Each month we share five unmissable things to see and do in the Golden State. You heard it here first.
Words by KERSTIN CZARRA, DAVID NASH, ELIZABETH VARNELL, and S. IRENE VIRBILA
OJAI
A Historic Hotel Returns to Spanish Revival Splendor
For decades, visitors have come to Ojai for the pink-hued sunsets, orange groves, and low-key charm, but boutique hotel options have remained limited. That changes with the reopening of HOTEL EL ROBLAR, a lovingly restored 50-room property in the heart of town. Originally opened in 1919 and shuttered to the public for nearly half a century, the property reenters the scene after a careful renovation. “It’s a 105-year-old landmark,” says co-owner Jeremy McBride, an Ojai resident who led the renaissance alongside fellow locals Eric Goode, Ramin Shamshiri, and Warner Ebbink. A documentary filmmaker and entrepreneur whose work spans from Tiger King to hospitality and real estate ventures, McBride adds, “We’re honored to carry it forward, hoping to restore something the community feels proud of.” Set across two lush acres and surrounded by dragon trees, tiled fountains, and towering palms, the Spanish Revival building sits steps from Ojai Playhouse and Rory’s Place. Inside, original architectural details — like the lobby’s stone-stacked fireplace and hand-carved relief in the Mariposa Ballroom — have been preserved alongside newly sourced California Mission Revival and Monterey-style antiques. The hotel offers 31 thoughtfully designed rooms, many with private garden terraces, alongside 11 secluded bungalows and the newly added Sycamore House, with eight cabin-style rooms with “board-and-batten exteriors and interiors that nod to the rustic charm and craftsmanship of the property’s original outbuildings,” says Shamshiri, who oversaw the final design. Even the restaurant feels rooted: Condor Bar, helmed by Brandon Boudet of Little Dom’s, serves wood-fired Mexican fare, including Santa Barbara sea urchin tamal, local tomato and melon with chicatano ants, and pork ribs al pastor. From $495 a night. 122 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai; theroblar.com. K.C.
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PALM SPRINGS
The Restaurant Where Art Is on the Walls and on Your Plate
Palm Springs Art Museum just lucked into a new restaurant, a savvy diner called LIV’S from chef Gabriel Woo, who helms the kitchen of Bar Cecil, still the most hard-to-get table in town. It’s open for breakfast, albeit at 10 a.m., serving proper Monte Cristos, French omelettes laced with herbs and flowers, a very French Croque Madame, and even a seasonal cheese blintz. For lunch in the shade of the concrete and cantilevered E. Stewart Williams–designed architectural marvel, order a colossal shrimp cocktail or give the chickpea fritter panini with heirloom tomato a chance. Everything here has an intriguing twist from Woo, a desert local whose first job was washing dishes at the Tamarisk Country Club. The lobster roll is dressed up in cabbage and tarragon on a New England roll and the shrimp and lobster louie is tucked into the salad category along with a chopped Cobb. Dessert? Add a coda of a pecan sandie — a true work of art. Open Thurs.–Mon., 10–4, until 8 on Thursdays. 101 N. Museum Dr., Palm Springs, 760-422-9567; livspalmsprings.com. S.I.V.
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BEVERLY HILLS
The Spirit of Parisian Art Deco Heralds Boucheron’s Arrival on Rodeo
As the first jeweler to establish a presence on Place Vendôme in Paris in 1893, BOUCHERON’s Beverly Hills debut was always going to dazzle. Using an art deco lens that’s prominent throughout the French jewelry house’s oeuvre, the new West Coast flagship’s exterior includes a green terra-cotta volcanic stone bas-relief depicting ferns and climbing foliage by Sant’Anselmo. The vast boutique’s interiors mix the Parisian roots with the home of Hollywood. From a red carpet reinterpreted in green — also emblematic of nature and the Place Vendôme boutique’s Jardin d’Hiver — to a VIP space that includes portraits of Elizabeth Taylor and Rita Hayworth alongside their personal collections from the house, there’s a strong cinematic connection. Throughout the interiors, filled with circular tables and baubles, high jewelry, and watches, chandeliers by Delisle spotlight the integral role of the natural world in the Serpent Bohème, Nature Triomphante, and Animaux de Collection designs while de Gournay images of palm trees are echoed outside on Rodeo Drive. 449 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 424-421-3993; boucheron.com. E.V.
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FRESNO
Abstract Landscapes and Ancient Symbolism Unite in This Solo Exhibition
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1947, Native American artist Linda Lomahaftewa — one of the Hopi Nation’s most revered living artists of the 20th century — has been named the Council of 100’s Distinguished Woman Artist for 2025 at FRESNO ART MUSEUM. This distinction brings with it a solo two-part exhibition, Linda Lomahaftewa: The San Francisco Years: Paintings 1965 through 1972 and Recent Works 2008 through 2024. Pulled from a 2021 retrospective at the Institute of American Indian Arts, private collections, and the artist herself, the show’s paintings — like Sustenance, an oil on canvas completed between 1965 and 1970 — are indicative of the Native iconography and abstract desert landscapes that marked her work during the period when she first relocated to the Bay Area to attend the San Francisco Art Institute, where she later taught. More recent works — such as Pandemic Blue II, 2020, a monotype on paper — similarly unite “the ancient world with the contemporary in a symphony of shape and color.” Aug. 9, 2025–Jan. 11, 2026. 2233 N. First St., Fresno, 559-441-4221; fresnoartmuseum.org. D.N.
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L.A.
A Cinematic Vision of A.I.’s Dystopic Future Takes Over the Hammer
Lawrence Lek’s cinematic universe has arrived in L.A., and he has trained his eye on both the alluring promise of AI and the inherent ethical twists as the technology extends its reach in our automated age. Lek, a Malaysian Chinese artist who is based in London, has installed the immersive Lawrence Lek: NOX High-Rise multigallery show at the HAMMER MUSEUM. The exhibition, which spans narratively linked videos, sounds, and objects, builds on his concept of a Sinofuturist universe exploring parallels between AI and Chinese technological developments combining science fiction, documentary, melodrama, social realism, and Chinese cosmologies. Sentient self-driving cars in need of mental health treatment — a glimpse of the future, or just a game? 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 310-443-7000; hammer.ucla.edu. E.V.
August 2025
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