Couture Central

The Silicon Valley is a mecca for business travelers, and tourists. Below is a list of restaurants that are highly recommended by Open Table and favored by locals based on bookings, ambience, cuisine, and taste. All of these restaurants create truly innovative dishes that are worth trying out.

• La Fondue-French Cuisine-Saratoga
• Loft Bar and Bistro-American Cuisine-San Jose
• Left Bank Restaurant-French Cuisine-Menlo Park, San Jose
• Emile’s Restaurant-French Cuisine- San Jose
• Yankee Pier- Seafood-San Jose

What is the best restaurant in the world? According to Restaurant magazine, the best restaurant in the world is El Bulli. Located in the Mediterranean coast in Spain, El Bulli has taken the top spot since three consecutive years, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Under chef Ferran Adria, El Bulli has earned three Michelin stars. El Bulli books reservations only once a year, and it is often booked in a single day. The restaurant is only opened for dinner from April to September.

Chef Adria can be described as a mad culinary scientist that deconstructs classic plates down to its core elemental flavors. Instead of elements he deconstructs dishes to their core flavor, temperature, and texture and then reconstructs the dish at the molecular gastronomical level. Chef Adria can certainly be considered the Grand Chef of Haute Cuisine.

• El Bulli History
• Ferran Adria
• World’s Greatest Chef Ferran Adrià and the Food of El Bulli
• Top Cooking Tips from Ferran Adria
• Ferran Adrià, Molecular Gastronomist—Who, Me?
• Fast Times with Ferran Adria
• Welcome to the Labyrinth of the Catalan Chef
• If the world’s greatest chef cooked for a living, he’d starve
• Behind the Laboratory Door
• Adrià’s Audacity

Couture Central loves Haute Cusine.

Here are two classic, cute and chic champagne coolers. They are as much functional as they are elegant. The Dom Perignon II champagne cooler is available via Moss and is listed for $1000. If you want something more upscale and designer friendly take a look at the Globalight by Karim Rashid available from Veuve Clicquot. the Globalight is priced at just $4,500. This definitely beats having wine in a can.

The benefits of tea are well documented and a health nut city like San Francisco would be home to some great tea rooms in Northern California. If you find yourself in San Francisco on a cold and foggy day, you may want to stop by any of the tea rooms listed below.

• Lovejoy’s Tea Room
  1351 Church St.
  San Francisco, CA
• Secret Garden Tea House
  721 Lincoln Way
  San Francisco, CA
• Tal-y-Tara Tea and Polo Shoppe
  6439 California St.
  San Francisco, CA
• Samovar Tea Lounge
  498 Sanchez St.
  San Francisco, CA
• Imperial Tea Court
  1411 Powell St.
  San Francisco, CA

The Los Angeles downtown area has a ton of hot spots. When visiting downtown LA for business or pleasure you need to make a quick stop to some of the trendiest bars in town.

• Bordello
  901 E. 1st St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Traxx Bar
  800 N. Alameda St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• J Restaurant & Lounge
  1119 S. Olive St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• O Bar & Kitchen at the Orchid Hotel
  819 S. Flower St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Golden Gopher
  417 W. 8th St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Redwood Bar & Grill
  316 W. 2nd St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• The Edison
  108 W. 2nd St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Casey’s Irish Bar & Grill
  613 S. Grand Ave.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Weiland Brewery
  400 E. 1st St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Broadway Bar
  830 S. Broadway
  Los Angeles, CA
• Bluevelvet
  750 S. Garland Ave.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Veranda Bar
  939 S. Figueroa St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Seven Grand Whiskey Bar
  515 W. 7th St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Rooftop Bar at the Standard Downtown
  550 S. Flower St.
  Los Angeles, CA
• Library Bar
  630 W. 6th St.
  Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles has a reputation for having great nightlife. Whether you just want to go to cafes, clubs, bars, or movies there are endless possibilities. Los Angeles Magazine published a great list with some of these possibilities that we will share.

• Club For People Over 40
  • Bordello
• Cowboy Bar
  • Cowboy Country
• Drag Show
  • The Plaza
• Foosball
  • ChaCha Lounge
• Lounge Act
  • Midnight Madness at the Rialto
• Midnight Movies
  • Midnight Madness at the Rialto
• Sea Chanty Sing-Along
  • The Whale and Ale
• Soccer Cafe
  • Euro Cafe
• Speakeasy
  • Bedlam
• Tango Club
  • Culver City Milonga
• Ultra Lounge
  • Stone Rose Lounge

We always hear about the wonderful restaurants and shopping in the beautiful city of San Francisco. Within an hour from San Francisco, there are some fantastic restaurants.

South Bay/Peninsula

• Los Cubanos (Brazilian & Cuban Cuisine) - San Jose
• Zibibbo Restaurant (Mediterranean Cuisine) - Palo Alto
• Mantra (Indian Fusion)- Palo Alto
• Zitune (Morrocan/Mediterranean Cuisine)- Los Altos
• Divino (Italian Cuisine)- Belmont
• Fandorin (Russian Cuisine)- Burlingame

East Bay

• Angeline’s Louisiana Kitchen (Creole & Cajun Cuisine)- Berkeley
• Noodle Theory (Pan Asian Cuisine)-Oakland

North Bay

• Fish (Seafood)- Sausalito
• Maria Monso (Italian)- San Rafael

Last year we high lighted the Top Five Restaurants in San Francisco. This year we have a whole new list of our favorite dinning hot spots in the City by the Bay.

• Gary Danko
• Dining Room at Ritz Carlton
• Fleur de Lys
• Chez Panisse
• Quince

If you’re a local or a tourist in the New York City area, you must try out some bars and restaurants owned by A-list celebs.

Bars

• Snitch- Owned by Velvet Revolver band mates Scott Weiland and Duff McKagan and Fuel vocalist Brett Scallions.
• 40/40-Owned by Jay-Z
• Cutting Room- Owned by “Mr Big” from “Sex in the City.”

Restaurants

• Southern Hospitality- A restaurant specializing in BBQ, owned by Justin Timberlake.
• Michael Jordan’s The Steakhouse
• Nobu- Japanese restaurant owned by actor Robert DeNiro.
• Tribeca Grill- A Mediterranean restaurant owned by actor Robert DeNiro.

Many tourists travel to the beautiful city of Los Angeles to walk down Hollywood Boulevard to see the stars down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and to search for their idols. Below you will find a list of sure places you can go and you are guaranteed to bump into someone famous.

• The Ivy - This is one of the top hang outs for the paparazzi, so it must mean something!
• The Coffee Bean - Another hang out of the paps, its located near many of the celebs Malibu homes in a cute trendy neighborhood.
• Mr Chow - Anybody whose anybody eats at Mr Chow!
• Ken Paves Salon - Many famous female stars get their styled by Ken.
• Beverly Hills Hotel - countless celebs stay at this hotel, if you rent a room here, its just a matter of who you will see!
• Melrose Ave. -Celebs and their stylists love the trendy style and vibe of shops on this street.
• Robertson Blvd.- Celebs love to shop at the boutiques on Robertson Blvd.
• Newsroom Cafe - Celebs such as Jeremy Piven, Lindsay Lohan, and Dustin Hoffman have been spotted at this cafe.
• Beverly Center and The Grove - Many celeb sightings happen at the mall, after all celebs have to shop just like the rest of us!
• Koi - is a favorite restaurant of many locals and celebs alike. This is another paparazzi hangout.
• Les Deux - is the playground for all A-listers. If you wait outside you may get a glimpse of some stars on their way in.