The folks were here for a week and now that they've left, my tastebuds are silently weeping.
A quick summary of what we did, and how I'll take you to the best food places in town (especially if you're paying! ha!)
We did start off with a Trader Joe's meal actually. I picked them up from the airport, we checked in to their trendy hotel (with hot chocolate croissants out on a table), and back to my place for lunch (soup and sand). We ventured to Griffith park and checked out the observatory with everyone else (but we got a parking spot in the lot somehow). It hurts the head with all the knowledge...and the realization that if something happens to the sun we're all f***ed. Vitello's for dinner, complete with a piano bar (that's the place Robert Blake went the night his wife was shot).
Katsuya sushi the next night. Delish. We stopped by a hole-in-the-wall wine bar on the way home and Ma said "celebrities?" and I said "not here". We were the only ones in the place, and the bartender had to come in from smoking on the sidewalk, to serve us. A few minutes later in walks Nick Lachey, a young woman and a guy. (I didn't tell Ma until we were in the car that he was there) I guess he counts as a celebrity.
Tuesday they went to the Bonnie Hunt show and we went to Mel's Diner, where a turkey burger was good and reasonably priced for that area. American Graffiti was filmed there, which made me wonder where the restaurant is that Grease was filmed at and why aren't I there everyday? (probably a sound stage)
Wednesday was Gjelina in Venice. We got there at 5pm with no reservations, and the guy said if we came back at 5:30 he could give us a table. We walk around and come back at 5:30 and the guy looks at me like he's never seen me in his life. I even said something like "we were just here..." and he made some excuse about seeing so many people. They're pretty snotty there, but you put up with it because of the food. Although, our server was nice.
We didn't wait a real long time in line at the Wanda Sykes show, but once we were seated it was several hours to film one show. We got sat in the back, which means we aren't one of the cool people (I figured out the "3" they put on our wrist was some kind of label). Saw John Corbett in the hallway. He is a tall drink of water. Wanda walked by, she is very short. Erykah Badu performed. I was oblivious to the controversy about her new video, but when her peak was what- 10 or more years ago, it's what you have to do.
That's about it for celebs. Oh, Ma says she saw Justin Bieber, I don't even know if I'm spelling that right. Long story how she figured out it was him since half the town has hair like that, but he was on American Idol the night before.
Friday we went to the Self Realization Center to pay tribute to our loved ones, Malibu Mart for about a minute, Malibu beach to walk and look at the homes. For dinner we went to Moonshadows where Mel Gibson was partying before the "Sugar T*ts" debacle. We didn't see any celebs, but something better- dolphins jumping in the ocean right outside the window as we enjoyed a fabulous meal. Now that is a great day.
