Kirsty Godso on where to eat in LA
I think everyone should visit LA at least once (though maybe not right away).
Good evening everyone. After an extended weekend in Los Angeles, I woke up in Toronto late this morning feeling grateful that I could grab a coffee on Ossington and quickly get to my office all without having to hail an outrageously priced Uber.
I think anyone who cares about entertainment should visit LA at least once, though most of us should consider waiting about three years. It’s difficult to overstate how much of our culture is driven (still) by what a small group of people are doing in and around West Hollywood. After landing on Wednesday, we had dinner at Soho House Holloway as Rod Castro, a Grammy-winning guitarist, performed in the background. Meanwhile Halsey was about to get on stage at the Hollywood Bowl, Iliza Shlesinger was slotted in at The Comedy Store, and Anine Bing was celebrating the launch of her summer collection at Chateau Marmont — all within a ten minute drive of each other.
The saturation of cool people brings a special energy to major U.S. cities, but what’s always weird to me when comparing them against Toronto is how the smallest of life’s joys, or really any form of convenience, come at such a high cost. I’d hate the rich too!
If you’re interested in an itinerary I’ll include one in my sporadic travel newsletter tomorrow, otherwise my highlights included watching a sports team that’s actually good (the love for Shohei Ohtani is palpable), seeing Whitney Cummings perform at The Comedy Store, and going to Erewhon every day. One last very LA thing I did was take a class with Kirsty Godso, who trains Charli XCX, Olivia Rodrigo, Kaia Gerber, and so many other big names. I asked for her recommendations and she said Élephante in Santa Monica (can confirm), Gjelina in Venice, South Beverly Grill in Beverly Hills, All Time in Los Feliz, The Tower Bar in West Hollywood, and Saffy’s in East Hollywood.
Some final observations are that Hailey Bieber smoothies are inelastic goods, nightlife everywhere seems to be struggling, and it’s no longer impressive to me when Silicon Valley CEOs wake up at 4 a.m. (there’s no other way to manage that time difference).
NEWS:
Hope you aren’t waiting on any mail this week. Canada Post strike (maybe).
Casting is open for a Summer House-like reality series set in Muskoka. Check to see if any of your friends are following Lafe Jordan on Instagram.
Alo’s Patrick Kriss is one of 11 Canadian chefs joining a new meal delivery service. CookUnity is best known for partnering with chefs across the U.S. to develop menus and is now expanding into Ontario. The company will face the same market realities as struggling competitors like GoodFood, Chefs Plate, HelloFresh, but it’s great brand-building for the chefs involved.
The Bay’s striped blankets will be available at Canadian Tire. Which bought the company’s IP for $30 million last week, including its logo and iconic stripes.
Could be a good time for a road trip? Gas prices are down 18% this year.
Levi’s is selling Dockers to Authentic Brands Group. Dockers, primarily known for khakis, was started by Levi’s in 1986 as a hedge against denim. The company has struggled since falling out of fashion in the 2000s, but ABG plans to take the brand to international markets where khakis are (reportedly) thriving.
We have hit the limit of what people will spend on a Chanel flap bag.
There will be 66,000 fewer Airbnbs in Spain this summer. Cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Edinburgh, New York, and now Montreal have tightened rules around short-term rentals to bring more housing supply onto the market.
Let’s normalize using G7 Summit locations as vacation inspiration.
Summer camp counsellor postings are down 44% this year. A separate but really interesting talent report by venture capital firm SignalFire found technology companies are hiring 50% fewer new graduates than they did pre-pandemic.
Nvidia hired a managing editor. Many companies are investing in great editorial talent right now: Alison Millington, the former chief editor at Narcity left that job a year ago for an editor role at Amazon. I don’t need to tell you what great editorial has done for brands like SSENSE and Wealthsimple. Meanwhile those that can’t measure the ROI of connecting with their customers have blogs that look like this.
Live Nation is releasing some tickets for $30. You can use Klarna for the rest.
A POLITICO analysis found Elon Musk’s presence in DC is shrinking. Musk said today he plans to spend a “lot less” money on politics, after spending more than $290 million to help get Trump and other congressional candidates elected.
Whoever is doing protein’s PR should be taking notes. Sales for creatine, a ‘muscle-boosting’ supplement, at the Vitamin Shoppe are up 320% since 2019.
Jewelery designer Steff Eleoff took over Pilot Coffee this weekend. It was kind of perfect. I’m seeing more partnerships between homegrown brands like the recent Erewhon-style smoothie collab between Uncle Studios and NutBar.
