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Old 06-12-2006, 04:04 PM   #1
luckie
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Default Beverly Hills, the real Hollywood (mentions Segway tour; Denver Post; Denver, CO)

6/11/2006
Beverly Hills, the real Hollywood
By Diana Korte
Tribune Media Services
DenverPost.com
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_3926242?source=rss

(Segway Tour mentioned in paragraph 3)

Beverly Hills is a dazzling movie set that's open to the public. That palm-tree lined avenue, isn't that from "Beverly Hills Cop"? Didn't we see Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" walk through the Art Deco lobby of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel? Surely that was Cher who realized she loved Josh in "Clueless," as she walked by the Electric Fountain in Beverly Gardens Park? Yes, yes and yes. Cinema deja vu, it's everywhere here. The Hollywood suburb itself is only a few miles away, but it's boring in comparison.

About a hundred years ago this 5.7 square mile municipality was mostly a giant lima bean field. Today's hometown industries are beauty and fashion, celebrities, their homes and their hangouts. The grass is greener and the flowers are prettier here. There are thousands of private and public gardeners in this small town of a little more than 35,000 souls. And there are definitely a lot of high heels and cleavage -- coincidentally the local Yellow Pages lists 54 cosmetic surgeons.

Of course, the streets are full of stretch limos, Mercedes and BMWs, Bentleys and Ferraris, but it's so walkable here, as the central business district is measured in blocks not miles. In addition to shopping, we explored the neighborhoods of celebrity homes by Beverly Hills Trolley. But our favorite wheels for touring were on our Segways (www.segwow.com). We, and our battery-powered, self-balancing, soundless scooters, breezed up and down the sidewalks of the exclusive neighborhoods; max speed 12 mph. We were photographed by paparazzi, as we came around the corner at the home of Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and the new baby. At the end of our Segway adventure, we scootered to Rodeo Drive's only hotel, The Luxe, www.luxehotels.com, a small hotel that attracts fashion and design visitors, many from other countries. How appropriate then that we were offered stylish pomegranate martinis in the hotel's Cafe Rodeo.

My first bite of anything in Beverly Hills was a chunk of chocolate cupcake from Sprinkles Cupcakes on Little Santa Monica Boulevard. I believe my heart stopped for a moment. I can still remember where I was sitting when I had that first taste. This shop sells more than 20 flavors of cupcakes and offers daily specials (www.sprinklescupcakes.com). When we went by for another cupcake hit a day later, to our dismay, but complete understanding, a 28-person line snaked out of the front door. Who knows how many customers were already inside?

Continuing our food adventure, we dined at the Beverly Hills Spago Restaurant where twinkling lights in the trees on the heated patio added just the right ambiance for men in leather jackets and smartly dressed women with oversized sunglasses. Champagne was followed by spicy tuna tartare served in a caramelized sesame cone. This and other appetizers were the beginning of a beautiful evening at Wolfgang Puck's flagship restaurant, www.wolfgangpuck.com.

Another local hot spot is the luminous Crustacean Restaurant (www.anfamily.com) home to high style Vietnamese dining. On a Friday night it was standing room only and buzzy with waiters gliding by and fish lazily swimming in a serpentine 6,000-gallon tank under the floor. Known for its fabulous garlic noodles that alone are worth the trip, I still savor the memory of their sea bass and ginger sauce.

Lunch at the Avalon Hotel's blue on blue was quintessential California dining (www.avalonbeverlyhills.com/dining). At a shaded cabana by the pool, we enjoyed bottled water from Norway for starters with an all-American fried green tomato appetizer with pork bits and chicory. The herb marinated chicken club sandwich had flavors so fresh that my husband, Gene, was sorry when it was finished, but too full to ask for more. At meal's end the kitchen sent us off with warm and gooey cookies in little white boxes. Who could ask for anything more?

A must stop for tea drinkers and other lovers of tranquil moments is the European based Le Palais Des Thes, the only such teahouse in the United States. Located in Beverly Hill's "Golden Triangle," it offers more than 250 quality teas and tea accouterments from pots to pastries. Hang out with Randy Arnold at the glass-topped bar for his tea tasting classes where he serves teas from around the world from Japanese greens to African rooibos reds with stories just as exotic (www.palaisdesthes.com).

A fun people watching spot on North Beverly Boulevard is the sidewalk seating area of The Farm of Beverly Hills (www.thefarmofbeverlyhills.com). It's open all day, but we stopped in first thing one morning. It's known for its brownies, but one of its more filling breakfasts includes the Chilaquiles, poached eggs over corn tortilla strips marinated in a spicy tomato sauce. The nearby cooking school at Massimo Restaurant, a stop on another day, had a seafood demonstration and lunch where the pesce al cartoccio made with branzino, scallops and shrimp was the class favorite.

Perhaps the most well known landmark in Beverly Hills is the Beverly Hilton on Wilshire Boulevard. Since Conrad Hilton built it in 1955, more celebrities have probably walked through its doors than any other place in Beverly Hills. It's been home to the Golden Globe Awards for more than 30 years and millions of dollars are raised every year in numerous red carpet charity events. A place of superlatives, its Aqua-Star Pool is still the biggest in town and now with its $80 million dollar renovation, it's the only hotel with 42-inch flat screens in every guest room (www.beverlyhilton.com). The Stardust Restaurant on the top floor affords sweeping views of the city. And the pillow-top mattresses in the guest rooms are so popular that the hotel sells them online.

Another local icon is the Greystone Mansion on a hill above Beverly Hills. It was the location of a still unsolved murder-suicide soon after it was built in the 1920s. With its 55 rooms and three-foot-thick exterior walls it's thought to be the largest house ever built in Beverly Hills (www.greystonemansion.org). Today, it's owned by the city and has been used as a backdrop in many movies and TV shows. Whether studios rent a room or the entire building, it costs $13,000 a day to have the cameras roll.

Remember that empty mansion that real estate agent Demi Moore showed millionaire Robert Redford in "Indecent Proposal"? It's Greystone. It was also Jack Nicholson's Massachusetts home in "The Witches of Eastwick." Although the mansion itself is not a tour site, its 18.5-acre gardens are free to the public and often the site for weddings and other parties.

In fact, much of scenic Beverly Hills (www.Beverlyhills.org or www.beverlyhillsbehere.com) is free, whether it's window shopping on the world's most expensive streets, strolling in the 14-block Beverly Gardens Park or enjoying the beauty of thousands of flowers, plants, trees everywhere. Happily for all of us, it doesn't cost anything to just look at and admire this fabled inspiration for the silver screens of Hollywood.
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Douglas B. Luckie, Ph.D.
Cystic Fibrosis Research Lab
Department of Physiology and Lyman Briggs College of Science
Michigan State University
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Old 06-12-2006, 06:18 PM   #2
fredkap
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Axel Shine does a fantastic job with SegWow! We had Sprinkles cupcakes Saturday for our daughter's high school graduation party and Crustacean is my favorite restaurant! Great article!

-Fred
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