Each month we share five unmissable things to see and do in the Golden State. You heard it here first.
Words by MAX BERLINGER, DAVID NASH, and S. IRENE VIRBILA
YOUNTVILLE
Unearth The French Laundry’s Secrets on a Culinary Garden Tour
Immerse yourself in the spring’s bounty and have all your senses activated by the farm-fresh ingredients grown across the street from THE FRENCH LAUNDRY during its annual Culinary Garden Tours. The vegetable and flower beds, hoop house filled with microgreens, chicken coop, and European honeybee hives are basically a woodland pantry filled with ingredients that shape chef Thomas Keller’s menus for months at a time. Join the farm’s manager, Teresa Kao — or one of her passionate and knowledgeable team members — for a 75-minute stroll during which you’ll pick strawberries and taste sugar snap peas, turnips, carrots, asparagus, and other fare. You’ll also learn a lot: the oxalis with dark purple-brown foliage and tiny yellow flowers creeping in your garden is edible (and surprisingly sweet), and 17th-century Dutch farmers bred carrots to be orange as a tribute to William of Orange. The tour ends with a tasting of seasonal sorbet and a delightful parting gift. Tours are $100 per person and can be booked through Tock. 6639 Washington St., Yountville; thomaskeller.com/tfl/. D.N.
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LOS ANGELES
A Chinatown Bar Where Music and Cocktails Collide
Over the past few years, keyboard player and producer Ben Lovett of the British folk rock band Mumford & Sons has been busy opening indie music venues in the UK and stateside. His latest, Pacific Electric, opened in mid-April in a gnarly old warehouse on the outskirts of L.A.’s Chinatown, which David Chang pioneered with Majordomo. Lovett just added the first bar to his company TVG Hospitality’s portfolio. MITSI is big — and glamorous — and seats 150 indoors and out, making it something of a mega bar with plenty of space for music fans to stroll over for some serious cocktails after a concert. That could mean a pretty rosé martini featuring Lillet rosé, a 50/50 martini with a dash of tomato water, or a Paloma with watermelon radish and passion fruit. You can also have a spirit-free Phony Negroni or a sparkling tea from Taiwan, or try interesting wines by the glass or bottle (helpfully coded to indicate sustainable, certified organic, biodynamic, practicing organic or regenerative), local beers, and sake. The latter makes perfect sense because the only bar bite at this spot is sushi. Ordering is easy: Choose either sashimi (2 pieces) or nigiri sushi (1 piece) from the half dozen or so fish available that evening. That’s it, along with an array of hand rolls. Like the best bar bites, it’s simple and straightforwardly delicious. You can bet the playlist is playful and curious, just like the crowd. Open Thurs.–Sat., 6 p.m.–2 a.m. (1 a.m. Thurs). 1737 Naud St., L.A., 213-259-3905; mitsi.la. S.I.V.
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LOS ANGELES
Instagrammable Interior Design Take Shape in This Stylish Showroom
Interior designer Drew Michael Scott launched LONE FOX in 2018. In the eight years that followed, he has turned the design platform known for its DIY tutorials and apartment makeovers into a mid-city 7,000-square-foot brick and mortar warehouse. Across 3,000 square feet of shoppable space, the designer’s emporium is a repository for Scott’s curated collection of vintage treasures and contemporary housewares and furnishing by design legends like Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret, French modernist designer Jacques Adnet, and Finnish lighting creator Paavo Tynell. Among his respectable 1.5M Instagram following, the 30-year-old creative is known for his hands-on approach to bringing Pinterest boards to life, for giving meaning to forgotten spaces, and for his outside-the-box holiday decor. Now there’s a physical space for anyone to experience the totality of his imagination IRL. Open Wed.–Sun., 10 a.m.–5 p.m. 1288 South La Brea Ave., L.A.; lonefox.com. D.N.
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SAN FRANCISCO
This Historic Nob Hill Hotel Makes a Heralded Return
Originally built in 1922 as an apartment building, THE HUNTINGTON HOTEL has long been a crown jewel atop Nob Hill. Following a six-year closure, the Georgian-style boutique property has reemerged as a world-beating luxury icon, reimagined by local design impresario Ken Fulk, who has suffused it in old-world glamour and contemporary styling. The 143-key hotel includes 71 guest rooms and 72 suites that showcase historic plasterwork and boiserie panels, giving a warm and residential feel that honors its past. Also reopened is THE BIG FOUR, the 72-seat restaurant inside the hotel, with chef David Intonato at the helm. Known for its classic American menu (including the beloved chicken pot pie), the spot has served as “the officially unofficial club house of Nob Hill” for 50 years. The urban escape also houses NOB HILL SPA, one of the finest self-care sanctuaries in town. Spanning three floors, it includes an indoor pool with city views, 12 treatment rooms, saunas, steam rooms, a lounge, and an 1,800-square-foot fitness center. 1075 California St., S.F.; thehuntingtonhotel.com. D.N.
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LOS ANGELES
A West Coast Flagship That Feels Straight Out of a Movie
If you’ve ever stepped into the Soho location of the cult streetwear brand AIMÉ LEON DORE and felt like you were on a film set, you weren’t wrong. The beloved brand, founded by Teddy Santis, has long understood that retail is a form of entertainment. Now L.A. is getting an ALD production fit for Tinseltown. Just opened on Melrose Avenue, the first West Coast flagship is less of a store and more of a place you’d happily kill two hours. The Mediterranean-inspired space channels old European houses: stucco walls, custom wood windows, and a cinematic cobblestone courtyard shaded beneath an 80-year-old olive tree sourced from the Central Valley. Yet, the tree, somehow, is not the most cinematic thing here. Inside, the Spring/Summer 26 collections sit beneath skylights in a sun-drenched room furnished with custom sofas mixed with vintage pieces — the design was by Sarita Posada Interiors. The buzzy cafe (which attracts long lines and selfies at sister stores in New York and London) is draped in deep green millwork and marble mosaic with brass motifs by Greek artist Alekos Fassianos — plus its own shiny custom Marzocco Linea 2 machine. The store opens with some covetable exclusives, namely a limited-edition colorway of the ALD-New Balance 471 and an L.A. Dodgers Unisphere T-shirt. The store is ready for its close-up. 8746 Melrose Ave.; aimeleondore.com. M.B.
May 2026
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