SAND, SEA AND SUNSETS IN SANTA MONICA
I always bossily tell friends to book their first couple of nights in LA on the beach, in sporty, splashy Santa Monica, an easy 20-minute drive (or Uber trip – ignore people who say you can’t visit LA without a car) from LAX. Lungfuls of sea air and a dip in the Pacific Ocean rinses the long flight off you. And strolling or cycling the boardwalk between Santa Monica and neighbouring Venice Beach offers some of the finest people-watching opportunities on the planet, with gymnasts turning tricks in the hoops at Muscle Beach, wealthy retirees walking their poodles, yogis keeping the organic vegan restaurants in business, and Venice’s new tech community catching a few waves before heading to work at Google.
The swishest digs in Santa Monica are the 1920s-styled bungalows at the Fairmont Miramar Santa Monica, while the new Santa Monica Proper Hotel wins on Instagram allure, thanks to the handiwork of It-interior designer Kelly Wearstler. Far too many visitors skip Los Angeles itself in their hurry to road-trip to other beaches further south, or the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma, or the giant redwoods north of San Francisco, or the modernist homes and spa resorts of Palm Springs. But Santa Monica makes a luxurious landing pad in LA, where travellers can ease themselves out of jetlag with sunset strolls on the beach, and food that tastes like it’s fixing you. Cassia, chef Bryant Ng’s acclaimed French-Vietnamese restaurant, is reliably lifeaffirming, with bold flavours and bustling staff and shiny happy diners. In Venice Beach, a little more knowingly hipster and rough-around-the edges, the hot-ticket restaurant is Felix, Evan Funke’s upscale Italian eatery, which has shifted some of the queue away from Venice stalwart Gjelina. I’ve had many memorable meals in Santa Monica, but when it comes to drinks, there is a lone standout: cocktail chef Matthew Biancaniello, who offers cocktail foraging tours in Malibu, tasting feasts at his home, and brews his own persimmon brandy. It was Biancaniello who first introduced me to Santa Monica Farmers Market, which sees chefs and farmers converge, with stalls heaving with organic, seemingly oversize fresh produce and delicious street eats.
STAY Fairmont Miramar Santa Monica, fairmont.com; Santa Monica Proper Hotel, properhotel.com
EAT Cassia, cassiala.com; Felix, felixla.com;
Gjelina, gjelina.com
DRINK Matthew Biancaniello, matthewbiancaniello.com