Stargazing

Okay, so I couldn't care less about seeing stars growing up in LA. However, I have friends coming into town that want to see stars if possible. Aside from sitting out under the dark sky, what restaurants would you say have the most star sightings, aside from somewhere obvious like Spago? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[erikaaaaa]

I saw David Spade and Sean Hayes at the Spanish Kitchen on La Cienega. And they weren't even together!

Matsuhisa on La Cienega. Rick Fox, Jennifer Aniston, Tony Bennett, and Clint Eastwood.

The Staples Center whenever the Lakers are playing. The food sucks -- the only thing edible is the turkey sandwich with "homemade" potato chips -- and it's mondo expensive, but your friends are pretty much guaranteed to see at least Jack Nicholson and Dyan Cannon, and last game I went to we also saw Andy Garcia, Richard Crenna, an Olympic gold medal winning swimmer whose name I can't recall, and the guy who played "Mannix." Frankie Muniz and Penny Marshall are always at Clippers games.

In B.H.

Go on a business day, around lunch time. Its proximity to several major talent agencies makes it a great spot to catch power-lunches. I've NEVER been in there and not seen someone.

Recent sighting include Brendon Fraser and his wife, Dave Spade having lunch with Rebecca Romaine Stamos, Peter Fonda, some drummer my rock-fan cousin recognized, blah, blah, blah.

Zippy

At the risk of being a curmudgeon, a quick personal comment on stargazing. In my experience, when a celebrity is present at a restaurant two things happen: there is an initial thrill of recognition, then an absolute vacuum of service as the staff gravitates to the Holy One.
At this point, if I do happen to be somewhere there is a "star", I pay for whatever I've ordered and go somewhere else to finish the meal. I would suggest considering the star haunt list as a warning, not an opportunity.
I will admit that if I were a visitor things would probably be different.

Agreed. These boards serve myriad food-related needs, so this topic's as fair game as any other, but there's nothing more diametrically opposed to the concept of chowhounding than this.

Chowhounds work to get past all the buzz, hype, image, and other such fizzy distractions in order to pursue the genuine, the personal, and the inspiring. It's about diving deeply into reality, so the last thing most of us want while communing with delicious cooking is for the gravitational field of a star to warp the experience. Stars in drugstores or carwashes? Kinda cool! Stars with my spaghetti? Check, please...

But, again, this board can serve a lot of needs, so please, folks, let it be without flaming. It's just one little thread.

ciao

You make a good point about the decline in service after the arrival of the annointed, however, places like the Ivy and Spago can handle it without missing a beat. The situation seems more extreme in smaller, more casual places.

I've always seen lots of stars at the Peninsula Hotel (Steve Martin, Clint Eastwood, Ric Ocasek etc.) and the Four Seasons (Priscilla Presley, Larry Flynt, John Malkovich.) You can just go to the bar for a drink.

Try lunch at Caffe Roma (see link). Possible sightings: Arnold, Sly, Mickey Rourke, and lots of Eurotrash.

Link: http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypMap.py?Pyt=T...

The Palms in Hollywwod & Ruth Chris in Beverly Hills!!

Axe in Venice on Abbot Kinney.

I went for brunch last weekend and saw the lead singer from Men at Work, Anthony LaPaglia, and a woman who was in "My Big, Fat . . ."

last year on my birthday, my wife and I went to Musso & Frank's for a martini, and Reggie Jackson was holding court with a bunch of other ball players (current ones it looked like), and then we went to Campanile, where Jamie Lee Curtis was just leaving. Some nights you just can't avoid celebrities, I guess !

I've had good luck with disreputable celebs at Urth Caffe. (Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke).

Chianti on Melrose. I've sat next to Marilyn Manson and Steve Martin there.

Go spend an afternoon sitting at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Malibu Country Mart.

That's a good bet.

(BTW - I looked up "Malibu Country Mart" on Google to find you a link, and it linked me to a site dedicated to where you could see stars ... linked below)

Link: http://www.seeing-stars.com/Shop/Mali...

Hugo's - both the Valley and the W. Hollywood locations - weekdays and lunch mostly.

Nate and Al's - 2nd home to Larry King.

Musso and Frank's

The Grill in Beverly Hills

The Palm

Dan Tana's

crustacean in beverly hills

Have a drink but be sure to eat somewhere else.

I used to work in Westwood in the same building as Toscana on San Vicente. As a result, I ate lunch there with coworkers quite often. Celeb sightings were so frequent that we were suprised if we didn't see somebody. Ahhhnold seemed to chow there with several equally pumped pals at least once a week.

Try these:

Cat & Fiddle on Sunset, esp. for Brits.
Mortons.
The Ivy.
Newsroom Cafe. (maybe)

Nobu Malibu... one of the truly disappointing food restaurants in town, is a good place to catch a celeb... last time I was there, John Cusack was at the next table. It is your typical trendy type place.

Also it has been reliably reported that Ray Romano is a regular at Sushi Nozawa when his show is taping. Nozawa does have a fairly regular "industry" clientele.

The Ivy (both locations) have also consistently served up celebs.

John Cusack must be a regular at Nobu - I saw him there a few weeks ago, as well as Michael Rappaport. More celebrities than I typically run into on an evening out.

You won't see a lot of first tier stars there, but there are a ton of mid-range names at Il Sole on Sunset. Personally, I don't like the food there much but the atmosphere is pleasant.

Les Deux Cafes seems to attract a reasonable number as well. It's a nice place, too. That's probably where I'd choose. It's still a very cool place even if you don't catch any celebrities.

actually - you have a better chance spotting celebrities at either the Ralph's at Coldwater and Ventura or the Gelson's at Riverside and Laurel Canyon.

The again, when we went to PF Chang's @ the Sherman Oaks Galleria (and a lousy *ahem* Chinese" meal at that), we saw a table that had 3 couples: The Peter Falks, the Richard Crennas, and the Dick Van Dykes. Now THAT was a power dinner.....

Freddie Prinze Jr. & Sarah Michelle Gellar were at Asanebo the last time I was there.

A trick to seeing sitcom stars reliably in the wild is to stake out a restaurant near the studio starting around 10pm on show night. (Tues. or Friday, depending on the series.) The bar at Pinot Hollywood would be the place for Paramount shows. Not sure what would be the best bet for shows that tape at the Radford lot, but Jerry Seinfeld used to hold court after every shoot at Jerry's Deli on Ventura, so I guess it could still be a good choice.

Might try Nobu/Malibu on a Saturday to try to catch them when they're at the beach for the weekend.

Last time I passed by Studio City Jerry's they were closed for remodeling - looked like they had a fire.

I saw one of the CBS sitcom celebs (can't remember who) at Dupars at Laurel and Ventura a few years ago - that's pretty close to Radford too.

I've also seen Laura San Giacomo with family on more than one occasion at Art's Deli down Ventura.

Despite being an LA native who should be totally jaded, I'm shameless about this issue. So here goes:

* Fred Segal, both locations.
* Farmer's Market used to be good for interesting sightings (Jonathan Richman comes to mind) but that was during the pre-Grove era. Famous folks still go to the Grove, however (Sharon Osborne last month).
* You're almost always guaranteed a good sighting (or two or three) if you spend an hour at the Hollywood Farmer's Market on Ivar during peak times. Which is exactly when *not* to go, but hey, you've got priorities. A friend always sees celebs at nearby Mayfair Market on Franklin.
* Canter's Deli. Friends spotted Liza and hubby there a couple weeks back for a late Tuesday night dinner--no joke! Seen many a celeb there over the years myself.
* For the surviving alta kaker posse, try Nate n'Al's in Beverly Hills.
* Ammo's supposedly an it joint for the young Hollywood hipster crowd.
* A reliable celeb magnet is Barney's, either strolling around the store or for a (pricey) nosh at Barney Greengrass.
The already mentioned fancy shmancies (Spago, Ivys, Campanile, The Grill) are certainly a good bet, especially if you want to see industry heavy hitters, too. I've got plenty more but this should work for now.

A friend always sees celebs at nearby Mayfair Market on Franklin.>>
Lots of younger celebs can be seen particularly at mealtime in the blocks between Vista Del Mar (101 Coffee Shop) and Mayfair on Franklin.

I guess money and fame don't buy good taste :^)

Jon