Tables lined up along the windows at One Pico
offer not only an ocean view, but also a glimpse of Santa Monica's
glitzy new Ferris wheel. Its complex computer system dials out the
colors, changing light patterns the way a kaleidoscope does when the
barrel is turned. In the foreground, palms nod their shaggy heads in
the breeze, and the sand below is dimpled with hundreds of footsteps.
Joggers streak down the beach as the waiter in a fitted vest pours
glasses of Guigal Viognier from the northern Rhône.
Something is different about the restaurant in Shutters on the Beach
hotel in Santa Monica, and it's not just the reasonable wine prices or
the interesting selection. To celebrate the iconic beach hotel's 15th
anniversary, One Pico has undergone a much-needed makeover. And the
powers that be have had the good sense not to go for a trendy
restaurant-slash-lounge, but a comfortable and casual place with an
updated California menu that emphasizes simplicity over complication,
seasonal ingredients over the pricey and precious. It's a strategy
that's bringing in locals along with summer's hotel guests.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Grand Central Market, the Hottest Destination in Downtown L.A.
Located on Broadway and Hill between 2nd and 3rd, The Grand Central Market reflects the changes sweeping over Downtown Los Angeles. Long before farmers markets appeared all over LA, the Grand Central Market provided the Downtown community with fresh food at affordable prices.
The shoppers who filled the aisles, bought fresh produce, fruit, fish, meat and poultry. Freshly made tortillas traveled down a conveyer belt where they were stacked in plastic bags and sold still warm in the open-air tortilla factory that once stretched along the southern wall close to Broadway.
The Market specialized in health products, fresh fruit juices, herbal teas and homeopathic remedies from around the world. And where there are shoppers, they will be places to eat. Dozens of stalls sold Mexican tacos, enchiladas, ceviche, whole lobsters, plates of fried fish and shrimp in the shell. Anyone who needed an old-school Chinese-American food fix could eat at China Cafe and Broadway Express.
Welcome to the new One for the Table ...
Our Home Page will be different each time you arrive.
We're sure you'll find something to pique your interest...