Shellevation’s first guest blogger! I gave my husband, Kenley, the reins to the site temporarily so he could write about his visit last month to Joshua Tree National Park.

As anyone who knows me can attest, I am not the outdoor type. I crave my creature comforts, and I bruise and burn far too easily. God knows what would become of me were I left unattended in the wilderness.

But Joshua Tree National Park has always held a certain sway in my mind. Part of its charm is no doubt entwined with a 1987 album release by U2. For whatever that band’s latter-day sins, “The Joshua Tree” remains a powerful, utterly non-ironic landmark record, and I learned a lot from it.

Yet the area is more than just an album title. The landscape is so striking — particularly the western half of the park, which is Mojave Desert habitat — that it seems almost like an alien moon. In fact, I’m reminded of the place now every time I see pictures from the Curiosity rover on Mars. The park is so gorgeously solemn and bare … well, except for the Joshua trees themselves, of course, which dot the park in every direction.

So when Shelley and I moved to L.A., Joshua Tree National Park immediately landed on our list of “Things We Have to See or Do While Out West.” And at a mere two hours and change from our apartment, it made a perfect day trip for Malia the husky and me:

Shelley had to work that day, so I wanted company on my journey. Technically, pets are restricted, as they are in many national parks. They must remain on a leash at all times, and they have to be kept off main trails, staying within 100 feet of the highway. But I was passing through for a relatively short period of time, so Malia never posed much of a threat to the environment.

I stopped at the park’s first public entrance, walked into the ranger station and explained my situation: I was going to be spending only about four hours at most in Joshua Tree before heading back to L.A., so I needed advice on hitting just the big “must-sees” nearby. The ranger was friendly and happy to oblige, highlighting my trail map with several possible stops, including:

• Hidden Valley
• Cap Rock
• Keys View
• Skull Rock
• Oasis of Mara

It was then that I realized just how vast Joshua Tree is. According to the map, my brief drive was going to cover barely one-tenth or so of the full park.

When I drove through the park gate, a few hours before sunset, it was almost as if I’d entered another country. The temperature dropped dramatically, the ground on either side of the highway became rocky and burnt-orange, and the park’s signature trees started filling in my side-view mirrors like an army:

These weren’t the first Joshua trees I’d spotted; you start glimpsing them as you enter the aptly named city of Twentynine Palms — a tree or two sprouting up near a road sign, or a gnarled and derelict specimen arching over a roadway.

But their sheer numbers are overwhelming once you enter the park. I must have pulled the car off the road 10 times in those first 10 minutes, trying to capture with my pitiful iPhone the bizarre beauty surrounding me on all sides:

The Joshua tree isn’t actually a “tree” at all, but a species of the yucca desert plant. As the park brochure notes, they can grow to more than 40 feet tall, and from February to April they bloom with cream-colored flowers. American Indians used the plant to make baskets and sandals, as well as the occasional meal. Here’s how the park says the plant got its name:

“By the mid-19th century, Mormon immigrants had made their way across the Colorado River. Legend has it that these pioneers named the tree after the biblical figure Joshua, seeing the limbs of the tree as outstretched in supplication, guiding the travelers westward.”

By this point in the trip, Malia the husky was also “outstretched in supplication” in the back seat, so I pulled off at a picnic/camping area and let her roam around with me a little bit. I don’t know what it’s like in the rest of the park, but I was struck by how odd this setup seemed here. It didn’t at all resemble campsites from the movies. There were no tents or sleeping bags or open fires or roasting marshmallows or hippies with guitars.

Instead, it appeared to me that RVs and campers here apparently just pull off the main drag, park by the roadside and hang out. Some folks were gathered on the roofs of their vehicles, and others had set up folding chairs right outside. But it didn’t particularly seem like anyone around me was “preparing to camp out” anytime soon.

Maybe that’s how it is in the winter. Too cold to sleep outside in those months?

Still, there was plenty of natural beauty to drink in.

My main goal was to get to Keys Point, a lookout spot that the ranger had recommended, at an elevation of some 5,185 feet. I anticipated some dramatic views there, and I wasn’t disappointed. I went from an alien moon, it seemed, to Middle Earth.

From this point in the park, you can see all the way to the mysterious Salton Sea, that faint, shimmering body of water in the background:

The Salton Sea is a shallow, extraordinarily salty “rift lake” that was created quite accidentally around the turn of the last century. The California Development Co. was attempting to construct irrigation canals in the region, but clearly things didn’t go exactly as planned. Basically, thanks to major flooding mishaps, the town of Salton was eventually submerged, and the continued intermittent flooding actually led to the construction of the Hoover Dam.

Like Joshua Tree, The Salton Sea is by turns bizarre and fascinating. There’s no outflow, so the ecosystem is in a constant state of flux. Its salinity is higher than you’ll find in seawater, which causes massive “kills,” in which dead fish are left awash on its shore. What’s more, it’s a known geothermal hot spot, with mud volcanoes belching gas and steam into the air.

Oh, and it sits over the notorious San Andreas Fault. It’s almost mythic, this place. Like Mount Doom.

Naturally, The Salton Sea is also on my list of places to visit out West.

More views from Keys Point:

Disaster nearly befell me after Keys Point. Not the “127 Hours” kind of disaster, granted, but still bad news for any blogger. The battery in my iPhone (which I’d used to navigate myself to the park) died, taking my camera with it.

Fortunately, I had a backup. Shelley had left her “Bloggie” camera in the glove box. It, too, had only a little juice left, but it was enough for me to snap some photos of my intrepid partner as we explored the formations near Skull Rock on our way out of the park.

Joshua Tree — what little I saw of it, anyway — made an impression on me, and it was a nice adventure to share with Malia. It was the first time I’d spent an entire day with my best girl in … well … far too long.

Next time, I hope Shelley can join us — though she may not be up for a dip in The Salton Sea just yet.

Quite the Endeavour

Forget the Lakers or Clippers. One of the hottest tickets to get in Los Angeles in recent months has been for the space shuttle Endeavour, housed at the California Science Center at USC.

But being the planner that I am, I scored tickets to the exhibit just nine days after it opened.

Kenley and I, along with many other Los Angelenos, have been fascinated by the Endeavour ever since it flew over the city while perched atop a 747 in September.

I was working a copy-editing shift at The Hollywood Reporter on Wilshire that Friday, but there wasn’t much editing going on as most of us tuned into online updates about the location of the shuttle. We finally abandoned all pretenses of work and took to the office terrace to try to spot the Endeavour. Below us, people were gathering along the sidewalks looking toward the sky. Above us, others gathered on rooftops, pointing and shouting as the shuttle came into view. It flew along the Hollywood Hills, headed downtown and circled back toward LAX on its final flight.

Kenley spotted it near our apartment on the west side, closer to LAX, where the shuttle landed to stay for a few days before beginning the journey to its destination at the Science Center.

In this case, iPhone cameras clearly didn’t do the shuttle justice. But strategically positioned Los Angeles Times photographers using much bigger lenses captured great shots of the shuttle over the Hollywood sign, Griffith Park, the Santa Monica Pier and other city landmarks.

People in L.A. tend to play it cool and rarely get excited about celebrity sightings. And because the city is so sprawling and so diverse, there are few legitimate communal experiences. But on that really hot Friday afternoon, everyone in the city — even the celebrities — seemed to be starstruck.

The LA Times reported that Tom Hanks, who played Cmdr. Jim Lovell in the movie “Apollo 13,” tweeted:

“Just flew over my head!!! Don’t see this everyday. Never will again. The Spaceman in me just went berserk.”

About a month later, the Endeavour began a very slow, two-day trek along a 12-mile path from LAX to the Science Center. Kenley and I regret not joining the millions of people lining its path as it made the trek. I think we were among the few who heeded the warnings by officials to steer clear. But luckily, the LA Times put together a time lapse video that makes you feel as if you were there.

Kenley and I got our closeup of the shuttle about a week after it went on display at the California Science Center on the campus of the other USC. I had ordered tickets online just before the exhibit opened. Kenley’s middle brother, Logan, was in town for the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship, and we headed to see the Endeavour after our tour of Paramount Studios.

Logan in front of the other USC football stadium

We walked right through the maze of ropes put in place for anticipated large weekend crowds. There’s a small exhibit before you get to the space shuttle that illustrates the shuttle’s history — and the role that California played in the construction of the Endeavour, which was built to replace the Challenger. Much of the shuttle was built by Rockwell International Corp. in Palmdale, Calif.

The first thing you see? The space toilet, part of a display about how astronauts relieve themselves in space. Yikes.

There’s also a shuttle simulator, which was a little lame, and a short video. The exhibit obviously needs to be better organized, but the main attraction, of course, is the shuttle itself. You have to wind through the space center a bit more before you get to a large hangar-like structure, where the shuttle is on display — and where it will remain until the Science Center raises enough funds for a new air and space center. The plan is for the shuttle to be displayed upright, as if it’s about to launch.

You might expect Endeavour to be sleek and shiny, like something made by Apple. But the space shuttle is weathered, and its black tip kinda makes it look like it has a big, wet dog nose. It already feels sort of dated, maybe because it’s basically housed in a museum.

Still, the sheer size of the Endeavour is impressive, and it’s just mind-blowing when you think about where it’s been.

Kenley says it reminded him of being on the hangar deck in “Battlestar Galactica” — surrounded by rusted, obsolete, beaten-up equipment that’s clearly seen better days. And yet it’s bursting with so much character and history that it almost feels alive, and infinitely more inspiring than a brand-new vessel hot off the Cylon assembly line.

Nerd alert, huh?

I’m glad we visited on a day when it wasn’t too crowded because we were able to get photos of the Endeavour from every angle:

After geeking out over the space shuttle, we attempted to re-establish our cool cred at a hot restaurant in town — Ink, by “Top Chef” winner Michael Voltaggio.

Voltaggio was the chef at Jose Andres’ The Bazaar (our favorite restaurant in L.A.), before he defeated his brother in the Season 6 finale of “Top Chef.”

Ink opened in the fall of 2011 and was named the best new restaurant of 2012 by GQ.

Our favorite things we ordered:

–Poutine with chickpea fries, yogurt curds and lamb neck gravy

–Ham and manchego biscuits with almond butter (pictured below)

–Brussels sprouts with pig ears and lardo (pictured below and resembling a “Clash of the Titans” monster, as one of Kenley’s Facebook friends commented)

The food was good, but not quite as experimental as The Bazaar and not quite as memorable as Animal, where we ate earlier this year.

And we’re back!

And we’re back!

Shellevation took an unexpected hiatus after the laptop my husband and I shared died in October. We recently replaced it with a brand-new MacBook Pro, and I’m excited to get back to blogging. I’m sure I would bore you, dear readers, if I attempted to document everything Kenley and I have done since my last post in October, so I’ll skip ahead.

The big news of the fall is that Kenley and I both started new jobs. Kenley began working as a home-page editor for Yahoo! in August, the day after we returned from our trip home to South Carolina. Kenley joined Yahoo! shortly after Marissa Mayer took over as CEO in July and announced she was pregnant, sparking debate among moms about achieving that often elusive balance between careers and children. But Kenley has benefited from Mayer’s policy of offering all employees a free lunch — literally, free food for the midday meal, every day.

Depending on the shift Kenley works, he helps decide which entertainment, sports and news stories are the most interesting or “buzzy,” and he packages them for the front page.

He’s handled everything from Hurricane Sandy coverage to Sunday NFL games to “Dancing With the Stars” eliminations.

Kenley still works some nights and weekends, but he’s home well before midnight and he doesn’t have to pull 12-hour-plus shifts. I’ve put him in charge of dinner on the nights that he gets home before I do. (Not surprisingly, he usually decides we should go out or order in. )

I accepted a full-time position as an associate web producer with “The Doctors” TV show in October. It’s a medical talk show that was spun off from “Dr. Phil,” which in turn was a spinoff from “Oprah.” “The Doctors” won an Emmy in 2010 for outstanding informative talk show, and it’s in its fifth season.

Some of you might remember that E.R. physician Travis Stork came to fame in 2006 on Season 8 of “The Bachelor.” Yes, he’s just as good-looking in person. He’s no longer a bachelor after marrying a pediatrician from Nashville, Tenn., earlier this year.

My job is to watch videos of shows and write a synopsis that incorporates photos and video clips, all of which are posted on the website the morning that the show airs. I also help write the blurbs that are given to the affiliates to promote the show.

One of my biggest concerns when I started the job was that I wouldn’t be able to control my tears and would turn into a red-faced, puffy-eyed mess in front of co-workers who don’t yet understand that I’m a frequent cryer — an apparently hereditary trait that I blame on my Mom.

I don’t think of myself as the sensitive type, but as soon as I witness others breaking down (which happens often on “Dr. Phil” and thankfully less often on “The Doctors”), I’m doomed.

On my first day, I attended a taping of the the “Dr. Phil” show as an introduction to how the shows are produced, and I’m happy to report that I survived it without crying — largely because the topic was bullying, and neither family involved came across as overly sympathetic.

But I confess that I might have shed a tear or two while in the control room watching a taping of “The Doctors” on Day 4 of the new job. The good news is that this seems to be acceptable, perhaps even encouraged. I noticed there are strategically placed tissue boxes on the desk, and one of the show producers grabbed one. Plus, a cameraman focused on a woman in the audience who was wiping her eyes.

Luckily, it turns out I’m encouraged but not required to attend all the show tapings. When I do, I sit squeezed inside the control room with the many show producers, removed from the doctors on the set and any drama.

But I seem to keep missing the tapings when celebrity guests make appearances — such as “Modern Family’s” Julie Bowen and “Sex and the City’s” Kristin Davis. Eighties TV star Morgan Fairchild was on a show about aging, but I didn’t get the chance to tell her that we once had lunch next to her at Cravings restaurant on the Sunset Strip.

But the appearance I most regret missing was of a cute penguin, Sammi, who waddled all over the stage.

If you want to tune in, “The Doctors” airs at 9 a.m. on WLTX-19 in Columbia, S.C., and 2 p.m. on KCBS-2 in Los Angeles. Check here for your local listings. If you ever visit L.A., I’m happy to get you tickets to be an audience member.

When we moved to Los Angeles almost two years ago, I wasn’t sure what type of job I’d find, but among the criteria was that it had to be something I could do only in Los Angeles. This job definitely falls into that category — and I still get paid to write and hone my editing skills! (I was hoping that I’d get healthier through osmosis, but instead I seem to have developed a case of hypochondria.)

“The Doctors” is produced at Paramount Studios, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and can boast that it’s the only major working studio still in Hollywood. (I drive toward the Hollywood sign each morning to get to work. The sign is looking a little brighter these days after recently getting a facelift.)

Driving through the front gates of Paramount Pictures on my first day of work at “The Doctors.”

When I walk out of my office building (which is named for film star Mae West), I walk onto the back lot and the (fake) streets of “New York” and “Chicago.” (Some loyal readers might remember that Kenley and I visited the Paramount back lot back in April with our friends Kathy and Justin for a beer festival, where we took a sitcom-esque photo on the steps of one of the buildings.

Kathy Bryja, me, Kenley Young and Justin Shady on Paramount’s backlot during the Los Angeles Beer Festival.

I eat lunch in the shadow of the lot’s famous water tower.

Also next to our building: Greendale Community College, the fictional setting for the cult TV comedy “Community,” where Jeff Winter (Joel McHale) and members of his study group spend most of their time flirting and bickering. Show characters Annie and Abed (Alison Bree and Danny Pudi) have a star wagon that’s been parked right outside our door.

I’ve seen Bree from a distance, and I’ve spotted Pudi a couple of times. Once, I walked right past him and smiled — because you forget that while you might feel a sense of recognition for characters you see on TV every week, the actors have no idea who you are. He didn’t smile back, even though I had actually spotted him and other cast members earlier this year outside of Animal restaurant. I like to think he was still in character.

“Community” recently wrapped up filming, and the new season premieres at 8 p.m. Feb. 7 on NBC.

When Kenley’s middle brother, Logan, came to Los Angeles in November to attend his USC-Annenberg Getty Arts Journalism fellowship (the “other” USC, not the Gamecocks), we went on an official Paramount Studios tour. We got to walk through the Greendale Community College cafeteria and Abed’s apartment.

William McKinley High School — where the New Directions show choir performs on the hit TV show “Glee” — is across the lot, guarded by a barricade of security and tall shrubs. I’ve seen some of the show’s “Cheerios” (cheerleaders) walking around, but none of the stars. Our tour guide told us they have to watch for “Gleeks” (she actually referred to them as “runners”), who take off in the middle of tours in hopes of finding their favorite “Glee” crooner.

The tour guide also pointed out a bench near Paramount Studios’ original gates. It’s the famous bench featured in “Forrest Gump,” and when Tom Hanks was on the lot recently he reportedly sat down on it and handed out chocolates — in character — to those who stopped by! Sure hope that’s a true story.

In other news, Kenley and I:

• Bought a new car with four doors so that Malia can stick her head out the back window.

• Celebrated Kenley’s birthday at Slater’s 50/50, where burgers are made of half-ground beef and half-bacon!

• And continued the celebration at The Stinking Rose, where garlic is the specialty, but Dracula lurks around every corner.

• Traveled to Newport Beach in Orange County and couldn’t get “The O.C.” theme song out of our heads (“California, here we come”)

• Saw Buffi Jacobs play cello with singer-songwriter Sara Lov at the Bootleg Theatre in September. We also introduced Buffi to fellow Columbia expat and musician Lorrie Rivers.

• Returned to The Hollywood Bowl, where Wilco played “California Stars” as we actually sat under California stars.
• Got an invite to the private SOHO House in West Hollywood for a D.J. set by Ernest Greene of Washed Out, where we snapped a memento in the photo booth with Matt Tyler and Anna Metcalf and rode the elevator with Olympian and “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Apolo Ohno.

• Had a drink at The Prince, where Don Draper and his “Mad Men” colleagues enjoy happy hour.
• Experienced famed dive bar Jumbo’s Clown Room for the first time. Let’s just note that it features no real clowns, but Kenley was forced to contain himself after encountering what he considers to be his best celebrity sighting so far: Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister.
• Dressed up as a walking AMC promo for Halloween. Kenley donned tighty-whities to portray “Breaking Bad’s” Walter White, and I wore my mom’s going-away dress from her wedding to play “Mad Men’s” icy Betty Draper.

• Discovered The Hart and the Hunter restaurant, which specializes in Southern cuisine including pimento cheese, boiled peanuts, fried green tomatoes and Lowcountry boil.
• Spotted talk-show host Conan O’Brien at Sotto, an Italian restaurant that comes close to making you feel as if you’re in New York City.
• Celebrated Thanksgiving by taking Malia for a stroll along the Venice Boardwalk.

• And Kenley returned to the stage, playing acoustic sets at The Good Hurt in Mar Vista, and The Talking Stick in Venice. He’s got another show coming up Dec. 30 at The Cinema Bar.

The art of rock

Kenley and I visited L.A.’s newest rock attraction a few weeks after it debuted at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

There has been much anticipation — including excitement and criticism — about Michael Heizer’s 340-ton “Levitated Mass” sculpture. To some, the permanent exhibit is a grand piece of art, a study in perspective, a transformative journey and Los Angeles’ newest icon.

To others, it’s a big rock and a waste of money.

Kenley and I wanted to see it for ourselves. But first, we needed food. So we went to Milk on Beverly Boulevard, which is a few blocks away from LACMA. Be sure you go to Milk with an empty stomach. The cafe/ice cream shop/bakery serves pressed sandwiches and salads, but the real reason to visit is the dessert.

Kenley and I had already tried the restaurant’s Milk bars, which are served at Plan Check in West L.A., so we wanted to try something different. We couldn’t make up our minds, so we ordered a scoop of sweet corn ice cream, a slice of blue velvet cake and a chocolate chip cookie. You could see the corn kernels in the ice cream, which tasted light and refreshing. The blue velvet was three layers of blueberry chiffon cake, with fresh blueberries and white-chocolate-cream-cheese frosting.

After that, we definitely needed a walk around the grounds of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which is free to L.A. County residents after 3 p.m. on weekdays (except for Wednesdays, when it’s closed).

The large boulder that is the center of the “Levitated Mass” installation arrived in Los Angeles in March. “Rock parties” were held along the 107-mile, 11-day route from a quarry in Riverside County, Calif., to its new home on Museum Row. The rock star opened to the public in late June.

The boulder sits balanced above a 456-foot-long open tunnel that you can walk down until you are underneath the large mass. Once you pass beneath the boulder, you slowly “re-emerge” into modern civilization, and you can once again see the Los Angeles skyline. The rock itself isn’t too terribly impressive, and there’s not much of an illusion of it levitating. Still, you definitely feel like you’ve taken some sort of journey as you walk under the boulder. What does it mean? It’s up to your own interpretation, but it’s worth exploring and contemplating.

The artist himself doesn’t offer much insight into what it’s supposed to mean.

The LACMA website offers this: “Taken whole, Levitated Mass speaks to the expanse of art history, from ancient traditions of creating artworks from megalithic stone, to modern forms of abstract geometries and cutting-edge feats of engineering.”

And a Los Angeles’ Times article offers the most context for the piece and says that Heizer intends for “Leviated Mass” to be around for 3,500 years. The boulder is about 150 million years old, according to the article. A column by the LA Times art critic after “Levitated Mass” debuted suggests that the mass being levitated isn’t necessarily the boulder.

Suppose that the mass being elevated isn’t the hunk of granite at all but is instead a hunk of you. And, in the aggregate, us. Suppose we are the mass being levitated.

Levitation is a pretty obvious metaphor for a mysterious elevation of heart and mind from life’s rote habits, a lift that can characterize the profound experience of a great work of art. Whether or not Heizer’s “Levitated Mass” achieves that status is up to you, as it is to anyone who enters its space.

Heizer’s “Actual Size” exhibit inside the Broad Contemporary Art building also provides some context for “Levitated Mass” and runs through Oct. 28 (it hadn’t opened yet when we were there).

Once inside the Broad Contemporary Art building, we discovered “Metropolis II,” a kinetic microcosm of a bustling city. More than 1,000 toy cars speed through the sculpture so that every hour the equivalent of 100,000 cars navigate the city of plastic and steel, according to the LACMA website.

“The noise, the continuous flow of the trains, and the speeding toy cars produces in the viewer the stress of living in a dynamic, active and bustling 21^st Century city,” says the artist, Chris Burden, who also created the “Urban Light” sculpture in front of the museum.

It’s a little less stressful when you’re not in the driver’s seat.

We also stopped by the “James Bond” exhibit, featuring memorable opening credits from several Bond films in honor of this year’s 50th anniversary. (The exhibit closed in September.)

Kenley got lost in a hands-on kids exhibit.

It was a Friday night, so we decided to have a happy-hour drink at Stark Bar at the LACMA.

The Stark Bar is named after Ray Stark, a late patron and film producer. His films include “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Steel Magnolias,” and there also are cocktail creations named after his movies. (The “Steel Magnolia,” for example, is Champagne with rum, strawberries and basil.)

It’s a great place to people-watch and have a drink, especially on Friday nights, when Stark Bar has a free live jazz show beginning at 6 p.m. We heard saxophonist Rickey Woodard, who was a member of the Ray Charles Band and has played with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.

Worth noting is that on Fridays, the Stark Bar has a two-drink minimum. But the drinks are worth it. I ordered a “Blacklisted,” which was whiskey, blackberries, honey and lemon juice.

Kenley and I plan to go back to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art soon. Upcoming exhibits include Robert Mapplethorpe (opening Oct. 21), Stanley Kubrick (opening Nov. 1) and Caravaggio (opening Nov. 11)

Giggin’ with James

Kenley’s longtime friend and bass player James Touzel played a show with Tyler Matthew Smith at The Mint earlier this summer. It was the first time we’d been to The Mint, an intimate venue on Pico and a great place to catch a show. Earlier this year, LA Weekly recently named it one of the top five historic rock clubs in the city, and noted that Johnny Depp had been spotted there this spring.

Too bad Depp wasn’t in attendance this time, but Tyler Matthew Smith put on a good show. Smith is a singer-songwriter who alternates playing the saxophone, flute and the guitar on his songs. His sound is kinda folksy, jazzy, bluesy and a little jammy. James, who lives in San Francisco, has focused a lot on standup bass lately, but for this show he played electric.

James’ older brother, Jeremy (who is a teacher in Orange County) joined us later.

Before the show, Kenley and I caught up with James at Tom Bergin’s Irish restaurant on Fairfax. It’s one of L.A.’s oldest restaurants and reopened in May after being closed for renovations for almost a year. Some consider Tom Bergin’s the inspiration for the ’80s TV show “Cheers,” and Julia Roberts used to hang out there, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The U-shaped bar is a great place to have a beer or the signature Irish coffee. But while the menu has been redone, the food isn’t amazing, and it’s pretty expensive for what you get. If you go, order the mushroom pie. They also have really good and crispy french fries. Tom Bergin’s also just started serving brunch, according to Grub Street LA.

The Vegan Baby-sitters Club

About a week or two before our friends Eric and Emily Hartmann and their two little girls came to visit us in L.A., they told us they had recently gone vegan.

(Eric went to college with Kenley, was his band’s manager, and was a groomsman in our wedding. When he and Emily got married in Costa Rica several years ago, we were honored to be able to attend.)

Kenley and I must admit that we were a little concerned.

Now, if you’re a reader of this blog, you are aware that Kenley and I are most definitely not vegan. (See our rankings of the top 20-plus burgers we’ve tried in L.A.)

So he and I had to laugh when — on the same weekend the Hartmanns were scheduled to arrive — some other friends invited us to try Slater’s 50/50, a restaurant in Anaheim. The 50/50 in Slater’s name? That’s for their signature burger made of 50 percent beef and 50 percent bacon! Definitely not vegan-friendly!

Luckily, Los Angeles is a great place to be vegan. I did some research and found lots of dining options, and Eric also had some suggestions.

I went to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s and stocked up on soy milk, organic Cheerios, apples, almonds, popcorn, pita chips and humus, and I even found some vegan chocolate-chip cookies.

We also were a little nervous about how our husky (Malia) and two cats (Buster and Machete) would behave around small children. You get a sense from the cats’ names that they have been known to have mean streaks.

This was going to be an interesting week. But we’re always up for an adventure, and we were looking forward to seeing the Hartmanns and meeting their daughters Olivia and Belle.

Day 1

Eric rented a minivan so we could all travel together, and on the first day our friend Ronnie (another former bandmate and groomsman) invited us to lunch at DreamWorks studio, where he works as a texture artist. All I can say is that if you ever get a job offer from DreamWorks, take it! The campus is beautiful. It almost feels like a resort.

There’s a cafeteria where the employees and their guests can eat breakfast and lunch for free, and there is outdoor seating around a small pond. The spread was impressive — a salad bar, sandwich stations, hot entrees and sides.

After lunch, Ronnie took us to a touch screen in the lobby of one of the buildings, where we watched a trailer for “Rise of the Guardians,” an animated 3-D movie that will be released Nov. 21. The film is kind of a superhero tale featuring children’s “guardians” — Santa Claus, Sandman, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy — who have to join together to protect the world from an evil spirit.

Then Ronnie took us to one of the many screening rooms for a super sneak peek at the project he’s been working on — a movie called “The Croods.” It’s expected to be out in March, and the trailer hasn’t been released yet, but a few bloggers have gotten hold of some images. From what we saw, it looks pretty clever, and the 3-D animation is amazing — a long way from when I saw “Jaws” in 3-D in 1983.

Olivia, who is 4, was excited to have a whole movie theater to herself.

Ronnie also took us to what might or might not have been a secret room deep inside DreamWorks.

Accessible only by pulling back a faux bookcase, the small, dimly lit space held evidence of a bar, a tap and a refrigerator, where one might store adult beverages — a perfect place for brainstorming ideas for the next movie, or maybe avoiding a co-worker you don’t want to talk to.

We hesitantly left DreamWorks so Ronnie could get back to work.

We drove to Olvera Street, which is considered the birthplace of Los Angeles because it’s where the first Spanish families settled in the area in 1781. We strolled along the market and stopped for a modern-day Mexican snack — chips and salsa, with margaritas.

From there, we headed to The Grove, where we did some window-shopping. We decided we should probably eat dinner before the children got too tired, so we stopped at Veggie Grill for our first vegan meal.

Veggie Grill is a fast-casual regional chain. The menu offers a selection of nachos, wings, mac and cheese, and burgers, but the dishes use veggie proteins made with soy and wheat. Emily and I split a Bali bliss sandwich, which was Indonesian-style tempeh, with lettuce, tomato and red onion. We also had a Baja fiesta salad, their version of a Southwestern-style salad.

Kenley had an all-American stack, which was a veggie steak with onion rings on top. And he seemed to actually like it!

It had been a long day, and the kids crashed as we headed back home. Emily put them to bed, and then we adults stayed up late, drank wine and caught up.

Day 2

We drove across town to a restaurant called Flore Vegan in Silver Lake. It’s a small but well-known vegan restaurant that Natalie Portman reportedly visited just a few weeks before we did.

We had to wait a while for a large table because the place is really small, but it was worth it! We had nachos with cashew cheese as an appetizer, followed by a burrito flore, which had tempeh bacon in it. Kenley ate almost the entire thing. Making progress!

For dessert? Vegan chocolate cupcakes. All the food was really good, and if it were closer to us, I’d go back on a regular basis.

After lunch we took a long, scenic route along Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset to the Pacific Coast Highway and down to Santa Monica, where we let Olivia and Belle put their feet in the sand.

We walked up to the Santa Monica Pier, where Emily, Olivia, Kenley and I rode the Ferris wheel. Eric and Belle waited for us on the ground.

It had been another long day for the children, so we decided to go back to our apartment and order pizza. You can request vegan “cheese” on any Pitfire Pizza, and I got to try their signature burrata pie, which has burrata cheese, carmelized onions, hazelnuts and a pesto drizzle.

Day 3

Saturday morning, we drove down to Laguna Beach, where Eric and Emily were attending a friend’s wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna-Niguel resort. Kenley and I got to tag along for the day so we could baby-sit Olivia and Belle while Eric and Emily were at the rehearsal dinner.

We hadn’t been as far south as Laguna, and the coast is beautiful! We hung out by the pool and had lunch. Then, Kenley and I walked down to the beach and had a beverage at the bar while Emily and Eric got ready for dinner.

Our baby-sitting experience? Smooth and easy! Olivia fell asleep watching the movie “Cars” on TV. I was a bit concerned that Belle still seemed wide awake after bedtime, crawling around everywhere. But I held her for a little while, and after she settled down a bit, I put her in her crib, in hopes it would signal sleepy time. Seemed to work perfectly.

By the time Kenley got back from grabbing sandwiches for dinner downstairs, both girls were asleep! When Eric and Emily got back from dinner, they called us “baby whisperers,” but honestly I think we had just worn them out over the past three days.

I’ll be happy to baby-sit anytime — as long as it’s at the Ritz!

What we learned:

It turns out that Malia, Buster and Machete are much more tolerant around small children than we expected, letting Olivia pull their tails and “dress” them with blankets.

I was a bit surprised, in my short-lived vegan experience, that so much of what was on the menus was the same as what you’d find on a menu at any restaurant — burgers, burritos, pizza. I had expected the food to at least sound more healthful: fruit and vegetable plates or something. I didn’t feel like I was eating all that much better. But after we’d ingested what would have been a feast at any other restaurant, we noticed we didn’t feel quite as full or sluggish. I still want to try some of the other vegan restaurants around town, but I don’t think I could permanently give up bacon, cheese or ice cream.

The most difficult thing to adjust to was the children’s bedtimes. They woke up early, which I actually liked because we had a leisurely morning and could still get a good jump-start on our day. But we definitely had to end our day earlier than we were used to.

The Youngs take on Las Vegas

We met Kenley’s parents and the youngest Young brother, Kaith, in Las Vegas in June. It was their first trip to Sin City — and the second time in recent memory that we were able to persuade Mr. Young to board a plane and fly across the country.

Kenley’s middle brother, Logan, had suggested that we meet in Vegas instead of the Youngs making a second trip to L.A. But sadly, it turned out that Logan couldn’t join us.

It was the third trip to Vegas for Kenley and me, and we felt were getting to know our way around the city pretty well.

Kenley’s parents were staying two full days in Vegas, and we planned an itinerary aimed at introducing them to the different casinos and a few of our favorite restaurants.

Day 1

Kenley and I arrived in the late afternoon to check into the Aria Resort and Casino. We chose the Aria first of all because of its great location in the center of the Strip; you can easily walk to destinations to the north and the south. Aria also has a modern — not kitschy — vibe, and it’s not as expensive as the Bellagio or the Wynn.

When Kenley and I checked into the Aria, we received a free, unrequested upgrade to a suite (which was larger than our L.A. apartment)! There were four flat-screen televisions, two wet bars and a table that could seat 10 comfortably. You could control the TV, the lights and the blinds from an iPad-like device next to the bed. We briefly considered not leaving the room our entire trip.

But instead, we had a late dinner at Todd English P.U.B. in Crystals at the CityCenter shopping complex, which is next to the Aria. Todd English is a fun, casual comfort-food spot with good happy-hour specials. It’s a nice place to have lunch or dinner if you’re staying nearby, but it’s probably not worth going out of your way to visit.

The Youngs’ flight out of Charlotte had been delayed, so they missed their connection and had to be rerouted through San Francisco. They ended up arriving in Vegas at 2 a.m. Not a good way to encourage them to fly more often.

Luckily, Vegas stays up all night. I crashed, while Kenley went to pick up his parents.

Day 2

We had brunch at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris casino. It’s the one place Kenley and I have eaten at all three times we’ve been to Vegas — not necessarily because the food is amazing, but because of the location. The restaurant overlooks the Strip and is right across the street from the Bellagio’s dancing water fountains. I also knew that it would give Mrs. Young — a former French teacher — a good first impression of Vegas. And I was right. (If you go, order the ham-and-cheese crepe.)

It was already hard to tear Mr. Young and Kaith away from the blackjack and roulette tables. You could see from the twinkles in their eyes the false confidence of visitors who have won a little and not lost much — yet. We eventually got them to Caesars Palace, a Vegas classic, where we walked through the Forum Shops (with the faux-blue skies) and stopped along the way for some video poker.

From there, we strolled through the Bellagio and its elaborate gardens.

For dinner we went to Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak in the MGM Grand Casino. Kenley and I had chosen Craftsteak because the food is simple yet flavorful, and the meal is served family style.

However, the friendly but pretentious waiter who tried to direct us to the $125-per-person tasting menu and $100 bottles of wine was off-putting and clearly misread our style. We ordered (a la carte) the braised short ribs, free-range chicken, hangar steak, sweet corn, green beans and potato gratin, and it was more than enough for all five of us. The food was good, as Kenley and I remembered. And our meal ended up being $35 per person, which is pretty reasonable. Still, Craftsteak’s formal atmosphere is perhaps best saved for special occasions.

After a few rounds of blackjack, Mr. Young was far more impressed by the sheer size of the MGM Casino. He and Kaith would have been happy to have stayed there the rest of the night.

Fortunately, we had places to go and people to see. We found out that two of our L.A. food-night friends, Jasika and Claire, also happened to be in Vegas — and staying at the Aria — so we met up with them for drinks back at The Cosmopolitan’s Chandelier bar. It was great catching up with them, and it also meant that Mr. Young and Kaith got to explore the Cosmo’s casino, too.

Day 3

Everyone should experience a buffet on an inaugural trip to Vegas, so we used our meal credits at the aptly named The Buffet at Aria for breakfast. (Go at 10:30 a.m. for breakfast and stay to try the lunch offerings, which are put out at 11). As Southerners, we were impressed that they got their grits just about right. And you’ll definitely want to save room for dessert, provided by Jean Philippe Patisserie, which has a location on the edge of the casino floor.

The Buffet was better than expected, but on our next trip we’ll try the buffet at the Bellagio, which gets high ratings from everyone we’ve talked to. If you’re staying at Aria, The Buffet is perfect to fuel up at breakfast or lunch, but there are far better dinner options.

After lunch, Kenley and I took his mom on a walking tour of The Venetian, with a detour through The Cosmopolitan casino and its Chandelier bar. His dad and brother? They wanted to stay behind and gamble.

We met back up with the men for the Big Elvis Show, which has moved from Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall to Harrah’s just up the street. Kenley and I have seen Big Elvis each time we’ve gone to Vegas, and we knew Kenley’s mom would enjoy the show.

Big Elvis sings over karaoke-like recordings of Elvis tunes, and the audience is usually a generation or two older than we are. But this guy is one of the best Elvis impersonators in Vegas (TIME magazine voted him one of the top 10 in the country in 2010), and he has a fascinating backstory, which I’ve written about before on this blog. Plus, the show is free!

The new venue is a bit awkward because it also serves as a piano bar in the evenings, but the sound system at Harrah’s is much better.

This time, Kenley got invited “on stage” to sing with Big Elvis and several other older gentleman who were chosen from the audience. Kenley got a certificate, and after the show we had our picture taken with Big Elvis. Before leaving, Kenley made his best purchase of the trip — $10 plastic-gold Elvis sunglasses.

After the show, we walked over to Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall, another one of our favorite stops while in Vegas. Yes, it’s a total dive, but that’s why we like it — well, that and the affordable video poker and cheap beer.

For dinner, we had burgers at Holsteins in The Cosmopolitan casino. Holsteins has a fun atmosphere, and its Gold Standard burger was good, but probably not the best in Vegas (as it claims on its website). Holsteins does have a solid selection of craft beers and spiked milkshakes. Might be a good place for lunch or happy hour, but there are much better options for dinner at The Cosmopolitan, including Comme Ca, Jaleo and China Poblano.

When Kenley and I have gone to Vegas in the past, we’ve played the easy, low-risk and quite addictive blackjack games on the video poker machines. So we tried to pick up a few tips from Mr. Young and Kaith, who hit the tables for poker, roulette and war.

What I learmed from watching Mr. Young and Kaith is that you have to bet more than $10 at a time in order to have a decent chance at winning. But for me, it’s too hard to watch even $10 disappear just like that. I’d much rather watch $100 disappear on a great meal or a pair of shoes, or jeans, or sunglasses, or a watch, or … you get the idea.

After their two days in Vegas, I don’t think Mr. Young or Kaith had won big, but they weren’t down too much either. I think they are probably already scheming about when they can return. But it will probably have to be a guys’ trip. I’m not sure Vegas was Mrs. Young’s scene, though I do regret not splurging on tickets to one of the many Cirque du Soleil shows while we were there. I think she might have a different appreciation of Vegas after that.

Day 4

We dropped the Youngs off at the airport early Friday morning and returned to the hotel to claim a spot at Aria’s pool just as it opened.

After a few relaxing hours in the blazing desert sun, we got dressed and went shopping. Destination: One of the country’s three  Topshop stores. Topshop is a British clothing retailer that sells trendy clothes at relatively inexpensive prices — think Forever 21. Kenley and I actually visited the flagship London store a few years ago during our Europe trip. Kenley bought a Batman T-shirt there, which he still wears — a lot.

Note that there is absolutely no need to go to Vegas’ Fashion Show Mall except for the pilgrimage to Topshop. You can probably find the rest of the stores in your town’s mall or in one of the casinos, and there are not many good dining options. I made a few purchases at Topshop, including these sunglasses.

(Select Nordstrom stores and its website started selling Topshop clothing today, and I’ve already collected my favorite pieces on a Pinterest board. L.A. is getting its own Topshop at The Grove this winter or early spring.)

After the shopping excursion, Kenley was ready for an adult beverage, so we walked across the street to the Wynn. We hadn’t ever ventured this far up the Strip, and the Wynn is definitely worth walking through, if for no other reason than to window-shop at the Manolo Blahnik boutique — one of only two in the country! We had a beer at one of the bars near the casino. Next time, we might have to make reservations at one of the restaurants overlooking the lake and waterfall.

As we made our way back toward CityCenter, we stopped in The Venetian and had a drink at the Public House, which is one of the best bars for craft beers in Vegas. The restaurant menu looked good, too. After that we stopped into The Bourbon Room for some ’80s nostalgia, in the form of a Bartles & James pomegranate-raspberry wine cooler. Remember those? Still dangerous!

The Bourbon Room had only recently opened in anticipation of the “Rock of Ages” musical, which is replacing the Blue Man Group show at one of The Venetian’s theaters. If I had to work in Vegas, I’d want to work at The Bourbon Room. The bartenders wear black leather leggings, cut-up band T-shirts that hang off their shoulders, and studded belts and bracelets. All your favorite hair bands’ music videos play on the large screens. Don’t need nothin’ but a good time!

For dinner, we had reservations at Jose Andres’ China Poblano in The Cosmopolitan. It’s my new favorite restaurant in Vegas. Kenley and I had eaten at Andres’ Jaleo the last time we were in Vegas. While Jaleo is a Spanish tapas restaurant, China Poblano mashes up Mexican tapas and Chinese dim sum in a little more relaxed environment.

We ordered both Chinese and Mexican dishes. We tried the Golden Pigs, which are fried steamed buns with Chinese barbeque pork, and we had the Dan Dan Mian noodies, which are wheat noodles with a spicy pork sauce. Our Mexican dishes included Papas Fritas (which are basically french fries with a mole sauce) and carnitas tacos.

Though Andres is normally known for his Spanish tapas, we enjoyed the Chinese dishes the most. We finished our meal with the Jericalla dessert, which was a chocolate custard with passion fruit and chocolate sorbet.

While walking back to the hotel, Kenley actually stopped for one of the Strip’s many street hawkers (who try to lure you into the “best deals” or the hottest nightclubs). The guy told us that the L.A. Kings hockey team — the recently crowned NHL champs — would be at Hyde nightclub in the Bellagio that night, with the Stanley Cup in tow! How could we refuse?

The atmosphere inside Hyde can best be described as a cross between “Mad Men” and “Eyes Wide Shut.” The cocktail servers wore Betty Draper-type aprons and danced on platforms while pushing vacuums and wearing opaque masks. Weird, but kind of sensual.

But what makes Hyde truly jaw-dropping and worth getting past the velvet ropes is its veranda, offering a large, wide-open, close-up view of Bellagio’s dancing water fountains and the Strip beyond.

I could have stayed and people-watched at Hyde for the rest of the night! But after two hours of smoke-fog machines, 20-minute waits for drinks, and thump-thump-thump house music, poor Kenley was ready to leave, without even a sighting of the Kings.

As we walked out of the Bellagio, we noticed that the guy holding the door looked like he had gotten pretty roughed up. We walked outside into a crowd and looked down. There, at our feet, was the Stanley Cup!

Turns out, that wasn’t just any guy holding the door. It was the entire Kings hockey team! We turned around and followed the team as they hoisted the Cup above their heads and walked through the casino to Hyde. There, they were met by the cocktail waitresses, who had changed into cheerleader outfits and held signs spelling out “K-I-N-G-S.” Kenley snapped a few photos. One of them was picked up by the folks back at FOXSports.com and included in a gallery that followed Lord Stanley as “he” traveled the country this summer with members of the Kings organization. Check out slide No. 62.

On Saturday, we reluctantly checked out of our suite and had a final lunch at Mesa Grill in Caesars Palace. It was our only chance to try one of celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s burgers, since there’s not a Bobby’s Burger Palace on the West Coast,. The menu looked great, and because we felt bad just ordering a hamburger, we also got a shrimp tamale, which was excellent. The burger? It was pretty darn good, too. The service, however, was really slow and disjointed, which tainted our experience somewhat. Still, the Mesa burger gets our top vote for best burger in Vegas so far. (We’ve tried Central, Burger Bar, Holsteins and Smashburger.)

We don’t have another trip to Vegas planned at the moment, but I’m already making a list of places I want to check out next time. What are your favorite places to eat and stay in Vegas? Let us know in the comments.

Getting to the Getty: Herb Ritts and the Cult of Celebrity

One of my first freelance copy-editing assignments at The Hollywood Reporter was to edit a column that actor Richard Gere wrote about the iconic image of him in front of a broken-down car shot by photographer Herb Ritts.

Source: hollywoodreporter.com via Shelley on Pinterest

There’s a very real reason why Herb was on top of everyone’s list of still photographers. He captured something in his subjects — an essential quality. We recognize ourselves. He had a warmth in his photographs that everyone liked.

The remembrance ran in advance of the “Herb Ritts L.A. Style” photography exhibit at the Getty Museum, which has recently been extended to Sept. 2. Even if you haven’t heard Ritts’ name, you would recognize much of his work in fashion spreads and commercials in the 1980s and ’90s.

Kenley and I hadn’t been to the Getty Center yet, so I put the exhibit on our to-do list. And when we finally had a free Saturday together, we decided to have brunch and then go to the museum, which sits atop a hill in West Los Angeles, just north of Sunset Boulevard.

For brunch beforehand, we returned to 26 Beach in Venice, where about a month earlier we’d sampled the restaurant’s over-the-top hamburger creations. During that initial visit, we’d also gotten a glimpse of the brunch menu, in which they give a similar extravagant touch to french toast — one of my favorites. That was our goal this time around.

There are at least 20 different types of french toast on the menu, including s’mores, chocolate explosion (made with chocolate bread custard) and polar bear (made with croissants and topped with ice cream).

Kenley ordered the Reese’s Pieces version, which actually has Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups melted between the slices of battered bread. I resisted the more tempting concoctions and chose the very berry.

(If you go to 26 Beach, be sure to make reservations several days in advance, as there’s always a group waiting on the sidewalk outside … and even if you have reservations, you still might have to wait a while.)

Later that day, we drove up the 405, parked at the foot of the hill and took the tram up to the Getty. (Parking is $10 after 5 p.m.; $15 before.) We arrived just as the sun was starting to set, casting a warm, pink glow on the gardens and the smoggy city below. We spent some time exploring the public spaces and look-outs surrounding the buildings. Many couples and some families had brought blankets and had claimed spots on the grass to watch the sunset. Kenley says it’s hard to believe this first photo of the garden isn’t a painting itself:

Kenley and I grabbed a snack at one of the outdoor carts before heading into the museum. (If you’re planning on dinner, note that the cafe closes at 6 p.m. A more formal restaurant stays open for dinner during summer.)

The Getty’s permanent collection is pretty overwhelming — and impressive. We started on the upper level of the West Pavilion, which features paintings after 1800, including works from Monet, Van Gogh and Degas. We then worked our way back in time as we wandered through the upper levels of the South and East pavilions, which feature paintings from 1600 to 1800.

I especially liked how the Getty curator placed Monet’s “Study of Light” under an actual skylight so that the natural light crossed the painting in much the same way the sun would have crossed the Rouen Cathedral in France.

The museum also features sculpture, decorative arts and manuscripts on the lower level.

With about an hour before the museum was to close at 9 p.m., we hurried back to the Center for Photographs in the West Pavilion to see the Ritts’ exhibit and the accompanying “Portraits of Renown: Photography and the Cult of Celebrity.”

Ritts is known for his nude photography of celebrities as well as athletes and dancers. He brought an artistic eye to fashion spreads and commercial work, including music videos. It was the age of MTV, after all.

We’d jumped forward several centuries, from the paintings of the 1600s to the photography of the 1990s, and the contrast of the older, modest, religious-themed art with today’s much more aggressive, secular art was palpable.

And while a lot of art throughout time celebrates the human body, it was striking to see how bodies have gone from soft and voluptuous to slim, firm and muscular — and how perceptions of health and beauty have changed over time.

One room of the exhibit focused on Ritts’ commercial work, which included a set of nudes of Olympic athletes he shot for a campaign for Tag Heuer. Kenley noted a photo of swimmer and six-time gold-medalist Amy Van Dyken, who worked as one of FOXSports.com’s Olympic correspondents.

Source: staleywise.com via Shelley on Pinterest

Music videos that Ritts had directed were playing on loop in another room. How could you forget Madonna’s “Cherish,” Janet Jackson’s “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” and Chris Issac’s “Wicked Game”? It was easy to recognize the sexy vibe they all shared.

The accompanying “Cult of Celebrity” exhibit provided context to the Ritts exhibit — showcasing how photography, from its inception, was used to capture images of wealthy and famous people. One of my favorites was a portrait of the Obamas in their Chicago apartment, taken by Mariana Cook in 1996 as part of  a project on American couples. They look young and earnest.

Source: newyorker.com via Shelley on Pinterest

“There is a strong possibility that Barack will pursue a political career, although it’s unclear. There is a little tension with that. I’m very wary of politics. I think he’s too much of a good guy for the kind of brutality, the skepticism,” Michelle Obama said when the photo was taken in 1996. Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01/19/090119fa_fact_cook#ixzz240G9YuJc

Let the games begin!

Last week I was asked to put together a billboard for FOXSports.com about the top 10 reasons the Olympics are “absolutely fabulous” (a play on the cult classic British TV comedy that features two over-the-top leading ladies who always seem to have a bubbly beverage in their hands.)

What do we love about the Olympics? My first snarky response: the hot bodies of the athletes (I’ve been looking at photos of them for months, one of the challenges of the job).

But I put the question to my co-workers, and we came up with a surprisingly sincere (and semi-sappy) list of why we really do love the Summer Games. Here’s the finished product, which led the FOXSports.com website Thursday:

FOXSports.com started counting down to the games in April — when they were 100 days away — with the launch of a new section of the website dedicated solely to the London Games. Kenley and I have both been assigned to the Olympic team, which means we’ve been editing a lot of stories, watching tons of videos, building photo galleries, and writing a lot of headlines about athletes seeking comebacks and redemption. (No, it does not mean that I’m writing this from London. They sent the writers and production folks, not the copy editors.)

Some might argue that the Olympics are a time when journalists tend to go overboard in search of the impossibly dramatic storylines, in an effort to get large audiences to care about obscure sports they wouldn’t normally follow. (Newsweek recently ran an interesting story about NBC’s broadcast and “The Art of Olympic Seduction.”)

And while the coverage can at times border on melodrama, storytelling when done well is always powerful and inspiring — like the athletes themselves.

Then of course there’s the high-traffic gossip and rumor mill — ever popular in the age of blogging and tweeting, but reaching a fever pitch now in what is being billed as the first “social” Olympics.

So check out FOXSports.com’s social media hub, where you can follow which athletes are getting the most buzz and what our Olympic experts (Dominique Dawes, Amy Van Dyken, Christian Laettner and Maurice Greene) have to say about the games.

Below are a few of the stories and billboards I’ve worked on so far.

Oh, and those hot bodies? We haven’t ignored them. One of our most popular photo galleries so far? Sexiest Olympians. Enjoy!

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