32 WALK THIS WAY 33 IT’s ABBOT TIME The coolest block in the USA, as named by GQ, is the Abbot Models in Jack Gjelina's wood- Spade's denim Kinney Boulevard fired pizzas collection in Los Angeles. Hanging out at the Text Laura Lippstone Photos Jessica Sample coolest block in America Separates and accessories at Jack Spade The eye has it: Gjelina's striking façade goingplaces mar2013 goingplaces mar2013 34 WALK THIS WAY 35 Directory Guild 1335 1/2 Abbot Kinney Hal’s Bar and Grill Boulevard 1349 Abbot Kinney Tel +310 396 8300 Boulevard Opens 10am-7pm, Mon- Tel +310 396 3105 Sat; 12noon-6pm, Sun Chances are, Abbot Kinney would be down with GQ’s Opens 11.30am-2am, http://guildla.com/ choice, since he got the ball rolling to begin with. The Mon-Fri; 10am-2am, Tortoise iconic beach community that’s been the star of so many Sat-Sun General Store movies and TV shows over the years owes its existence www.halsbarandgrill. to him. More than a century ago, the American tycoon com 1208 Abbot Kinney Bou- had a dream to create a Venice, Italy, in America. He levard found some property along the Pacific Ocean and set Strange Invisible Tel +310 314 8448 out to make it a showplace, complete with canals. It Perfumes Opens 11.30am-6.30pm, flourished for a time. But by the 1980s, that vision 1138 Abbot Kinney Tue-Sat; 12noon-6pm, Sun had crumbled. Much of Venice was not a place to be Boulevard www.tortoisegenerals- seen, but a place to avoid. The forerunner to America’s Tel +310 314 1505 tore.com hippest strip had another name at the time (“West Opens 11am-7pm, Mon- Waraku Washington”), and was known as a derelict stretch with Sat; 12noon-6pm, Sun an offbeat vibe and high crime rate. www.siperfumes.com 1225 Abbot Kinney That’s how Don Novack remembers it. The co- Boulevard owner of perpetually popular restaurant and jazz venue The Stronghold Tel +310 452 5300 Hal’s Bar and Grill says when it opened 25 years ago, 1625 Abbot Kinney Opens 10am-7pm daily it was easily the most-stylish place on a ‘rough’ street. Boulevard www.warakuusa.com “Everybody thought we were crazy for going upscale Tel +310 399 7221 Jin Patisserie in this neighbourhood,” he says. There were fears that Opens 11am-7pm, outsiders wouldn’t venture into the area. But venture Mon-Sat; 11am-5pm, Sun 1202 Abbot Kinney they did, and Hal’s became a focal point for the creative www.thestronghold.com Boulevard community. Count American artist Ed Moses and Tel +310 399 8801 songstress Joni Mitchell among those whose artwork Aviator Nation Opens 11am-6.30pm, has been on display there for years – even though there 1224 Abbot Kinney Tue-Sun are plenty of art galleries around. Boulevard http://jinpatisserie.com More and more entrepreneurs took a chance on Tel +310 396 9100 Abbot's Habit the block. Gentrification ushered in a new look – rows Opens 11am-7pm daily of regal palm trees – and a name change. The street http://aviatornation. 1401 Abbot Kinney officially became Abbot Kinney Boulevard in honour of com/ Boulevard Venice’s founder. Tel +310 399 1171 Jack Spade Opens 6am-9pm daily Achingly hip 1136 Abbot Kinney www.abbotshabitvenice. Now the boulevard is a hip bazaar teeming with art, Boulevard com fashion, food and just plain fun. Perfumer Alexandra Tel +310 396 3781 Gjelina Balahoutis, who runs an acclaimed fragrance house, calls Opens 11am-7pm, Mon- the street “romantic and bohemian”, with “an eclectic, Sat; 12noon-6pm, Sun 1429 Abbot Kinney urban edge”. What sets Abbot Kinney apart, she says, is www.jackspade.com Boulevard that it’s a street with “really original people with really Tel +310 450 1429 original shops that they are truly connected with.” Her Opens 11.30am- boutique, Strange Invisible Perfumes, is a case in point. 12midnight, Mon-Fri; The scents are naturally custom-blended, with luscious 9am-12midnight, Sat-Sun names like Fire & Cream and Black Rosette. www.gjelina.com There’s much more: Check out the custom-made jeans at The Stronghold, an LA institution that still The Tasting Kitchen adheres to a design born more than a century ago. Or 1633 Abbot Kinney the oh-so-California vintage T-shirts and sweatshirts Boulevard at Aviator Nation, with a clientele that’s included Ben Tel +310 392 6644 Oven-fresh pizzas, Affleck, Heidi Klum and Gwen Stefani. Get in a game of Opens 6pm-12midnight a good wine list, ping-pong there, or at the table near the entrance to >> daily, 10.30am-2.30pm friendly service and Sat-Sun cosy surrounds thetastingkitchen.com keep the crowds coming at Gjelina's goingplaces mar2013 goingplaces mar2013 36 WALK THIS WAY 7 If you like Jack Spade, which deals in sharp travel gear and mens’ duds. The latter is the laidback branch of the American Abbot Kinney chain started by the husband of handbag guru Kate Boulevard, you Spade. Hardcore fashionistas should feel right at home at might also like: Guild, where the haute couture is of the calibre you’d find on much larger streets – in New York, London or Paris. With LA’s perch on the Pacific Rim, a strong Asian influence is a given. Wander among the fun housewares and gifts at Tortoise General Store, a collection assembled by a couple originally from Tokyo. For more Japanese flair, stop at Waraku for unusual beach shoes 1 Little Italy, San and accessories. Diego Bigger than A modern its New York coun- country vibe Trendy tables terpart, the area is at Gjelina's With your shopping done, partake in traditional English filled with hip shops High Tea, LA-style, in the garden at Jin Patisserie. boasting old-world Aviator Nation Proprietor Kristy Choo, who hails from Singapore, murals, while sleek recalls a vintage became a flight attendant and then gave that up for condos frame a Ca- Californian style culinary school. She now engages in flights of fancy with tholic church where her cakes and chocolates. the bells have been If coffee’s your thing, make like a local and head to tolling for almost a Abbot's Habit, an unassuming java spot that serves an century. addictive peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You never know who’s going to be there: Once it was Uma you never Thurman filming a fun scene from the 1996 know who movie The Truth About Cats and Dogs. 2Beacon Hill, Boston For more-substantive This neighbourhood you’ll run fare, check out Gjelina, is one of the oldest with an exotic take in the USA. Its into on everything from elegant townhomes, vegetables to pizza, and once home to aris- The Tasting Kitchen, run by a young chef who arrived on tocrats, now cater to the scene by way of Texas and Portland, Oregon. Tuck urban professionals. into a brunch favourite: Fried chicken and waffles, a take A popular spot is on Southern-style American cooking. There’s also Hal’s, The Liberty Hotel, a known for reliable Caesar salad, grilled chicken and refurbished jail. Strange Invisible colourful cocktails, with a side of jazz. The atmosphere Perfume uses agrees with the likes of Sean Penn, Reese Witherspoon certified organic and Julia Roberts essences That’s the thing about Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Whether it’s the street’s annual festival (a very big to-do, happening on 29 Sep this year) or a movie shoot, you never know who you’ll run into. 3Harbor District, Reykjavik In the shadow of the historic harbour is a hodgepodge of Malaysia Airlines flies from Kuala old and new shops Lumpur (KUL) to Los Angeles (LAX) and galleries. Check via Tokyo (NRT) out the Volcano House, a café with movies and cheeky volcanic-themed desserts. goingplaces mar2013 goingplaces mar2013.