Beverly Hills, California: A lazy morning. We woke to morning fog (not that far from the ocean) and had coffee. By the time we were ready to start our day, the sun was shining. 75 degrees in Beverly Hills today, 104 in Indio. We chose a good week to get out of the desert.
As you know, we just love to walk and walk and walk to explore a city. We have been to Beverly Hills before, but had not walked down the famed Rodeo Drive for over two decades. First, we stopped at a little sidewalk cafe to fuel-up:
Veggie omelets and salads in our bellies, we were prepared to hit the streets and do a little shopping, A little shopping is the key word today. Gucci. Hermès. Louis Vuitton. Harry Winston. Chanel. All the major fashion houses have stores along Rodeo Drive, but we were just in Las Vegas and the same shops are there as well. We window shop. The streets were not busy and the stores did not seem crowded. We found a mix of poorly-attired (bootie-shorts and flip-flops… and baseball caps, of course) tourists, and ancient mavens getting out of their chauffeured cars to pop-in to Versace for a new dress. We were well-dressed tourists, and it was fun to see all the beautiful dresses, jewels and handbags on display in the windows. The streets are so clean (someone in Beverly Hills owns a pressure washer!), gorgeous flower baskets adorned every lamppost, we heard at least a dozen different languages being spoken, and generally had a very nice afternoon.
We walked for hours and only returned to the hotel for a rest and tea in the late afternoon, as we had early dinner reservations at an Italian place Dave especially enjoys, Madeo. Again, the hotel took us the half-mile to the restaurant and we arrived in style – though in just a regular Mercedes this evening.
Madeo had a special salad this evening consisting of shaved fennel, shaved endive, shaved Parmesan, tossed with lemon juice, olive oil and a bit of breasola (air dried beef, or something nice for non-pork eaters to enjoy when prosciutto would usually be employed. This simple salad could easily be recreated in a home kitchen (or even RV kitchen) and I can’t wait to try. The Birthday Boy had a salad of lightly dressed arugula, served with slices of breasola – something I serve to him several times a year (and never charge him $22).
The last time we dined at Madeo I had Veal Milanese. It’s Italian for wienerschnitzel.
Dave ordered something he rarely finds on a menu, so orders it when he can – pasta served with shaved bottarga (dried mullet or tuna roe). He ate every bite. Even though Dave helped me with the veal chop, we could not finish.
Leaving the restaurant, there is always a crush of paparazzi, as Madeo is popular with movie stars. They did not rush us, nor snap our photos. This Goddess keeps a very low profile… but was that Michael Douglas walking through the restaurant?
We walked back to the restaurant (one of us in heels) and had a nightcap in the bar, where the same bartenders from last night presented a very embarrassed Dave with a little birthday cake – complete with glowing candle.
The pink “rose petals” were shaved (dyed red) white chocolate, and we found a raspberry gelee hidden inside the center of the cake. (He has yet to eat the cake delivered to our room yesterday, but I assume it is the same… and assume the hotel pastry chef has discs printed with Happy Anniversary, Congratulations, and Please Check-Out, for any occasion necessary.
A fun day – and no problem covering 10,000 steps!
Until my next update, I remain your touristy correspondent.