losangeles Archives - Brad A. Johnson

Headfirst into the Dawn: Los Angeles to San Francisco on $700 a Day (a Memoir)

It's been 25 years since my first visit to California. This is the story of that incredible trip in 1995 when my editor sent me to Los Angeles and San Francisco to see what was happening in the restaurants there. It was the height of media extravagance, and a food revolution was underway...

Hotel Review: Cara, Los Angeles

The investor/developer who owns Laurel Hardware, a super-sexy indoor/outdoor restaurant and bar in West Hollywood, has launched the first of what’s expected to be a string of mid-luxury boutique hotels focused on Southern California. For the brand's debut, they purchased the tawdry old Coral Sands Motel on Western Avenue and flipped it — rather beautifully — into the Cara Hotel Los Feliz...

Quick Look: La Peer Hotel, West Hollywood

Here’s a really quick look at the Kimpton La Peer Hotel in West Hollywood, which opened a couple years ago. From what I’ve heard, this place is normally quite the scene. But not on this visit. I checked in for a quick overnight stay in the middle of the pandemic when no one else was traveling and most hotels in LA were still fully closed...

Hotel Review: The Hoxton, Los Angeles

The Hoxton is a great hotel at a bargain price, even when booking the largest room category. And L.A.'s South Park neighborhood provides easy access to anything going on downtown

Quick Look: Firehouse Hotel Restaurant, DTLA

The Arts District in downtown Los Angeles is having a moment, thanks in large part to the new Firehouse Hotel and it's excellent little restaurant.

Review: Hotel Figueroa, Los Angeles

It took a massive three-year, top-to-bottom, inside-out refurbishment to bring the Hotel Figueroa back from the brink. And what an incredible transformation. This is now one of the sexiest and, frankly, best hotels in downtown Los Angeles.

Review: Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown

The 73-story Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown is the tallest building west of Chicago. It’s the highest hotel in the city — and the reigning most-talked-about skyscraper of L.A.’s rapidly expanding downtown skyline.

Review: The NoMad Hotel, Los Angeles

The NoMad Hotel in downtown Los Angeles opened in January 2018 and occupies a 12-story building that was originally erected in the roaring 1920s as the American headquarters of The Bank of Italy.

Hotel Review: Freehand, Los Angeles

The Freehand Los Angeles opened last week at the corner of 8th and Olive — across the street from legendary dive bar the Golden Gopher. The 226-room hotel resides in the landmark, 12-story Commercial Exchange building, which has been gutted and completely redesigned with an urban-hipster twist on California Craftsman.

Review: Playa Amor, Long Beach

I am constantly thrilled at the sight of a perfectly cooked lobster served with drawn butter. As far back as I can remember, this is a food that has fascinated me. It’s such a simple combination yet utterly luxurious. It’s something that works just as well in a fancy white-tablecloth restaurant as it does at a casual outdoor cantina on the beach.

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