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Cleo Paskal June 26, 2004 SANTA MONICA - It took me a while to figure out how to love L.A. That is because I was doing it wrong. I used to think of it as one sprawling beast of a city. Turns out Los Angeles County is a conglomeration of 88 separate municipalities, each with its own mayor and city council. Most big cities are a collection of neighborhoods. The same goes for L.A. , but much more so. Having made that basic realization, instead of "going to L.A. ," I now pick one of its municipalities and stick to it. In the spirit of my new approach to L.A. , here is my mini-guide to one of my favourite cities, Santa Monica . Santa Monica is casual, discreetly upscale, hippy-dippy, celeb-heavy, artsy and oh-so-fashionable. To the north is the seaside excess of surfer-chic Malibu . To the south is the meticulously wacky Venice . To the east is the sprawl of L.A. , to the west is Japan. Once upon a time the area was "discovered" by the Spanish in 1542, but it was Father Juan Crespi who, in 1769, named it after Saint Monica, the woman who "wept for her wayward son." No, he did not have visions of legions of Midwestern moms whose sons went to "bartend" in L.A. He just saw a pretty natural spring. After the Spanish, it was the Mexicans, then American Businessmen. By the Victorian period, Santa Monica was the major port of call for the exploding area of L.A. As the film business grew, it became the beachfront retreat of the A list. Will Rogers built himself a polo field. In 1934, a defining institution was opened, the open-air Muscle Beach . Vanity was taken out of the closest. It has not gone back since. What now? Today, the 22-square-kilometre "People's Republic of Santa Monica " is the perfect lefty West Coast town. Environmentalists have finally managed to find a place that will listen, and the city had enacted all manner of green legislation including free parking for electric vehicles. It was also the first U.S. city to power all its facilities with renewable energy. It is one of the few towns in L.A. where public transportation and walking are real options. Unlike many major cities (such as Toronto and Montreal ) that have cut off their waterfronts with highways, Santa Monica plays its beaches big. There are kilometers of bike paths and boardwalks, including the charmingly Victorian Santa Monica pier. The town contributes to clean water with its Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (which I would not mention, except its acronym is SMURFF). Sounds serious which is not to say there is no interest in consumer culture. Here, shopping is elevated to an art for. Yes, even the Santa Monica Place shopping mall is designed by Frank Gehry. There are also pedestrian shopping districts and reams of quaint shops, including the sexy and expensive Mademoiselle pearl ( www.mllepearl.com ), owned by Jack Nicholson's daughter. Anything free? Lots. For example, there is a free camera obscura in Palisades Park . To counter-balance Muscle Beach , there is the seaside International Chess Park , with its 80 player seats and one board with life-sized chess pieces. I'm hungry. The city as a whole is celeb-laden in a casual sort of way. They might go party in West Hollywood , but they hang out in Santa Monica . And the restaurants have adapted to the scene-and-be-seen (terraces abound). The serious chefs pick up their produce at one of the three farmers' markets around town, and all the new diets are catered to. In the swanky Whist Restaurant, there are special "high protein" menus (310-451-8711, viceroysantamonica.com). And the Woody Harrelson set heads to Juliano's Raw Restaurant (310-587-1552, rawrestaurant.com), where the dishes are all made from "living" produce. For the jet set who simply cannot stray too far from the departure lounge, the fun Typhoon restaurant (funky Asian) overlooks the Santa Monica airport (310390-6565, www.typhoon.biz ) I'm full, now what? The current "it" place is the Viceroy Hotel (800-622-8711, www.viceroysantamonica.com ), with its happening pool area. When I was there, I saw Jean Claude Van Damme talking to three solicitous sycophants about casting, and there was a poolside party going on for the NFL. The hotel itself is oh-so-cool. Part English classic, part L.A. fun. Elegant greys are splashed with dashes of parrot green. You sit down for check-in (why doesn't every hotel do this?) in winged library chairs. Of course, for a city based on image, there are lots of mirrors, but also marble and Lucite (!). I'm not that hip. For a place that has not been trendy for decades, try celeb dive bar Chez Jay (310-395-1741, www.chezjays.com ). There are peanut shells on the floor and George Clooneys on the stools. Chillin' As anyone will tell you, if you stand still long enough, Santa Monica is all about "lifestyle." There are plagues of poetry reading, Pilates classes, yoga sessions, self-help groups and, of course, spas. My favourite is Willow Spa (310.453.9004, willowspa.com), a new place owned and operated by three women who converted an old bungalow into an Asian-inspired haven. They combine pampering with the most innovative healing treatments, including the Japanese enzyme baths, acupuncture, reiki and live blood analysis (during which I discovered I have a tendency to ruleau and spicule. Who knew?). The entire place is carefully designed to be a secular sanctuary, with water fountains, fire torches and bamboo. None of their products contains artificial preservatives, many are organic. The spa even tries to keep prices low (for L.A. , at least) so clients can come for maintenance, not for treatment (prices average US $80 an hour). See? L.A. is not that bad. And I got through the whole thing without mentioning smog. Whoops. IF YOU GO: • Santa Monica is 13 kilometres from LAX (about a US$20 cab ride or a US$1.50 ride on the public bus), making it an easy place to visit. • For more information on Santa Monica, go to www.santamonica.com. |
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