After fighting the Mumbai Vs Delhi battle for years in Dallas, Nivesh and I had a new one to fight now – New York vs Los Angeles. He moved for work to New York and I to LA. So it was natural that we keep the tradition going. I visited NY last year and he finally decided to visit me in LA this week. While continuing the banter, he was able to take in some pretty things this city has to offer.
Summer started him off with a welcome walk in the Studio City neighborhood. We then ate at HOPE, a wonderful vegan place that has become one of my favorites in the area. I thought he would like that since it’s often difficult for vegetarians to find good food (as we had experienced on our New Orleans trip). We then did another short walk around Laurel Tavern in the evening (of course we had to! There’s a whole new post coming about this pub that’s like my second home). And that was his quiet first day in LA.
Our second day was dedicated to Santa Monica Pier. Summer drove us through Sunset Boulevard all the way to the ocean and then to Santa Monica. We are at the famous Bubba Gump Shrimp Co and walked on the pier. Then, we took a scenic canyon drive back home and kept it quiet and simple in the evening with some leftover food for dinner.
Finally, on his last day in LA, we decided to take the cliche Hollywood bus tour. That’s something I hadn’t done yet myself so this was a good opportunity out for me to play tourist too. Nivesh and I hopped on the bus at 1 pm from Sunset Blvd and the next two hours were dedicated to checking out some lovely houses, spectacular hilly views including the iconic Hollywood sign, and popular restaurants, clubs and hotels that are frequented by celebrities. Seeing all the fancy Mullholland and Beverly Hills houses was a special treat. We had no idea that our very own Shah Rukh Khan had purchased a house on Mullholland but sold it just 5 weeks ago.
After the bus tour, we hopped off the bus and walked around the popular Hollywood and Highland area. We spotted many stars on the Walk of Fame, checked out some cool and famous footprints at TCL Chinese Theatre, walked to the Dolby theatre and other Hollywood hotspots, and finally ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (makes sense for a New Yorker, no?) before heading home.
Later that evening, we saw our friends Jeremy and Tushar at The Village. Nivesh called it a night after that as he had an early flight. And I went back to Laurel Tavern with my friends for some Saturday night drinks. It was fun to play both guide and tourist over a weekend to a dear friend, who might now have become a convert and lean towards saying – LA rocks!