12/30/09

Good Times...
The Best LA Moments of 2009

Ah, 2009. It was the year of four-star showstoppers, gallivanting supermodels…and the food truck explosion. If we still had yearbooks, these are the moments we'd want to give two-page spreads.

February 17: HOW BAZAAR

The Bazaar Gets Four Stars

February 17 was shaping up like any other day—and then, just a few months after its debut, The Bazaar at SLS was bestowed a four-star review from the Times. (The only other restaurant in the last five years to earn the quad-star wasn't even in LA.) Culinary chaos swept through the city, sucking in everybody from Scorsese to Spears.

February 26: CHAPEL THRILL

A Tiny Little Wedding in Santa Monica

In our city by the shore, February 26 was the day the dream died for—we say this without exaggeration—every single person in the world. Behind the doors of the intimate St. Monica Catholic Church, Gisele Bündchen married Tom Brady. We hope they're very happy together. Really.

July 7: Pop Stop

MJ's Funeral

After endless days when every street was unified by the same sounds—every car blaring "Billie Jean" or "Thriller" in tribute—Michael Jackson was officially put to rest at an intimate (by which we mean global) memorial for more than 20,000 attendees at the Staples Center.

October 31: TRICK OR SUPER-HOT TREAT

Heidi Klum's Halloween Party at Voyeur

Less than a month after birthing another child, Heidi Klum stepped out for her infamous annual Halloween party—this time at the sex-obsessed new nightspot Voyeur. She was painted into a (sexy) crow costume, Jessica Alba was "Dora the Explorer," and you didn't want to live in any other city, ever.

November 20: SHORT RIBS

Kogi Turns One

Just before Thanksgiving, the legendary Kogi Korean BBQ truck (now empire) celebrated its first game-changer of a year. In the wake of its stunningly successful birth, we are left to contemplate the phenomenon it has wrought— mobile grilled cheese and sweets, burgers and banh mi. The sky's now the limit… No, really, we're now expecting a food truck in the sky.

December 9: SIMPLY THE BEST

Michael Voltaggio Wins "Top Chef"

In an epic sibling showdown—think Cain and Abel but with Cream of Dehydrated Broccoli—LA's own Dining Room chef Michael Voltaggio ultimately bested brother Bryan in the Top Chef finale. And suddenly Bravo watchers everywhere wanted to get to Pasadena for Pastrami Pigeon and Octopus With Buttered Popcorn.

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