BEST PLACE TO BE A VEGAN

Tom Sainsbury is la-la over Los Angeles, writes

Comedian, actor and playwright Tom Sainsbury is one of many Kiwis who loves LA, as he tells us in the new episode of Travel podcast Trip Notes. He first visited as a child on a trip to Disneyland, but since then he’s been back a number of times and even spent a month living there.

“I loved it,” he tells me and co-host Tim Roxborogh. “We were meeting film-y, actor-y people — I found it a city of like-minded people”.

In the episode, available on iHeartRadio this Tuesday, Sainsbury gives some of his picks for the best places in LA to hang out — some of his favourites being West Hollywood and Venice Beach. But he found one common thing to like, wherever he went.

“The cuisine options are so good. I’m vegan and on every block there are cafes dedicated to veganism. It’s amazing.”

Sainsbury is one of the hopefuls in the Auckland mayoral race, with his tongue-in-cheek candidacy as one of his characters, wine-loving Fiona. Voting closes on October 12, and the results will be announced by October 23. If Sainsbury doesn’t succeed, a move to LA could be on the cards.

“I definitely think I could make it there,” he says. “In terms of stand-up . . . I’ve had terrible audiences here, and once you’ve had a terrible audience, you kind of become invincible.”