Hate Los Angeles? You’re doing it wrong

IT’S the city that people love to hate, but many tourists may not realise that there are some incredible secrets hidden underneath its grimy exterior.

EVER wondered why some people can’t get enough of Los Angeles while others think the city of Angels is the work of the devil?

If you really hated Los Angeles, you probably weren’t doing it right.

LA is a city of secrets. The people who love LA, the ones who really gush about it are the ones that have cracked the city’s grimy veneer and found the diamonds underneath.

The thing with LA is that what looks to be just a parking lot or a normal street door actually hides away a restaurant so good that the food will leave you speechless.

Take Bestia for example. This rustic Italian restaurant in Downtown LA won the LA Times people’s choice award in 2015.

Bestia. Yum. Picture: T. Tseng

On the inside this building is industrial chic with chandeliers hung on meat hooks, bare shipping container walls and glamorous lighting. When it comes to the food Chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis create pasta so fresh and soft that it would make Jamie Oliver weep. The restaurant is so popular that you must book months in advance — which is possible if you are planning a trip to the US.

The emerging art of wall murals in Los Angeles is again beginning to flourish.

But from the outside there is no way any tourist would ever walk past Bestia and think `that looks good, lets give it a try’. The entrance to Bestia is set in a parking lot with valet. There’s no amazing views. Just amazing food.

The same can be said of EP & LP. This incredible West Hollywood bar and restaurant backed by Australian DJ Grant Smillie (also of Melbourne’s Pony Fish Island and Melbourne City Brewing Company) just looks like any other door from the outside. But take the lift up to the rooftop bar (LP) and the sunset over the hills will take your breath away.

Downstairs the restaurant (EP) turns away almost 500 people every weekend with food created by chef Louis Tikaram, formerly head chef at Sydney’s Longrain and Australian Young Chef of the Year 2014.

LA is not what you see on the outside. A big red bus tour won’t show you this city’s soul. It will show you doors that aren’t open. LA’s charm is unexpected and concealed. It’s like Dr Who’s Tardis. You really have no idea what’s behind those doors until they open for you.

What’s inside those buildings could surprise you. Picture: Ryan Vaarsi

Los Angeles is a city full of famous, fabulous and wealthy people. These are people who are

on show all the time and who really value their privacy. That’s why LA likes to keep so much hidden from view.

Back entrances, clubs you enter from the basement valet, and Uber cars with tinted windows they are all part of LA’s charm. That’s not to say that the LA celebrity life is exclusive and out of bounds. It’s just that the city makes you work harder to get to know it. To do that, a tourist needs to slow down and get amongst the action.

One of many abandoned buildings in LA. Picture: Neil Kremer

Instead of taking the celebrity bus tour and viewing celebrities as you would zoo animals, walk among the celebs and experience what they like to do.

Fork out the $US35 ($47) for a Soul Cycle class in West Hollywood. Not only will the combination of spin cycling and dance moves make you sweat and pump up your ego, you’re just as likely to see celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens, Lady Gaga, Alessandra Ambrosio and Selena Gomez sweating it out alongside you.

Have brunch (in the US that comes with alcohol) at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills. You can book a table and who knows, you may be seated next to Kim Kardashain, a regular visitor.

Do your shopping at the Grove — where spotting celebrities is a daily occurrence. And the best part of that experience for Australians and Kiwis is that Verve in the Farmer’s Market does the most amazing coffee that will make you feel right at home in this crazy city.

Kendall and Kylie Jenner at The Grove.

Take a walk along Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood and you will find incredible art painted on the sides of car parks and shop walls.

On any given day you will find tourists and locals alike using the walls as a background for Instagram photos. The walls have also been used in music videos and fashion shoots. Justin Bieber’s cover art for his new album was shot at the Retna wall on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood.

So if you really hate LA, remember that this city is not what it seems. Try living it the way the celebs do. Then you too may just fall in love.

IF YOU GO

Getting there:Qantas flies twice daily to LA from Sydney.

Eating there:E.P & L.P. is a two-floor Asian influenced restaurant with a rooftop bar and sweeping views of the Hollywood Hills. (603 N. La Cienega Blvd West Hollywood)

Staying there:The Sunset Marquis (1200 Alta Loma Rd, West Hollywood) is the LA home of rock and roll royalty with it’s secret entrances and basement recording studio.

The writer was a guest of Qantas/Visit California.

You may end up liking what you see. Picture: ParkerKnight