Spring Fever is in the air, and with Passover and Easter holiday celebrations back-to-back, here are some of the top spots around town to celebrate hope and renewal.
Hotel Options for Easter
The new outdoor restaurant at Beverly Wilshire, THEBlvd Prive is offering à la carte Easter brunch on April 3 and 4 (from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.) complete with eggplant Parmesan and eight-hour lamb shoulder. For added seasonal flair, the grade school students from Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles have decorated Easter eggs that line the hedges of the restaurant’s entrance.
The Maybourne patio is offering Easter all day from 12 to 10 p.m. The tasting menu will include Claridge’s Severn & Wye smoked salmon and slow-roasted leg of lamb with mint chimichurri, ending with a custom Easter egg or carrot cake for $165 per person.
Easter Brunch at Avec Nous in the Viceroy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills will feature Eggs Benedict with free-flowing Champagne ($60 per person) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for $110 per adult and $55 per child (12 and under.)
At the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, The Rooftop by JG is offering a three-course family-style Easter brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that includes an Easter basket for each child for $160 per person and $80 per child. For Easter dinner, Jean-Georges Beverly Hills downstairs will offer its popular eight-course tasting experience from 6 to 10:30 p.m.
The Beverly Hills Hotel Polo Lounge brunch will take place from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for $185 per person with a traditional ham dish and an Easter Basket cocktail with Butterfly Pea Flower Infused Tito’s Vodka. Sister property Wolfgang Puck at the Hotel Bel-Air is holding an Easter brunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. that ends with a choice of a decadent chocolate Easter egg, lemon meringue bunny tail or sticky toffee carrot cake ($225 per person).
Le Petit Belvedere Terrace at the Peninsula will include a three-course Parisian brunch, complete with edible “Fabergé eggs” and a roving Easter bunny delivering treats. The cost is $150 per person from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. An Easter Afternoon Tea on the Verandah Terrace is also an option for $130 per person on April 3-4, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
New and Improved Options
Opening to the public on April 2, the Pendry West Hollywood hotel will also be debuting Ospero, the casual street-side European style café. The relaxed, all-day menu including salads, handmade pasta, vegan dishes and Wolfgang Puck pizza. The restaurant offers an outdoor terrace overlooking a beautifully landscaped piazza with views of downtown Los Angeles with a full bar and takeaway offerings as well. Currently only open for hotel guests or members of The Britely private club on the grounds, Merois is the rooftop option with open-air views and a menu that showcases Chef Wolfgang Puck’s blend of Asian and French-California cuisine. The Bar at Merois is a modern space anchored by a central fireplace for evening cocktails and small bites.
Tucked away in Beverly Glenn Canyon, nine-time Grammy-winner, Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill might be a famous jazz-supper club but they have also recently launched a jazzy Sunday brunch on the patio just in time for Easter. Expect activated charcoal waffles topped with Jidori fried chicken and eggs Benedict with lobster or crab on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Take-Out Treats
Gwyneth Paltrow has added home-delivered healthy meals from goop Kitchen as the latest arm of her successful lifestyle-wellness brand. The menu offers deliciously prepared dishes from Chef Kim Floresca (whose training includes El Buli in Spain), with salmon bowls, Japanese sweet potato soup and mezze platters. The westside, including Beverly Hills, Brentwood and Westwood are on the delivery route.
order.goopkitchen.com
Former Matsuhisa and Nobu chef Brian Ogawa is now operating an omakase to-go experience from a West Hollywood ghost kitchen. Home-a-kase is a premium experience for $400 per person, that includes a fully catered meal from menu creation to clean-up. Add-ons include sake pairings and a dessert bar. Soosh.la
Bakeries and Sweets
For cute confections, the Flour Shop on Santa Monica Boulevard has Hops the Bunny rainbow vanilla explosion cakes with cream-cheese frosting in midi, maxi or mega sizes, cake pops or colorful crates of chocolate eggs. Over on Brighton Way, andSons has cases filled with upscale jewel-faceted chocolate eggs, hand-painted bunnies made with Valrhona dark chocolate and a variety of cookie bunnies. Neighboring teuscher is offering its famed Don Perignon Champagne truffle eggs and decorative Easter egg boxes you can custom-fill with various treats. And, no Passover or Easter celebration would be complete without the Edelweiss dark chocolate-covered Matzoh sheets with fruit and nuts, pectin jelly beans, speckled malt balls or chocolate-dipped marshmallow peeps.
