Designed by Eric Owen Moss, and surrounded by a series of his projects, this is definitely a must see. As an architect I can appreciate the details, the challenges and the effort that went into this project.

Located less than one mile from my home in downtown, this is the best cafe in the area. It is nestled in a corridor between two buildings on a brick path with beautiful outside seating — quite the hideaway. They have the best prosciutto sandwich and the coffee is delicious.

This is the place you want to go to have a awesome brunch. Be prepared for a waiting line outside on the weekends. The place is packed then. My personal favorites is the Polenta with Maple syrup, bacon, spinach and chicken apple sausage. If you had a rough night before I would suggest the "Hangover Helper", with the bottomless fresh mint-lemonade. Always does the trick.

The best

Salton Sea is not technically LA, but is a by-product of its history and my first-choice escape from the city: one of the world's largest inland seas and lowest spots on earth, a man-made lake in the midst of the Colorado desert, a resort area in the twenties turned in one of the worst ecological disaster of the past century.