Los Angeles Greater Area
Beyond the couch: where to watch football now
Put away the chips. Let the beer languish in the fridge. It’s time you caught a game with someone other than your dog or the dude next door. A place with actual food. Plenty of big screens—say 17. And (pay attention, this is important) real people. From Palms to Manhattan Beach, here’s where to find it all.
Halloween, LA style
It’s probably just our Hollywood genes, but Halloween events around here go quite few notches above pointy hats, green makeup and sheets with holes. The names say it all: Fright Fest, Scary Farm, Horror Nights, Fear Grounds (get it?). Are experiences like these almost … too real? You’ll never know until you go.
All the immersive art shows
Getting plunked in the middle of a famous work of art like a fly on a giant three-dimensional canvas is the current buzz. Whether you immerse yourself in 20,000 square feet of Monet water lilies, zoom close to the Sistine Chapel’s tiniest brushstrokes or plunge into Banksy’s edgy street world, these are flights you won’t forget.
Yappy Hour, all day long
Dog-friendly eateries are everywhere in LA, with easy open-air seating and plenty of shade for the furry. One spot offers a dedicated dog-friendly menu; another is just steps away from a dog beach and a self-service dog wash for the ride home. Here, fifteen favorites you’ll both want to sniff out.
San Francisco Bay Area
Hello again, Frances
Good news S.F. foodies. Ahead of a planned reopening, beloved Castro district restaurant Frances will hold a series of pop-up dinners this month hosted by owner and executive chef Melissa Perello. In a departure, the dinners will have no planned menu, because in typical California cuisine parlance Parello wants “to be able to use fleeting ingredients and let the land dictate to me—rather than the other way around.”
Symphonic sounds return to S.F.
He has his hands full in replacing longtime luminary Michael Tilson Thomas, however the San Francisco Symphony’s new musical director will come out with batons blazing when the acclaimed orchestra returns to live performances this October. The productions being organized by Esa-Pekka Salonen include world premiers, commissions with acclaimed artists, and the return of past favorites such as Itzhak Perlman and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
Michelin Guide amuse-bouche
Horn BBQ in west Oakland; North Block in Yountville; Reve Bistro in Lafayette; 3rd Cousin in San Francisco. What do they all have in common? They’ve all been recognized by the esteemed Michelin food guide as among 10 “Delicious Discoveries” in the Bay Area. Check out the full list, which should whet your appetite for the official 2021 guide set to be released in late September.
Books to bookmark
Bay Area literary heavyweights Dave Eggers and Mary Roach are among the authors coming out with new books this fall. Check out this fun list of seven local books to consider settling into, including investigations into the African culinary diaspora by an Oakland chef-entrepreneur and a manifesto on how to streamline your life by professional Bay Area home organizer Shira Gill.
