KING of the HILLS
Known as a playground for the rich and famous, Beverly Hills has so much more to offer, as Dan Ahwa discovers
Iam sitting outside Il Pastaio, an iconic Italian restaurant on the intersection of Brighton Way and North Canon Drive in the city of Beverly Hills on a typically sunny Californian day. It’s the type of restaurant with chic awnings, crisp linen and glamorous wait staff who look as if they’ve walked off the set of The O.C.
As I plunge my eco straw into a glass of organic green juice and pick at my Paccheri Alla Justin Bieber — a saucy rigatoni with pink sauce named after its famous patron — meme sensation and Turkish butcher “Salt Bae” glides past me on a giant Segway wearing his signature shades. A man across the street whips out a long lens camera from his backpack and starts taking photos. Despite Salt’s C-grade celebrity status, anyone with a familiar face is open slather for the paps in this town.
I try to explain to my table-mate that New Zealanders have close to zero interest in celebrities, but seconds later I am literally eating my words as I take another forkful of Bieber’s rigatoni, swept up by the reality show unfolding in front of me as pedestrians clamour for selfies with Salt Bae.
It’s easy to be swept up in the glamour of this city — and yes it’s a city, its own entity completely separate from the rest of
Los Angeles. It even has its own council and rotating mayor, its own newspaper, the Beverly
Hills Courier; and could probably afford its own currency if it wanted — the average household income here is approximately US$2 million (NZ$3.1m), remarkable given the city is contained within a tidy radius of 1500ha.
I take a luxury 30-minute transfer from the Private Suites at LAX. My driver, Kevin Sanli of Beverly Hills Car Rental, is well-versed in the luxury market, shuttling everyone from celebrities to Qatari princesses to and from the airport. Offering commentary along the way, he’s interrupted by the smoke coming from the Californian fires in the distance, offering some perspective as we make our way into one of the most glamorous cities in America.
Beverly Hills’ reputation means that for most economy class travellers, it’s a town on the way to more affordable lodgings in West Hollywood or downtown LA.
But you’ll be happy to discover boutique hotels with four-star ratings that are surprisingly comfortable and close to everything you want to see. I check into one, the Luxe Rodeo Drive, before heading straight out on a personalised guided walking tour to shake off the jet-lag, and push through my newly acquired timezone.
The Another Side Tour takes me around the city’s “Golden Triangle” — a cross-section of three major Beverly Hills roads: South Santa Monica Boulevard to the northwest, Wilshire Boulevard to the south and Canon Drive to the east — its focal point, my home for the week, the famous luxury strip of Rodeo Drive.
My guide takes me along Rodeo, where glistening storefronts from Louis Vuitton to Saint Laurent stand shoulder to shoulder. One unique Beverly Hills institution, the House of Bijan, is worth checking out to discover a local luxury icon founded by Iranian immigrant Bijan Pakzad whose back story is a fascinating example of the American dream. Opening on Rodeo Drive in 1976, Bijan (who died in 2011) accumulated a rolodex of high-profile celebrity clients, including five American presidents, who swear by his glamorous designs. There’s even House of Bijan parking meters rendered in the brand’s signature sunflower yellow.
If you consider retail therapy a professional sport (and you have the budget), there’s no shortage of boutiques to help you live out your
Pretty Woman fantasies.
In fact this year, the much-loved film celebrates its 30th anniversary, and the city’s iconic Beverly Wilshire Hotel with its Italian Renaissance exteriors, immortalised in the film, has a host of themed events to mark the milestone, from a DIY Pretty Woman cocktail upon arrival, to a Pretty
Woman-themed day at its spa.
Even if you don’t have the six-figure salary of Richard Gere’s character in the film, there’s plenty to do that doesn’t require a platinum American Express card. Areas such as South Beverly Drive are a low-key option, including Urth Cafe at number 267 (great organic coffee), Cafe Istanbul at number 326 — a no-frills Turkish eatery that’s perfect for anyone on a budget — and Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone’s discreet Maude restaurant, a casual dining experience with a menu that changes seasonally and a fun private wine loft upstairs for the perfect intimate nightcap. There are myriad art galleries and art boutiques with some of the most enviable collections in the world here too. The tour dovetails towards Via Rodeo, modelled on a quaint European cobblestone street. Here, I discover an impressive art gallery, Galerie Michael, housing pieces by Picasso and Salvador Dali. Around the corner at 9465 Wilshire Boulevard is one of my favourite public artworks — a surreal 18-foot high lacquered aluminium sculpture called The Unconscious by Austrian sculpture artist Franz West. From here, we stroll towards the iconic Beverly Gardens Park and I come across a typically whimsical Yayoi Kusama sculpture gifted to the city in 2007, before making a pit-stop across the street at a pop-up shop/art exhibition hosted by French luxury brand Louis Vuitton. While the pop-up is now closed, it’s an indication of what’s to come, as many of the city’s iconic luxury retailers look at other ways to localise their shopping experiences for the city’s steady stream of high-income tourists. Art is, of course, one of those things that allows you to show off how much you earn, and the city of Beverly Hills has created its own Arts & Culture Commission since June 2019, with the aim of promoting and nurturing the arts and cultural life of Beverly Hills.