What a year. Blowout-heavy Hollywood rooftops. Game-changing Los Feliz wine bars. Sir Mix-a-Lot. Walk with us, won’t you, through the stories that defined your 2010.
Some called it the pinnacle of Hollywood’s resurgence. Some called it... Vegas. But honestly, it’s hard to get too worked up about these things when you’re on a sprawling rooftop drinking a martini from a carafe.
Oddly enough, a skunk-themed trucker bar called Stinkers didn’t stay relevant for too long. But when the owners sagely transformed it into a classy whiskey saloon... well, by the second day, it felt like it had been around forever. In a good way.
After too many housewarming parties at a club that looked like a house, you were more than ready for an upgrade. Like a club that looked like a photo studio, complete with casting couch. So were Joaquin Phoenix, Sacha Baron Cohen and lots of women ready for their close-up.
Rarely has a restaurant opening caused so much pandemonium, from Twitter feuds involving celeb chef Rick Bayless to... the bouncers out front. (At a restaurant.) But ultimately, things settled down to nights of mere elegant mayhem, fueled by margaritas in a leather swing and delicious, delicious Mexican food.
When faced with such profound subject material as that found in The Big Butt Book, we couldn’t help but think back fondly to the world’s foremost authority on the subject: Sir Mix-a-Lot. Who we’re sure has a whole bookcase full of this masterwork.
There’s definitely a connection between sultry lounges and... bedrooms. So the proprietors of Coco de Ville went ahead and just made their lounge into a bedroom, but with top DJs and the occasional model hanging around in a lightbox. Fair enough.
It’s not like the neighborhood didn’t have any decent wine bars. And yet, there was a raucous mob in Los Feliz when this place opened, as if nobody had ever heard the word syrah before. But we’ll admit: they’ve got one helluva Croque Monsieur.
Most great restaurants around town have a great chef in the kitchen. This one had all of them. There were months and months of one-off nights from the best toques in town, serving you whatever they felt like. And then, in December, the doors closed, like it never happened. But you’ll always have the carrot pickles.
