Results tagged “beverlyhills”

                            

Glamour was the order of the evening at Bouchon's opening event Monday night. After ascending the staircase, we were greeted by servers offering champagne near a caviar station with caviar quenelle and whipped cream cheese-topped bagel crisps surrounding the biggest ice volleyball in the world. Gliding down the elegant hallway, we came across a full bar on the right serving Bouchon's signature drink of Grey Goose vodka, Lillet Blanc, and Brizard Peche with an Orange Baton/Lemon Twist. A raw bar around the corner was shucking oysters at lightning speed.

So that odd shaped flower-painted tower sticking up behind Beverly Hills High School is not some weird sculpture - it's actually an oil well. And there is one behind the Beverly Center as well. And at the Farmer's Market. And inside a building on Pico. And numerous others.

It was just a year ago that wealthy philanthropist Eli Broad came to save the day at MOCA by offering the museum a much-needed bailout to help keep it on its feet. By summer, however, the Broad Foundation had begun to chatter publicly about future cultural endeavors, namely a museum of contemporary art of their own. At the time, "Broad said that the museum 'is going to happen' and that it's merely a matter of timing," reported the LA Times. Broad was enthused about having the space in 90210: "Our first choice is the Beverly Hills site."

If you've been to Crustacean Restaurant in Beverly Hills, then you know the An Family style. This week they announced a big expansion, with two new restaurants in Orange County and more locally in Santa Monica scheduled to open by the end of this year. AnQi in Costa Mesa's South Coast Plaza will carry a more casual bistro environment. Tiato, located in Santa Monica's MTV building, will be a quick service restaurant, serving up traditional fare with some Asian flare. Think eggs on bao instead of Eggs Benedict or pancakes with persimmon instead of with strawberries. For lunch, one of the highlighted menu items is Vegetarian Crepe Ratatouille and the family's secret kitchen Garlic Noodles.

Since Brent's Deli (of Northridge fame) opened in Westlake Village, the place has been packed. Well, it looks like developer Rick Caruso (of The Grove, The Americana fame) noticed this as well, and his center at the same off-ramp with Bristol Farms as anchor tenant is about to get a Nate & Al's from Beverly Hills, complete with the Mendelsohns. Let the Deli wars begin!

Thanks to a tip from reader Carter, LAist has learned that the highly anticipated eatery (sans bakery) from Thomas Keller just received its liquor license, as seen on the website for the Alcoholic Beverage Control here. In related news, Alex Weil, the former sommelier at Pizzeria Mozza, is poised to take over the wine program at Bouchon Beverly Hills. The restaurant itself appears to be on track to open in mid-November, and signage is already up.

      

In his new series of paintings, Endless Night, on display at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills through November 7th, British artist Dexter Dalwood continues to draw from celebrity and pop culture in his depiction of famous suicides and deaths, both from reality and fiction. With less detail and looser bush work than found in works like Kurt Cobain’s Greenhouse or the Ophelia-referencing Sunny Von Bulow, the paintings included in Endless Night tend towards larger fields of color, flat perspectives and some cartoonish detailing in the vein of Philip Guston.

Looks like Fall Out Boy's Infinity on High has come to at least a temporary stall as one of the band members "is behind bars this morning," according to On the Red Carpet. Patrick Stump, the band's composer, vocalist, and guitarist was stopped last night while he was driving, and determined the 25-year-old "had a previous warrant out for his arrest in Beverly Hills [...] for being an unlicensed driver."

Talk about a great lunch. A few recent trips to il Tramezzino in Studio City proved this place to one of the city's king of sandwiches. A favorite so far is the Brie Cheese with sun dried tomato, grilled eggplant and basil garlic sauce ($10.95). Keeping to a vegetarian theme, Veg. Special #1 has goat cheese, arugula, grilled eggplant, roasted peppers, marinated eggplant and roma tomato ($10.95) and is equally as tasty.

As any fan of LAistory knows, Los Angeles is a city of vanished places. We tear free of the past, and generally, whatever comes next, is not as fabulous or interesting as what was there before. The same holds true for the property called Pickfair.

                     

Earlier this week Michael Jackson and auctioneer Julien's reached an agreement to give all of the 1,400 items that were to be auctioned this week back to the King of Pop. While this agreement may have ruined your chances of owning the singer's bubble hockey game, gold throne, espresso machine or life-sized Darth Vader made out of Legos, it did not, however, put a stop to the public viewing exhibition taking place at the old Robinsons-May in Beverly Hills located next door to the Beverly Hilton.

Wasn't life a drag without new episodes of the new(ish) 90210 to obsess over? Luckily the CW was heavy-handed with reruns of the first 16. Ahem. So, despite a several week-long stall, we're picking up exactly where we left off.

Parked in front of MySpace headquarters yesterday, Kogi BBQ was cited by police for not having the correct permits allowing them to operate in Beverly Hills. "You know how new we are," owner Mark Manguera told the Daily Dish. "We didn't know that we needed 50 million more permits here than anywhere else." Kogi will file for the needed permits and be back on the Beverly Hills streets as soon as possible. "You know, Obama is in Beverly Hills today, so there's a huge police presence," he added.

The Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills began its almost 80-year-long life as the Fox Wilshire when it opened in September 1930. The 1900-seat late Art Deco-style venue began as a movie house, and was designed by S. Charles Lee, the architect behind other Los Angeles movie palaces such as the Los Angeles Theatre, the Tower, the Bruin, and the Academy. The theater was a top showplace for Fox studios, who often used it for lavish premieres like 1953's How To Marry a Millionaire, starring Marilyn Monroe, and, in 1970, it is where Woodstock ran during an exclusive engagement.

If you've got it, flaunt it. That's what the Beverly Hills Unified School District is looking into doing--raising school funds by using their famous name to brand a clothing line instead of the usual PTA bake sale. "Beverly Hills' population has aged," writes Peter Baller at Forbes, "and fewer residents have school-aged children. That's left the 5,300-student district short on community support and unable to raise taxes." Splitting between 60 to 70% with a manufacturer or retailer, the school could raise from $500,000 to several million each year by selling product internationally. Apparently, Asia will be a big market for Beverly Hills branded products.

A tipster e-mail tells us... "My friend just called me from Beverly Hills and said that Barney's, Saks Fifth Ave and a few other high end stores are giving away full size bottles of expensive products due to a lawsuit against the makers of the products for over-charging customers. They walked away with full size bottles of Chanel, Armani and Clinique products! You don't have to buy anything to get the free stuff." LA shopping blog Blackburn and Sweetzer confirms this, finding that the lines on Monday--the first day of the free giveaways--were crazy. Expensive beauty products or a cup of free coffee, people just go nuts.

After a three-year investigation into a crew of savvy burglars that robbed wealthy homes, the suspected leader, Troy Corsby Thomas, was arrested Saturday and pleaded not guilty to two residential burglary charges yesterday in court. The 'Hillside Burglars' have struck over 150 homes in the Holmby Hills, Bel Air, Bevelry Hills, Sherman Oaks and Encino, successfully evading security systems and cameras except once. LAPD will be holding a press conference later today to disclose more details, but the LA Times found that DNA evidence left at a scene and a dumped safe in a canyon helped lead to Thomas' arrest.

Kids, this week was more than just back to the grind after a good, long, break. It was also back to new episodes of the shiny new 90210 on the CW--which means back to LAist's love-to-hate it, hate-to-love it relationship with the show that is so wrong it's...well, okay, it's wrong, but it's good for a laugh, so grab your sense of humor, a can of delicious Dr. Pepper, and welcome back to our recaps.

Even before President-elect Barack Obama nominated New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be his Secretary of Commerce, a grand jury investigation was under way regarding Richardson's hiring of Beverly Hills-based CDR Financial Products. CDR won a lucrative contract to advise the New Mexico Financial Advisory in 2004, but not before donating $100,000 to two Richardson organizations.

      

This weekend, some neighbors in Beverly Hills called in the cops and broke out the video camera to tell the tale of the thieves who helped themselves to items from their outdoor Christmas displays. Expressing dismay at the theft of things from $1000-elves, the Baby Jesus in his humble manger, and a wreath, the real 90210-ers were horrified that they would now have to chain down their lit-up snowmen and reindeer, and hoped that the public knew about their plight. LAist photographer Tom Andrews took a trip to the home of Peter and Shera Falk, whose pricey decorations were swiped. Is their holiday display less than it could--and should--be?

Times are tough all over, but they are particularly tough for one block in Beverly Hills, where there's been some un-neighborly thieving going on. On today's Huffington Post, Tom Gregory explains how the boundless joy of Christmas has been curtailed by someone helping themselves to people's Christmas decorations put out by Peter (Columbo) and Shera Falk, Charo, and Gregory himself. Wow, it's not such a wonderful life after all for the people who live on Jimmy Stewart's old block!

From murder to self-inflicted wound back to murder. The coroner has ruled the death of actor Mark Ruffalo's brother to be murder, which conflicts earlier reports that he was playing russian roulette. But one of the original suspect's lawyers dispute that. "The only two eye witnesses to the shooting saw the same thing, a gunshot wound to the left side of the head, while one of them saw him pull the trigger," Attorney Ronald Richards wrote in an e-mail. "They saw the gun in his left hand after the shot was fired." Shaha Mishaal Adham, who was arrested for the shooting was released after Ruffalo died.

Police in Beverly Hills released 26-year-old Shaha Mishaal Adham last night following a five-hour meeting held between her attorney and detectives regarding the shooting death of actor Mark Ruffalo's brother Scott. Evidence presented indicated that the shooting was the result of gunplay. According to abc7.com, Adham's lawyer, Ronald Richards "said Ruffalo's gunshot wound to the head was self-inflicted - that Adham was essentially a witness to a game of Russian Roulette." Scott Ruffalo, a local hairdresser, died late Monday night, a week after he was brought to the hospital following what was initially described as "an execution-style" shooting.

Found in the skies above Beverly Hills, this is quite possibly one of the better Christmas trees around town. Well, at least better than this one.

Hairdresser and brother to actor Mark Ruffalo, Scott Ruffalo died late Monday night after being shot in the head last week in what was reportedly described as an "execution-style" shooting.

                   

Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills may be out of our price range, but walking the street at night has nice and... interesting calm to it. There's the pleasant window displays, the paparazzi who will make fun of you for just holding a camera as you walk by them and the twenty Baccarat chandeliers that line the road like streetlights, for example.

Actor Mark Ruffalo's 39-year-old hairdresser brother, Scott, is reportedly said to be "clinging to life" after being shot "execution-style" on Monday, according to the New York Post. The incident happened at 1:30 a.m. on North Palm Drive, but police are not giving out any more details as the investigation continues. In fact, Beverly Hills Police will not release the identity of the victim or admit that anyone is shot.

Boule, that chic modern French patisserie in Beverly Hills, will be giving away free gourmet chocolates this evening from 6pm to 8pm to promote its holiday flavors: gingerbread, citrus rosemary and pecan pie. The patisserie also has a location on La Cienega but the freebies are only going down at the BH store. Boule, 413 N Bedford Dr., Beverly Hills (map), (310) 273-4488.

Time to drag out the silver sequins and red velvet -- the holiday party season is already upon us! Last Saturday night Genlux magazine threw a glam bash on the roof of the Luxe Hotel on Rodeo Drive to celebrate the release of their holiday issue.

He sexually assaulted seven young girls and women (the youngest was 14), some of them who were lured to Los Angeles with promises of jobs and rooms at luxury hotel rooms. Today, a jury in Los Angeles who deliberated for almost two weeks found 34-year-old Anand Jon Alexander guilty for 20 of the 23 counts he was charged with, which included forcible rape and committing a lewd act upon a child, according to the Associated Press. Alexander is most well known for his appearance on "America's Next Top Model" and for working with celebs such as Paril Hilton. In addition to his Beverly Hills escapades, he is under indictment in New York and is under investigation in Texas and Massachusetts.