Howdy, dear readers! How’ve you been lately?

For much of April, I’ve been endlessly recovering from walking pneumonia, planning an impending/exciting/fun/eventually romantic/hopefully-not-too-exhausting month-long trip to Europe (more on that next week) and writing two Los Angeles-area guides for USA Today.com‘s travel section, which I’ll happily share just as soon as they’re ready.

What I haven’t been doing? Writing anything new here on Travels With Two.

A lovely coincidence, then, that my guest post for Boingo Wireless has just been published!

Boingo, my favorite international Wi-Fi-hotspot provider, has asked me to share my top five off-the-beaten-path pursuits when visiting Los Angeles (or even just LAX, our semi-delightful airport). I hope you enjoy these recommendations for exploring my home city, and become inspired to seek out your own adventures here.

Here’s the link, and I wish you a great weekend — wherever you are!

Melanie Waldman’s Eclectic Guide to LA 2012: Roller Derby, Dumplings and Pop Art

Travels With Two

The South Rim of the Grand Canyon

Continued from
Go West, I Said

 
The first two days of my road trip around the American West were just spectacular:

There were tumbleweeds, Joshua trees and enormous crows beneath a metal-bright blue sky.

I raced mile-long technicolor trains and waved to other drivers, grinning like a fool.

I stayed the night in a former brothel along Route 66, where I had a damn fine cappuccino.

And then I walked along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, eyes agog.

It’s really good out here.

In the middle of the Mojave Desert, I hopped off the freeway to follow Historic Route 66 for a bit -- and was captivated by this abandoned trading post

The closer I got to Arizona, the sandy Mojave soil became darker and the clouds stretched long across the sky

After six hours of driving, I pulled into Williams, Arizona along the old Route 66

Williams calls itself "Gateway to the Grand Canyon," and is the starting point for the Grand Canyon Railway

View from the Grand Canyon Railway depot in Williams, Arizona at 5pm in late winter

Across the street from the train depot, my home for the night: The Red Garter Bed and Bakery, a former 1897 saloon and brothel

Yes, the mannequin in the window of the Red Garter IS a hooker

Room No. 2 at the Red Garter, with a cozy bed and free wi-fi

Red Raven Restaurant, which was recommended to me for dinner by Deb at the Red Garter

At the cozy Red Raven, I had a delicious dinner of salmon with pesto, asparagus and mashed potatoes, and a fine Pinot Noir

A wander around Williams takes about 45 minutes, and you'll see lots of Hopi images

And what would a Wild West town be without a wooden Indian, I ask you? (*sigh*)

After the 30-mile drive up from Williams, this was my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon in 22 years!

The walking paths around the South Rim of the Grand Canyon were, in early March, cleared only slightly of ice and snow

The snow and ice on the Canyon itself? Much easier to manage -- and gorgeous

Yes, the Canyon is incredible, but the gnarled trees -- and sheer number of languages you'll hear spoken -- are also impressive

Stumbled across the mule corral near the South Rim, and fell in love with these woolly cuties and their trippy tails

I took a park shuttle driver's advice and saw the 2o-minute movie at the Grand Canyon's South Rim/ Mather Point Visitor's Center (narrated, of course, by Peter Coyote), and learned a lot about this natural wonder -- definitely check it out if you find yourself up this way

RESOURCES

The town of Williams, Arizona
Red Garter Bed and Bakery
Red Raven Restaurant
Grand Canyon Railway
National Park Service’s Grand Canyon website
Info on the film, Grand Canyon: A Journey of Wonder

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Continued in

Driving the American West: Monument Valley to Canyonlands

Travels With Two

Literary mural at Caulfield's Restaurant in Beverly Hills

Hotel restaurants in Los Angeles generally provide a swanky night out, even for locals. These days, they’re where couples go to be seen booth-canoodling while drinking artful cocktails and elegantly mainlining macaroni and cheese.

Caulfield’s Restaurant at the Thompson Beverly Hills hits all these notes, providing a romantic evening out in L.A. that feels removed from its busy city street corner — as well as from the present day.

The Thompson Beverly Hills is a modern, stylish boutique hotel full of dark wood, pale suede and stainless steel, but Caulfield’s is a slightly different animal: the glassy glow from the marble-topped bar, the padded leather booths, low lighting and jazzy soundtrack vibe the late 1930s and early 1940s. Murals of famous writers (including J.D. Salinger, creator of Holden Caulfield) make a tenuous allusion to a literary haunt,  but I feel this is simply a great place to take a deep breath, settle in and linger over a well-crafted cocktail and a delicious meal.

The bar manages to be modern and vintage at once

The drink menu is a mix of classic and high-falutin’ ingredients (e.g., amaro, an Italian herbal liqueur), with something for every taste in the booze spectrum.

The Stiletto, a delicate blend of vodka, cucumber and strawberry, apparently turns some guys off with its girly name, but Adam chose to think of it as an alley-fight switchblade rather than a high-heeled shoe. I preferred my Caulfield’s Martini a bit sweeter (it was perfect with the addition of a little citrus), but would go back just for the sophisticated tequila-agave Siciliano.

Clockwise from L: Caulfield's Martini, the Stiletto and the Siciliano

Cuisine here is French bistro by way of a California farmers’ market, with bold, simple arrangements of flavors. There’s a full raw bar menu, with cheese and charcuterie aplenty, but we chose to focus on the dinner menu. And by “focus,” I mean “eat almost the entire.”

You can raw bar it up or sit down to a multi-course dinner

Loved the tender brussels sprouts with bacon, as well as the brightness of the chopped salad with grapes, chickpeas and a little feta. As an East Coaster by birth, I’m highly critical of crab cakes, but theirs were stars: light and lemony, full of honest-to-God crab.

The short rib ravioli in parmesan broth was every bit as sexy as it sounds, managing to be simultaneously creative and cozy. And the whole branzino with grilled onions? One of the most beautifully-cooked sea creatures I’ve ever eaten.

Caulfield's crab cakes and short rib ravioli are standouts

But while the menu has a lot of comfort food to offer, I don’t feel these are their standouts. Their mac-and-cheese is the same hearty recipe from sister restaurant Magnolia, and while I found it rich and satisfying, a little crunch and a drizzle of truffle oil would certainly have given it more depth. The chubby little chicken pot pie scored with a thick, flaky crust, but its lightly-spiced interior stew was merely a secondary character in the story.

The key lime pie, though, was a slice of pure wow. We’ve had the pleasure of sampling this delight all over Key West, and Caulfield’s silky, pistachio-dusted, graham-wedged version delivers a Florida-worthy pop of citrus. We weren’t remotely hungry by the time dessert arrived, and yet we annihilated our wedge as if it was the end of our last meal.

Well hi there, key lime pie

My takeaways: come here for warm, friendly service; cozy booths and a bit of sparkle that encourage lingering; and rather than sticking to starches, immerse yourselves in the artful salads and proteins. Walking past tourists and their rolling luggage in the hotel lobby made me feel like I was traveling here, but once I was settled into a banquette, I felt like we were in a vintage version of home.

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Caulfield’s, 9360 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(800) 441-5050 or (310) 273-1400
Open seven days a week from 8am to 11pm, for breakfast, lunch and dinner

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While our meal was provided courtesy of Caulfield’s, all observations and opinions are my own.

Travels With Two

El Matador Beach, Malibu, California

I’m excited to present my first published article for the San Francisco Chronicle‘s travel section!

Malibu’s surf and sand a respite from urban L.A. is a “Weekend Getaway” for the Chron, and takes you on a journey to only a handful of my favorite spots in my favorite 27-mile stretch of Los Angeles-area coastline.

Please enjoy, and let me know if you have any questions about Malibu!

(Or if you’d like to go — I’d happily be your tour guide.)

- Melanie

Travels With Two

Just the other night we left the menorah a-burnin’ on the mantle and headed out in search of Christmas lights, just like we do every year.

Tooling around San Marino, a fancy suburb near Pasadena, California, we found some pretty spectacular lights on St. Albans Road (see photo above). Adam came across this sparkling annual community effort in a cool article on the best places to see Christmas lights in the Los Angeles area, causing me to reconsider my firm conviction that I already knew all the best places for lights in this great big crazy town.

As we stood out on St. Albans’ weed-free sidewalk, thin-blooded and shivering in our shirtsleeves, oohing and aahing over the splendor of it all,  I was reminded anew that a shared adventure need not take you far from home. It just needs to take you out of yourselves for a while.

So wherever you’re headed this holiday season, please enjoy, be patient with traffic and/or the often-humorless TSA, and know that I’m wishing you exploration, happiness, wine, song, a nap or two, and the romantic glow of just about a million colored lights.

XOXO,

Melanie

Travels With Two

Placemat at L.A.'s Caffe Bella Roma

Courtesy of Bertolli, we recently took a unique 9-hour tour of Los Angeles, indulging in Italian food from restaurants and purveyors all across town.

The verdict? A truly delicious day spent enjoying a version of our home city that we’d never seen — or tasted.

Francesco Bertolli started a little food shop in Lucca, Italy back in 1865, but these days, you’ll find Bertolli products in supermarkets across Europe, New Zealand, Australia and North America. They still make excellent olive oil and pasta sauces (which I’ve used for years), but I just recently learned that they also make prepared meals of traditional Italian dishes (like, say, Chicken alla Vodka & Farfalle). They value Italian regional cuisines and ingredients, and put this tour together  – with the help of local sommelier, food writer and lovely human being Stacie Hunt – to celebrate their connection to Italy, anywhere and everywhere.

Here’s how our staggering culinary adventure went down:

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Café Bella Roma SPQR
1513 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035 –  (310) 277-7662

We started our day here with cappuccinos and cornetti…and for that half-hour, all was right with the world.

At this small and cheerful bakery (along an otherwise faceless, concrete swath of the Westside), Roman expat Robert Amico specializes in cornetti, the Italian version of croissants. These flaky little pockets of magic use just about half the butter of their French cousins, plus a dash of shortening and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Some have a marzipan-style cream inside, some are plain, both are delightful. Pair either with a strong espresso drink that’ll have you dreaming of the Spanish Steps, then consider hanging out until the antipasti starts appearing.

Caffeine and cornetti at Cafe Bella Roma SPQR

Obika Mozzarella Bar
Westfield Century City Shopping Center, 10250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Upper Level, Los Angeles, CA 90067 – (310) 556-2452

This modern, glassy space in what’s colloquially known as the Century City Mall is one of two local outposts of an Italian chain (the other L.A. Obika is in the Beverly Center). Obika’s Chef Simone Santopietro offers a passionate introduction to the world of bufala mozzarella, which is made from honest-to-God water buffalo milk and imported here three times a week from Italy’s southern Campania region. If you still think of mozzarella as off-white sticks of string cheese, check out a tasting of two to five ball-shaped varieties paired with arugula, tomatoes and a little spring-grassy olive oil; I swooned over the creamy and intense pontina, while Adam, who generally prefers sharp, aged cheeses, was partial to the firm, smoked affumicata. You can come here from morning ’til night, but I’d suggest trying out the prosecco-laced romance of Aperitivo Hour (4:30 to 7:30). Skip the awkward metal stools by the bar and head outside to the umbrella-shaded patio.

At Obika, the chef shows off bufala mozzarella from Italy's Campania region

Primi al Mercato and Norcino Salumeria
The Market at Santa Monica Place, 395 Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica, CA 90401 – (888) 530-5204

All hail Piero Selvaggio: the maestro of one of America’s greatest special-occasion restaurants, Valentino, has created a relaxed, affordable way to transport yourselves to southern Italy. Primi al Mercato is half a take-home deli, half a warm, friendly, white-tablecloth restaurant, a lovely place to pick up a meal to share with friends or sit down to a grown-up dinner together; Norcino is a reverent homage to meat and cheese.

We hadn’t yet been to The Market, the swanky high-end food court at the formerly dowdy, now glittering mall at Santa Monica Place, and our head was turned every few seconds by something that looked tasty — that is, until Primi al Mercato’s pasta-making demonstration caught our full attention. Chef Fernando and his wife (who make a great team) spread out flour, eggs and skill across the white-marble counter and got down to gnocchi-ing. By the time they’d finished, we’d see the birth of beet-red “Venus’ Bellybuttons” and spinach-tinted cavatelli, forming a big yummy bowl of Italian flag-i-tude. These demonstrations happen every hour, and you can purchase the spoils — even a gluten-free version — for later use. 

We headed next door to the restaurant to see what the kitchen would do with all that pasta. The crowd favorite seemed to be a lamb ragu, but I fell utterly in love with a Tuscan pici with pecorino and fava beans as big as my pinky finger. Also exciting: the wine list focuses on the Earth’s south, from Italy right ’round to Southern California; we were both pleasantly surprised by elegant, not-too-dry whites and reds from Sicily.

By now we didn’t need to eat anything else — but that was too darn bad. We hoisted ourselves 100 feet across The Market to Norcino Salumeria and cozied up to a table laid with wafer-thin slices of acorn-fed prosciutto and flute-fulls of prosecco. Sounds delightful, yes? Well, our sommelier friend Stacie insisted that, it being summertime during this tour, sparkling red Lambrusco would be the far better tipple — and in a flash, Piero made it so. Turns out this often dry, sweet and/or entirely overlooked wine makes the ideal palate-cleansing complement to the fatty richness of salumi. 

Pasta making, serving and red olives at Primi al Mercato's "laboratorio," and salumi alchemy at Norcino

Caffé Bellagio
Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401 – (310) 394-3400

So, you know what goes perfectly with eating too much? Gelato.

We rolled like barrels for a few blocks to the center of Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, right up to the door of a glass-covered kiosk we’d probably walked by 50 times in our young lives. (To be fair to myself, though, it’s right in front of a super-distracting Anthropologie.) Inside, magical fresh-fruit gelatos (featuring milk instead of cream) are whipped up using produce from the area’s famous farmers’ market. Beside a straight-outta-Italy orange Vespa parked inside the shop, we were treated to cool, velvety spoonfuls of the best strawberry gelato we’d ever had…all apologies to Florence.

At Caffe Bellagio, the sign behind the Vespa on which I'm sitting says: "Please don't sit on the Vespa" (*cough*)

Osteria Mamma
5730 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038 – (323) 284-7060

Our last stop of the day was way on the other side of town, in the Larchmont neighborhood near Paramount Studios. In a cozy space that for years was one of our Mexican favorites, Osteria Mamma is now a paean to the Paduan home cooking of the Cortivo family. Smiling, blond and shy, Loredana Cecchinato is the Osteria’s resident Mamma, leading her kitchen to an unassuming brilliance. Our group, far from actually hungry by now, fairly devoured a flotilla of her dishes, which were all too gorgeous to refuse.

I have only a few wonderful things to mention: fig and gorgonzola risotto; gnocchi with porcini mushrooms; sardines with ribbons of onion and plump raisins (stay with me, here, and have faith); and fig and prosciutto bruschetta with fancy little dollops of mascarpone. I’d also recommend reservations, as the two-sided dining room here is none too large. Be sure to check out the far eastern wall, lined with Cortivo family photos — including one of bombshell Mamma, where she looks a little like Sophia Loren.

Homestyle dishes from Padua and family photos at Osteria Mamma

If high airline prices to Europe are getting you down this year,
go ahead and design your own Italian food tour right outside your own front door.

Or maybe just stay in and make an Italian meal together by candlelight. (*Ahem.*)

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I love that we got to share this day with some wonderful local folks.

 From left to right:

Romy Schorr of Romy Raves  
Amir of Duo Dishes   
Andrea Fellman of Savvy Sassy Moms 
Sharon Garofalow of  Cupcakes & Cutlery  
Loredana Cecchinato, aka “Mamma”
Chrystal of Duo Dishes
Filippo Cortivo, Loredana’s son and Osteria Mamma’s manager
And beside us, sommelier and writer Stacie Hunt

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This fabulous day of stuffing our faces across L.A. was sponsored by Bertolli,
whose olive oil I’ve been cooking with since 1990.

All observations and opinions here are my own.

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Travels With Two

The grounds of Rancho La Puerta in Baja, Mexico

Adam have spent the last few blissful days down here in Tecate, Baja, Mexico checking out Rancho La Puerta, a lovely, relaxing wellness and spa resort.

He’s tentatively planning to leave tomorrow (I’ll be here the whole week) but after a few fitness classes, a spa treatment, delicious and healthy food, some detox from caffeine and a couple of peaceful nights of sleep, this place may just inspire him to change his mind.

Just four miles over the border from San Diego, California, it took us about three hours to drive down here from Los Angeles on one of the most beautiful (if chilly) days in human history. Adam was nervous at first about crossing the border by car, but I just had a feeling it would be fine. We brought $30 US apiece for the border crossing tax and our passports…then proceeded to roll right through the spot where we’d thought we’d find a lineup of border patrol. Paused at a stoplight in the small town of Tecate, we realized we’d just entered Mexico.

I can’t imagine it’ll be so easy heading back out, but at least I (or we) will have tacos to keep us warm. The whole town of Tecate is full of one stand after another, a hallowed and legendary center of taco-dom here in Baja – itself the land of the taco.

It’s also simply beautiful here. Beneath tall, rocky hills that signify the start of the U.S. border, you’ll find low-water plantings in every shade of green, as well as deep orange, magenta, yellow, purple and red. Wisteria hangs from every other arbor, and the sturdy, gnarled grape vines here were planted by priests in the early 1800s to make sacramental wine. (Now they’re just used for, well, grapes.) Whole families of bunnies and friendly cats wander the grounds; the latter will come to hang out with you if you pretend not to care about them.

We’ve already taken a whole passel of classes, from Feldenkrais to circuit training to Latin dance, and our spa treatments yesterday left us feeling calmer and smoother. I’ve got two more to look forward to, and so does Adam…if he stays.

Yesterday we took a guided bird walk with one of the funniest guys here, and today we’re taking a Thai massage class for partners. There are still miles of hikes, a cooking class in the Rancho’s renowned cooking school, a day trip to the more elegant side of Tijuana, Pilates classes, core workouts, relationship workshops, stretching, crystal bowl sound therapy and more to come. It’s turning out to be a wonderful break from our everyday lives, both separately and together.

I’ll have more to share next week about the Rancho, including a special offer. I think any working couple could benefit from this place!

This week we are fully comped guests of Rancho La Puerta, allowing us to have the full spa, wellness and resort experience and share it with you.

Travels With Two

Downtown Los Angeles, along Broadway

Yes, Virginia…L.A. has a real downtown.

It’s got cool restaurants, wine bars, galleries, museums, theater, music and a handful of historic tours. It’s full of bustle, grime, fancy lofts, sadness and glory.

In other words, these days, it’s where you’ll find the city.

When I first moved to L.A. back in 1993, “Downtown” was a scary place that no nice young woman still speaking to her parents ever went. Naturally, it’s where I found the best room rental deals in the classifieds.

I’ll never forget the water-stained studio apartment with the naked guy out front at the bus stop. At 2pm. Or then there was the ramshackle Craftsman on Traction (I swear, that was the street) in which fourteen people were running a commune in Miss Havisham‘s house, replete with 1912 plumbing.

The very next day, I found a listing on a UCLA bulletin board and by week’s end had a respectable room many, many miles away, in Westwood.

Downtown hadn’t always been so undesirable. It had long been home to the Convention Center; corporate offices in shiny skyscrapers; wholesale districts for jewelry, fashion and flowers; as well as several of the city’s greatest cultural offerings.

However, for several decades now, it’s also been the site of America’s largest Skid Row, where newly-released prisoners and uninsured mental patients are sent to wander aimlessly, build makeshift encampments and seek often inadequate assistance in building better lives for themselves.

Graffiti along L.A.'s Skid Row

The main hub of Skid Row is Los Angeles Street, which runs one ironic block parallel to Main Street, the heart of Downtown’s urban renewal. Further west from Skid Row is Little Tokyo, where some of the the area’s most expensive housing and retail continue to rise. This juxtaposition of Have and Have Not isn’t unique to L.A., but it does illustrate a gritty/shiny sense of the city’s reality.

These days, that old water-stained apartment building I once fled has been replaced by a fancy loft co-op. That shabby house was knocked down long ago, and for a while, one of L.A.’s favorite restaurants stood nearby.  The city hasn’t yet reconciled how thousands of homeless people fit into this slow-moving wave of urban development, but whether or not anyone’s ready for it, Downtown is becoming pretty darn popular.

Outdoor market crowd at Downtown Art Walk, held every second Thursday

Here are just some of the things you’ll find to do in Downtown L.A.:

Restaurants
Blossom (426 S. Main Street) A cheap, delicious and cheery place for Vietnamese
Border Grill (445 S. Figueroa Street) Creative pan-Latin from two local celebrity chefs, this fun place features a hoppin’ outdoor patio and a shuttle to area performance venues
Bottega Louie (700 S. Grand Avenue) Deafeningly loud but fun, with a popular cocktail bar, huge dining room, and one of the city’s sexiest bakery/gourmet deli cases
Cicada (617 S. Olive Street) Glorious Art Deco decor on the ground floors of the historic Oviatt Building, the kind of place you’ll want to make an entrance
Church & State (1850 Industrial Street, #100) A friendly little southern French bistro with festival lights strung across the dining room
Empress Pavilion (988 N. Hill Street) The grande dame of Chinatown, grab any available table for traditional dim sum, then roll out onto Central Plaza
The Lazy Ox Canteen (241 S. San Pedro) A small plates, gastro-pubby kind of place, featuring ingredients that might stump even diehard foodies
Pete’s Cafe & Bar (400 S. Main Street) 1930s decor and a lively bar scene create a warm setting for comfort food (hello, short ribs) and a great wine list
Café Pinot (700 W. 5th Street) On warm evenings, sit outside in the courtyard beside the stunning Central Library and dine on fancy farmer’s market fare
R23 (923 E. 2nd Street) Special occasion dining in an art gallery/design-y setting that will stretch your sushi horizons
WP24 (24th floor of the Ritz-Carlton) Wolfgang Puck’s spin on Cal-Asian, amidst the sparkle of skyscrapers; drop a bundle on your anniversary or try small plates in the lounge
Wurstküche (800 E. 3rd Street) In case you won’t make it to Belgium this year, here you can both still indulge in a sausage, beer ‘n’ fries extravaganza

The bar at Bottega Louie

Bars
Broadway Bar (830 S. Broadway) Dress up a little and swan around this former movie palace with a handcrafted cocktail or two
Corkbar (403 W. 12th Street) At this gleaming palace of wine, you can eat a full, casual, tasty meal…but no one would judge you if you just came for the flights
Golden Gopher (417 W. 8th Street) On a still-seedy street, this friendly little joint features lamps with golden gophers, a tiny convenience store, great cocktails and a photo booth
Edison (108 W. 2nd Street, #101) Several floors deep in a former 1920s power station, this swanky place is fun for club-goers of all ages, with plenty of dim corners for canoodling
Gallery Bar at the Millennium Biltmore (506 S. Grand Avenue) Step back into the 1930s and cozy up to each other amidst a little warm, gilded elegance
Mignon (128 E. 6th Street) Belly up to this small rectangular bar full of Eastside hipsters to enjoy European wines and cheeses
Rooftop Bar at The Standard (550 S. Flower at 6th Street) Dip your toes in the pool or lounge in a trippy little vibrating waterbed pods, surrounded by Downtown’s tall buildings
Seven Grand (515 W. 7th Street) A nouveau billiards hall/hunting lodge that celebrates sartorial flourishes and amber liquors
The Varnish (118 E. 6th Street) Feels like a 1930s speakeasy, where some of L.A.’s best bartenders revive antique cocktail recipes; there’s a secret entrance though Cole’s next door

Just another hunting motif at Seven Grand

Galleries
Downtown Art Walk (2nd Thursday of each month) Downtown is home to some of the city’s most progressive galleries, and Art Walk is the best time to check them all out. Essentially a huge, multi-block street party, along Main Street you’ll find food trucks and an outdoor market selling local designers’ wares as a DJ spins.

Museums
The Gallery at REDCAT (W. 2nd & Hope Streets, beside the Disney Concert Hall – enter on 2nd)
Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (152 N. Central Avenue)
Japanese American National Museum (369 E. 1st Street)
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) (250 S. Grand Avenue)
Museum of Neon Art (136 W. 4th Street)

Sculpture in the plaza beside the Museum of Contemporary Art

Performance Venues
The Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County (135 N. Grand Avenue) is comprised of four venues:

Ahmanson Theatre Big-ticket Broadway stage productions
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Opera, ballet and musicals
Mark Taper Forum Generally features Tony/Pulitzer Award winning plays
Walt Disney Concert Hall Home to the L.A. Philharmonic, this twisted-metal landmark hosts musicians and singers from around the world

And at the heart of the L.A. Live entertainment complex(800 W. Olympic Blvd.), you’ll find:

Nokia Theatre
STAPLES Center

The Disney Concert Hall, designed by L.A. local Frank Gehry

Stuff That’s Been Around for Ages and is Still Cool
Angel’s Flight (351 S. Hill Street) Billed as “the shortest railway in the world”
Bradbury Building (304 S. Broadway) A Victorian gem, and the oldest still-in-use office building in the city
Central Library (630 W. 5th Street) A 1920s icon in the city, this astonishing building contains an amazing rare books section and a beautiful art gallery
Chinatown (centered along N. Broadway and N. Hill Street) Re-created in the 1930s by Hollywood set designers, be sure to visit the vintage Central Plaza
Clifton’s Cafeteria (648 S. Broadway) Around since 1931, a fun place to get a cheap, hearty, non-fussy meal surrounded by a kitschy Tiki/woodsy/waterfall fantasy
Grand Central Market (317 S. Broadway) Geared towards the local Latino community, you’ll find foods from Mexico, El Salvador, Cuba and more, in addition to fresh produce
Little Tokyo/Japanese Village Plaza (350 E. 1st Street) America’s first Japanese neighborhood fans out from a bustling plaza between E. 1st and 2nd Streets
Olvera Street (845 North Alameda Street) Originally created as a tourist attraction, this pedestrian lane still offers a mini-trip to Mexico, replete with paper flowers and street food
Union Station (800 N. Alameda Street) The city’s finest (and still humming) train station, this soaring Art Deco space features a unique, romantic restaurant/bar called Traxx

Downtown Tours to Take
Esotouric Bus adventures into the secret heart of Los Angeles
Little Tokyo Walking Tour A free, self-guided tour of the whole neighborhood
Los Angeles Conservancy Designed to highlight local preservation issues, offers screenings in Downtown’s old movie palaces and both guided and self-guided tours of the area
The Undiscovered Chinatown Walking Tour (first Saturday of each month, $20 per person)

Getting There
Be warned, it’s not cheap to park. Expect to drop $3 an hour at a meter. It’s the same or more at public lots, but in this part of town where blocks are long and sometimes hilly, it’s advisable to pay once, walk away and avoid a ticket. Click here to find public parking lots in Downtown L.A.

Better yet, skip driving altogether and take the subway. Many L.A. neighborhoods are connected to Downtown via the Metro, where trains and stations are clean and adorned with amazing work by local artists. We’ve taken the train Downtown a couple of times now, and despite the need for good walking shoes, it couldn’t be easier. Here, check out the Metro site for yourselves.

See? You’re halfway there already.

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See also
The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles: Get Down to Business
Adventures in Layover Land: Los Angeles
Invitation to an Underground Dinner

Travels With Two