Sarah's Food-Filled Week in LA

I got to see my sister, Sarah, a lot this year, so that’s fun! She took a few weeks off from her lab this summer to come visit me in Los Angeles and go home to WA. She was no stranger to Los Angeles after visiting me in California several times before during college, so I had to figure out what to do with her since we’d already done all the big touristy things. I mostly just planned our meals and found other things to do in between.

Saturday, July 1

Sarah landed around 11pm at LAX and there was a ton of traffic for some reason. We kept going back and forth about whether I should come to arrivals or departures, but I missed the turn for departures and ended up just going to arrivals and it took forever. We got home past midnight and Sarah just showered and went to bed.

Sunday, July 2

The next morning, we got up early to go to Orange County for the day. We stopped by Starbucks, then we hit the road to Alternative Retail, a company that puts on warehouse sales for brands ranging from surf brands like Roxy to athleisure like Vuori to luggage like Beis. They have several warehouse locations in Orange County and San Diego, and you just need to reserve a free-timed ticket on Eventbrite, so definitely look them up on Instagram if you’re in the area!

The sale we went to was for a women’s lifestyle brand called Z Supply. I got a pair of leggings and a couple of tops and Sarah got a workout set for herself and another for a friend, as well as some bike shorts. There was another sale with guys’ stuff, so Jordan also got a shirt.

Next, we hit up Blue Bowl in my college town of Old Towne Orange for some acai bowls. Sarah had been on a past trip before and now always has to go when she’s in OC. If you haven’t been, it’s basically like Chipotle but for acai bowls. They have different frozen bases like acai, pitaya, matcha, and coconut, and then you can add chia pudding, oatmeal, granola, fruit, nut butters, seeds, and different kinds of honey. There are several locations in Orange County and San Diego and one in Long Beach, but I am desperately awaiting their LA debut.

We walked around town and checked out the cutest home and gardening store called The Potting Shed. It had two floors and so many cute knick-knacks in it.

My car was in need of a wash, so I went to my favorite car wash from college, Orange Hand Car Wash, while Sarah and Jordan had margaritas at Finney’s Crafthouse.

We hung out there for a while, and then it was off to the main event, my friend Anica’s birthday pool party in Huntington Beach. We didn’t get in the pool, but we enjoyed the “25 going on 5” theme with hot dogs, goldfish, and rice krispies. We also got some fun temporary tattoos!

I always want to try new restaurants, but there is something about Bear Flag Fish Co. that just hits the spot. We went to the location in Newport Beach for some poke and fish tacos for dinner, then headed back to LA.

Monday, July 3

My office was closed on Monday for the Fourth of July, so I was free to hang with Sarah all day. I am a big ClassPass fan, and it offers an initial 2-week free trial, so I had Sarah sign up so that we could do some different workout classes while she was in LA. You can use my referral link to start your own free trial with 20 bonus credits and check out my review of my 2-week trial here.

We started the week with an 8am class at Platefit in Venice. This is the epitome of LA, as this is basically a HIIT class that is done on a vibrating plate. I think it’s supposed to be a good detox or something, and the class is only 27 minutes and that is honestly plenty.

We came home, showered, and then went to The Butcher’s Daughter in West Hollywood to try their $28 breakfast bar deal with my roommate, Jordan, and former co-worker and her sister. However, they considered July 3 to be a holiday and weren’t offering the breakfast bar, so we just ordered off the regular menu. I went back another day and it was extremely disappointing, would not recommend at all.

We walked through the Glossier store on Melrose Avenue, then we headed to Burke Williams in Santa Monica. Sarah got a facial and I got a massage, mostly funded by a gift card from work #werkperks. We had never been to a spa, so it was a real treat! A staff member gave us a tour and showed us the different pools and lounges and separate bathrooms for men and women. We were each given a key to a locker with a robe and slippers. There was fruit-infused water, and it was all pretty dark and quiet. No phones were allowed, but I had to snap a quick pic for the blog. We went to the waiting room and Sarah was called for her facial and then I was called for my massage. It was very relaxing and my masseuse did a good job. I was done before Sarah, so I went to a little room to just lay down and relax and wait.

Then, it was time for a snack. Sarah hadn’t been in LA since before the pandemic and since then, Erewhon had become known around the country with celebrities and influencers going there during lockdown when grocery stores were the only places that were open. Imagine the most colorful, Instagram-friendly grocery store where smoothies can cost $20. It’s now basically a tourist destination (I have seen other people show their families around), and so I had to bring Sarah. It was only my second time there and we got some buffalo cauliflower and citrus salad.

We came back to my apartment, then went to our 6pm reservation at the Netflix restaurant pop-up, Netflix Bites, with Jordan and my friend, Luke. The menu was developed by popular chefs from Netflix cooking shows such as Rodney Scott from Chef’s Table. The food was expensive, but it was good. I’m still thinking about the honey cake from Nadiya Hussain.

Tuesday, July 4

We went to our second workout class, a reformer pilates class at Circuit Works in Santa Monica. It was pretty challenging. We came home, showered, and then Sarah drove me and Jordan up PCH for brunch. Parking along the street was tricky, but Sarah did it! I had seen Cafe on 27 on Instagram, and it is a place that you do need to book a reservation weeks in advance. The restaurant is kind of in the trees, tucked into the Santa Monica Mountains and it really does feel like you’re not in LA anymore. The food wasn’t anything super special, but they had solid breakfast and sandwiches, salads, burgers.

It was a beautiful day, so we walked down the path at Palisades Park, then went to Venice Beach Wines. Sarah and Jordan got wine and I got lemonade. We thought about getting ice cream at Jeni’s across the street, but we had plans to watch the fireworks later and decided to pick up desserts at Whole Foods. Then, we went home and watched The Summer I Turned Pretty and ate dinner at home.

Jordan, Sarah, and I met our other friend Emma at Venice Beach and watched the fireworks show that was being put on down in Marina Del Rey. There were also people at Venice Beach near us setting off fireworks and it was actually kind of scary how close they were, but we survived.

Wednesday, July 5

Another day, another workout class. I took an extra day off from work, so we went to barre class at Exhale in Santa Monica. This is one of my favorite workout studios because it’s located in the Fairmont hotel, so it feels like a vacation when you go in. At the end of class, they handed out coupons for Dogtown Coffee located in the hotel, so Sarah got a coffee and I got a smoothie.

We didn’t want to spoil our lunch, but I wanted to show Sarah Tartine in Santa Monica, a gorgeous cafe built in an old church. We just shared a savory scone and then went home to shower. Then, we went to Sugarfish for lunch in Beverly Hills. I know there could be better sushi places, but I don’t care, Sugarfish always hits the spot and at such an affordable price for LA standards! Sarah loved it and I think I’ll have to take my mom there one day too. For dessert, we went to Wanderlust Creamery on Sawtelle and introduced Sarah to mango sticky rice ice cream. Delish.

It was another lovely day in LA, so I showed her downtown Culver City and we sat for a bit and read our books. I also tried a chai from Philz Coffee for the first time. It was interesting, definitely more tea and less creamy than Starbucks.

We came back to my apartment to watch Ted Lasso before getting ready for dinner. I somehow wrangled the two busiest gals I know, my friends Callie and Meagan and trapped them into having dinner with us at Cobi’s, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant serving South Asian food. This was beautiful and we got curry puffs, nasi goreng, butter chicken, branzino. For dessert, we got Thai tea pudding topped with boba pearls. Sarah also loved this place so this day was a big success.

Thursday, July 6

I had to go back to work, so Sarah had her own LA day and drove herself to a cycling class at Cyclebar in Culver City. She got Starbucks, then went back to Tartine to get the salmon toast I raved about. She spent a few hours reading at Santa Monica beach and got pretty sunburned.

Once I got off work, we went to dinner at the taco stand in front of the Whole Foods in Venice that my friend Dan showed me. Sarah and I split an al pastor quesadilla and got some tacos, and they did not disappoint! There are so many taco trucks and stands in LA, I really need to try more. After eating dinner, we went into the Whole Foods for aloe vera and I bought some ice cream because they were having a sale on Jeni’s.

Of course, we had to get dessert, and I took her to Millet Crepe on Sawtelle. This place is the home of the creme brulee crepe cone. You can choose a spread to go between the layers of the crepe then inside of the crepe cone. We got them to-go and ate them on the couch while watching more Ted Lasso.

Friday, July 7

I had to work during the day again, but had planned to get up early so that we could get Courage Bagels with my friend Katherine before work. Sarah wasn’t feeling well, so I drove to meet Katherine on my own and picked up bagels to eat at home. It turns out Sarah was super dehydrated from the day before and got sun poisoning so I took her to urgent care and got her a ton of fluids at Ralph’s.

I came back and worked while Sarah watched Ted Lasso and drank the six bottles of various waters, electrolytes, and lemonade I got her. My dad flew down and arrived in the afternoon, and Sarah was feeling fine by then so she went and picked him up from the airport. After work, we went to dinner at Hatchet Hall in Culver City. It was awarded one Michelin star in December 2022, but they took the star away in the latest Michelin Guide released on July 19, 2023. Michelin star or not, the meal was fantastic. They were celebrating the restaurant’s anniversary with complimentary cocktails and scotch. We ordered the baked potato gnocchi, scallops, summer squash casserole, brussel sprouts, meatloaf, peach cobbler, and cookies. This was a delicious end to Sarah’s week in LA, and we flew to Seattle the next morning!