Beverly Hills is a food lover’s paradise

IT’S been 25 years since Pretty Woman hit the big screen, but many of us still see Beverly Hills as all expensive cars, Rodeo Drive and high-class shopping.

Supplied Travel NOVEMBER 17 2013 FIVE BEST Explore Beverly Hills on a Californian adventure.

EVEN though it’s been 25 years since Pretty Woman hit our screens, you’d be forgiven for still thinking Beverly Hills is all expensive cars, Rodeo Drive and Julia Roberts shopping.

However, you’d be remiss to ignore the thriving foodie village of Beverly Hills.

Yes. They eat here. From chocolatiers and artisanal cheese shops to vodka bars and valet-parking, the Californian city is six square miles of salivary delights.

A walk up Canon Drive will find you on “Little Restaurant Row”, where Porsches pull up, keys are ditched and tables are ready.

So what better way to flex my appetite than with a walking tour? (And walking = more food, right?) I start with dessert (because #YOLO) and pop into the world-famous Edelweiss Chocolates. Fans of I Love Lucy will recognise the famous conveyer-belt scene, where Lucille Ball shoved many a sweet treat into her gob. It was a visit to Edelweiss in the early ’50s that inspired this scene; the same machinery is still used to make the fluffy marshmallow Frank Sinatra would order and the mouth-watering milk chocolate favoured by Oprah. (You can almost hear the roar of, “You get a chocolate! You get a chocolate!”) Rumour has it that Sinatra’s inspiration for his love songs came after visiting Edelweiss*. They’re that good.

(*May or may not be true.)

A short walk around the corner on South Santa Monica Boulevard deposits us outside the Sprinkles ATM. Money it does not dispense, but instead a sweet iced cupcake, selected from a glowing touch screen.

But many know my pronounced proclivity for cheese. So away with the cupcakes and bring me to The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, where mountains of dairy with shiny wrappers await. After my 25th slice of Jarlsberg, it may finally be time for dinner.

Beverly Hills is a foodie’s paradise. Just make sure you hit the gym afterwards.

We arrive at Nic’s. I don’t spot Lindsay Lohan, Demi Moore or Kevin Costner, who are said to frequent these tables, but I do don a Russian leopard-print faux-fur coat and hat and step into their VodBox: a giant walk-in freezer with capacity for around 15 of your closest vodka-drinking buddies. After downing a couple of shots of Kauffman — a Russian drop distilled an astonishing 14 times — we return to the table a little lighter-headed but warmer-bellied. Cue the food: melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi with morel mushrooms, before a main of tender Wisconsin duck with pomegranate-vodka glaze.

After an afternoon and evening of eating (and vodka), staying at the Sixty Beverly Hills on Wilshire was the best decision we made. No time for a nightcap at the hotel’s amazing bar, Caulfield’s, though. It’s straight to my king-sized bed, for tomorrow Rodeo Drive beckons — albeit without Richard Gere. You win some, you lose some.

Rooms at Sixty Beverly Hills start at $385 per night. Visit sixtyhotels.com and lovebeverlyhills.com.

Follow Mel on twitter @MELEVANS

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